2013 EWwy Awards: Comedy Nominees Are...

For anyone familiar with Enlightened, its appearance in the comedy category might seem profoundly strange. It's more like an earnestly satirical tragicomedy. Regardless, in following Laura Dern's Amy Jellicoe on her quest for illumination and justice amidst the cubicles, florescent lighting, and profit margins, we see a world full of lost souls, each striving for transcendence in their own way. As she bumbles in and out of the lives of coworkers, friends, families, exes, and new kindred spirits, we get an elegant look at the messiness of humanity and modern lives. Though it might have ended before its time, in just two seasons creator and co-star Mike White managed to craft one of the richest and most profound shows ever to grace our television screens. —Lindsey Bahr

By the end of HIMYM's eighth season, viewers met The Mother. But the best part was that it came after a season that reminded us how wonderfully crazy our winding journey had been to that moment. We started the season with Ted (Josh Radnor) thinking he was going to spend the rest of his life with Victoria (Ashley Williams), Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) engaged to Quinn (Becki Newton), and Robin (Cobie Smulders) dating Nick (Michael Trucco). By the end of the season, all that had changed, highlighting the what's-meant-to-be-will-eventually-be theme that's always anchored the comedy. Also, we were introduced to Robin Daggers. Need we say more? —Sandra Gonzalez

Part workplace comedy, part twisted romance, this freshman Fox show starring Mindy Kaling as a talented OBGYN unlucky in love quickly earned a place among our favorites. While it took the show a bit to find its footing, after a little cast reshuffling the second half of the season was consistently laugh-out-loud hilarious, whether Mindy (Kaling) accidentally went home with a prostitute or bonded with inmates at a jail. The fact that her boyfriends were played by a rotating roster of cute comedy guys (Bill Hader, Anders Holm, Seth Meyers) didn't hurt. —Erin Strecker

Most sitcoms get the punchlines but miss out on the heart of their zany characters. New Girl has both in spades, averting a sophomore slump by accelerating the will-they-or-won't-they romance between Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and Nick (Jake Johnson) while also giving all five ensemble members room to breathe and grow as individuals. An adorkably Millennial Sam and Diane, the leads are buoyed by the talents around them, in every situation from a pool therapy session with an elderly Asian man to an Elvis-themed funeral. Plus, any show that creates its own drinking games gets our vote. —Lanford Beard

It's a rare comedy that makes you cry because you believe in a couple's love that much, but Parks and Rec did it (again) in season 5 with the engagement and wedding of Leslie Knope (Emmy nominee Amy Poehler) and Ben Wyatt (EWwy nominee Adam Scott). We also saw the softer side of Nick Offerman's Ron Swanson — in the immortal words of Chris Pratt's Andy: ''Ron and Diane, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I'' — and arguably the best props on TV. Comedy isn't just delivering a punchline; it's delivering Lesley's detailed Unity Quilt. —Mandi Bierly

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It would be crass and cheesy to call DeVine's performance as Adam Demamp ''divine.'' But it would also be true to the immature, insecure ''workaholic.'' While the other TelAmericorp bros are just as funny, DeVine brings out an edge to his delivery that makes his doppelgänger not only hilarious but inexplicably believable. —Maricela Gonzalez

It would be easy for an actor to fall into the background when playing the significant other to one of the greatest comedic actresses of the decade, but if anything, when lovable geek Ben Wyatt took his relationship with Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) to the next level, Scott blossomed in the role. And this season — which saw Ben impulsively proposing to Leslie in a hilarious (and tear-jerking) scene before sealing the deal just seven episodes later — the actor has had a chance to build Ben into one of the most uniquely side-splitting characters on television. —Sandra Gonzalez

The turtle-faced Johnson has proven since the first season that he doesn't need great one-liners to stand out, but he was able to show his range as an actor once New Girl's writers figured out what makes Nick Miller tick (and it's not just writing zombie novels). Witness, a tear-jerking speech at Nick's father's funeral (now made even sadder by the passing of Dennis Farina). Yet, for all the seriousness and the romantic developments with ''roomfriend'' Jess (Zooey Deschanel), Johnson also managed to be laugh-out-loud funny more often than not and possessed an uncanny ability to look sexy in a lady-cut trench coat. —Lanford Beard

Josh Gad has a habit of being an awkward, disheveled diamond in the rough — critics praised his performance in this summer's lukewarmly received Jobs, and similarly he shines in 1600 Penn, a show he co-created that was canceled after its freshman season on NBC. As the black sheep of the prim First Family, Gad's Skip Gilchrist was always screwing up, but always with the best intentions for his family at heart. Plus, he owned the bizarre job tryout — from applying to be an astronaut (hard without a college degree!) to working on his magic tricks. —Laura Hertzfeld

Neil Flynn plays Your Dad on The Middle. Not A dad. YOUR dad. He wants life to be simple but it never is. He accepts that things aren't perfect but is surrounded by others who can't do the same. And despite the insanity that seems to follow him, he loves his family (even though he doesn't always say it). Again, Neil Flynn plays Your Dad on The Middle. And as you already know, Your Dad deserves an award. —Sandra Gonzalez

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Though the Fox sitcom only lasted one season, Johnson made a lasting impression as the delightfully awkward single mother who, even with a brother as cartoonish as Ben (Nat Faxon), seemed more grounded than her channel mate Jess on New Girl thanks to Johnson's dry, subtle delivery. Being this funny as the straight woman takes true talent. —Mandi Bierly

The fourth season of Glee was full of ups and downs, but one consistent bright spot was Lea Michele's Rachel Berry, who stretched her wings this season by moving to New York. The new situations gave Michele new dramatic opportunities, and led to powerhouse performances both emotionally — like when she thought she was pregnant — and vocally. —Erin Strecker

The Office's Kelly Kapoor is a tough act to follow. But as Dr. Mindy Lahiri — the romance-loving, quick-witted, snarky doctor — Kaling found a heroine women could get behind. Whether she's delivering triplets or drunk-toasting a former flame at his wedding, Kaling had us cheering — and cringing — by the minute. —Erin Strecker

Lindsay Bluth should be a difficult character to like. For three seasons we see the adopted Bluth in various stages of vainglorious development, using her looks to navigate the waters of life. In the fourth season, after learning she's adopted, we see Portia de Rossi take Lindsay to depths we never imagined: from sort of finding herself in India, to sort of mending her faux relationship with Tobias, to sort of trading in her bleached locks for a different look. De Rossi manages to fill in this character's core and make us love her zany attempts at becoming a real person even more. —Jennifer Arellano

Jessica Day could easily have fallen off a cliff of quirkiness at any point. Instead, Deschanel has given the character real chops — or, to put it as EW critic Melissa Maerz did, ''[Jess] was afraid to say 'penis' last season, and now she's actually making use of Nick's.'' Jess faced challenges and made mistakes in season 2, effectively becoming a real grown-up girl (not of the manic pixie dream variety) and proving without a doubt that she's more than a pair of big eyes underneath impossibly glossy bangs. —Lanford Beard

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The sitcom's third season confirmed that Brad is the perfect trophy wife, mostly because he immersed himself in the world of candlemaking, spin classes, and white wines. That kind of stuff could have gone totally wrong, but Wayans played it smartly, letting his freak flag fly just enough to make you want to pledge allegiance to it. —Ray Rahman

Not every actor can pull of a near-perfect Obama cadence as well as the high-pitched shrill of a Valley Girl. But not every actor is as versatile and chameleon-like as MADtv alum Peele. Along with costar and writing partner Keegan-Michael Key, Peele achieves a perfect balance between naturalism and satire, humanizing even the most outlandish of characters. —Maricela Gonzalez

From Mr. Garvey the substitute teacher to Luther, Obama's angry translator, Key knows how to play all of the facets of pissed-off. The MADtv alum is best when performing in tandem with costar and writing partner Jordan Peele, providing the key to why this sketch show works so well when others have rapidly burned out. —Maricela Gonzalez

Making Schmidt New Girl's breakout character from the moment we first met his douchebag jar, Greenfield was previously acknowledged by Emmys voters. So what gives this year? Schmidt was no less endearingly obnoxious in season 2, and the flashbacks of ''Fat Schmidt'' — while still fall-off-your-couch-funny, particularly during ''Virgins'' — shed some light on what made Schmidt the d-bag with a heart of gold he is today. Vast oversight, Emmys! —Lanford Beard

Killam's strength lies in his ability to adapt to each host's skill level, be he lackluster (Jeremy Renner) or live-wire (Justin Timberlake). He hooked us with Michael Cera, kept us with a riff on Brad Pitt's Chanel ad, and weirded us out (in a good way) with digital-short star Mokiki. All the focus may be on cast turnover, but Killam gives us hope for the next great age of SNL. —Lanford Beard

G.O.B. is a man of many failures — magician, favorite son, unstable romantic partner, unfit father, and now beekeeper — yet, defying all emotional-arc logic, also a man of insurmountable ego. Will Arnett as the hapless, caddish G.O.B. is like a shiny shard of foil we can't stop staring at. He uses illusion and artifice to get by, but underneath it all, he just wants everyone to love him. Don't worry, we already do. —Jennifer Arellano

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Granted, Schumer submitting herself in the supporting category was a strange tactic, given the show carries her own name. Still, in a field that includes Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lena Dunham, Edie Falco, and Laura Dern — all previous nominees and/or winners — can you blame a girl? With Dern and Fey heading out the door (at least for a little while), Schumer is poised to join the ranks of those remarkable women with her fresh take on the sketch show and her searingly funny stance on feminism. —Lanford Beard

Like her monetary namesake, Penny Hartz is shiny, cheap (in the sluttiest sense of course!) and often undervalued — but only because her ah-mahz-ing alter ego, Wilson, plays her so effortlessly. Penny's streak of bad luck — landing in a body cast and being Misery'd to ''health'' by her best friend, breaking off an engagement with a perfect guy — has been comic copper for viewers. So EWwy voters, heed the penny's motto and, ''E pluribus unum!'' — which, roughly translated from the Latin means ''Pick Penny!'' or ''The Year of Penny'' or ''Happy Endings rules!'' We think. We were never real good at Latin. —Henry Goldblatt

How I Met Your Mother may be titularly focused on Ted (Josh Radnor) and the finally revealed Mother (Cristin Miloti), but it's Smulders' Robin who grew the most over the past season. Smulders has been honing Robin into a less cynical, more well-rounded version since season 1, all while keeping her whip-smart, a little quirky, and just crass enough to put up with Barney. In one word, Smulders is legen—waitforit—dary. —Laura Hertzfeld

With the split-second ability to crush her children's dreams with a cocktail-charged zinger, the outed Bluth mastermind is a streaming-TV force to be reckoned with. Jessica Walter as Lucille numero uno is scathing, wily-witty, and just a little bit scary. Though we can't always root for her scheming and using her children as pawns, just like another eternally infantile Bluth, we're entranced by this Mother of a comedienne. —Jennifer Arellano

Whether she was making us laugh with dead-on impressions of Ellen DeGeneres and Ann Romney or creating her own hilarious original characters (''One time I got banged into a sinkhole?.I'll drink to that!''), McKinnon had one heck of a debut season on the late-night program. —Erin Strecker

For those who may have thought Zosia Mamet's Shoshanna was only one of the Girls for comic relief, Jessa's sheltered younger cousin proved her critics wrong in season 2. Mamet embodies a Shoshanna who's come out of her shell and is boldly, yet a little messily, figuring out what she wants and doesn't want in a relationship. Shoshanna may be naïve but she's not dumb, and Mamet pulls her off perfectly. —Laura Hertzfeld

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