Our personal Emmy ballot series continues with Comedy Lead Acting. Ranked alphabetically, here are the six actors and actresses who'd make our list:
Louis C.K. for Louie: Louis C.K. is as reliable a comedic screen presence as we’ve been treated to over the last few years. And this season, whether riotously acting out an elongated bathroom joke or digging deeper in a darkly funny two-hander, the comedian’s humorously melancholic edge was as effective as ever.
Chris Geere for You’re the Worst: Chris Geere’s penchant for sardonic wit, along with his ability to turn sexy into funny (and vice-versa), renders him a breath of fresh air in a stubbornly stagnant category. You’re the Worst’s debut season nicely mixed sweet and sour, and that was no more evident than in Geere’s affably nasty performance.
Jonathan Groff for Looking: It’s a thin category, but while I don’t think Groff is generally award-worthy as Looking’s leading man, at his best there’s a realism and a dryness to his work that radiates. Plus, in the show’s improved second season, Groff internalized Patrick’s struggle with self-acceptance with admirable complexity.
Ellie Kemper for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: In a performance as brazen and unafraid as Kimmy Schmidt herself, Ellie Kemper emerged as the talk of the town with her unconventional star power. It’s a good thing, too: in tackling major, dark themes of trauma and abuse, Kemper infectiously and brilliantly demonstrated how to turn tragedy into comedy. 
Lisa Kudrow for The Comeback: Perhaps the most iconic and impressive character creation on this list, Lisa Kudrow returned to Valerie Cherish after a decade-long break and didn’t skip a beat. Specifically, her harrowingly vulnerable and discomfiting work in “Valerie Gets Down on Her Knees” might just be the year’s best -- or at least most affecting -- episodic performance.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep: The Emmy queen was no less sensational in this fourth season of Veep, even as she was faced with her character’s drastic promotion to President. Louis-Dreyfus’ calibration is always precise, maintaining pitch-perfect levels of exasperation, incompetence and wasted intelligence to keep the humor coming in (believably) thick. 
William H. Macy for Shameless: Season 5 of Shameless was a step down for William H. Macy, having worked with more emotionally varied material in previous years. Even still, he’s among the best actors competing in the category. In this season in particular, his character’s bonding with the peculiar father of an organ donor made for some wonderfully strange comedy.
Laurie Metcalf for Getting On: Laurie Metcalf isn’t quite the Getting On lead that HBO executives would like you to believe. But no matter, regardless of where Metcalf competes she’s utterly deserving. Every facial expression and every vocal inflection that comes with her performance as Dr. Jenna James is simply too funny to ignore.
Thomas Middleditch for Silicon Valley: Silicon Valley broke out in quality this year, but Thomas Middleditch has been an outrageously funny leading man from the show’s very first episode. He infuses both cocky entrepreneurial confidence and nerdy timidity in Richard Hendricks, a combination that turned even more irresistible in season 2.
Tracey Ellis Ross for Black-ish: Tracey Ellis Ross’ overwhelming charm is the main reason to tune into ABC’s Black-ish, a promising but flawed freshman network comedy. Her loopy, steely confidence makes for consistent hilarity and, along with Constance Wu in Fresh Off the Boat, she's effortlessly re-inventing the family sitcom matriarch. 
Emmy Rossum for Shameless: It’s here that judging on the basis of “comedy” is difficult. You could easily find six funnier actresses than Emmy Rossum to compete here, but few do work as impressive or with as much range as Shameless’ leading lady. She’s at her best when in utmost despair; while strange for a comedy category, it's nonetheless spellbinding to watch her.
Jeffrey Tambor for Transparent: In a revelatory and career-defining performance, Jeffrey Tambor became the unlikely face of a movement in Transparent. Journeying a transgender woman through the coming-out process and life on the outside, Tambor’s embodiment was startlingly sensitive and bracingly authentic. And in quick asides, it was bitingly funny, too. Previous Entries:
Comedy Supporting Acting
Comedy Writing & Directing