Announcing the Winners of The First Annual Feelies!

Posted by Kim and Sage

This year, instead of uselessly railing against yet another set of disappointing Emmy prospects, we decided to take matters into our own hands. And thus, the Feelie was born.

After coming up with our own nominations for 10 major categories (see our nominee post here), we handed the power over to you. Since Monday, our polls have been open to anyone with an opinion, making this the real People’s Choice Awards. (Unlike that other one, which should actually be called Awards Conveniently Won By People Who Will Actually Deign To Show Up To This D-List Ceremony.) There were close calls and late surges and, at one point, a three-way tie. Some categories you probably guessed. Some may surprise you.

Without further ado, we give you your winners. May I have the envelope, please?

Best Comedy Series

The Nominees Were…

Parks and Recreation

The Mindy Project

Trophy Wife

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Enlisted

Veep

And the Feelie goes to Parks and Recreation!

Despite a last minute surge (coming only 3 votes short of a total victory) by TV’s most improved comedy, The Mindy Project,  that comforting bacon topped macaroni and cheese of television Parks and Recreation reigned supreme.  While some of our favorites had uneven seasons (Community) or downright disappointing ones (I’m just going to say it…New Girl), Parks and Rec never failed to deliver in both laughs and overall heart and soul (I dare you to find a more heartfelt comedy on television).  From its season premiere in London to the finale that felt like a series finale before it rebooted the entire show in the last 2 minutes (perhaps the ballsiest move of the television season, second only to The Good Wife), Parks had us laughing, smiling, and FEELING things all season.  What I love most about Parks is that embraces character growth and plays to the strengths of the greatest ensemble of actors on television.  These are not the same people we met in season one…the Parks deparment has grown and evolved and matured and we’ve gone on that journey with Leslie, Ben, Ron, Tom, April, Andy, Donna, Ann, and Chris.  Oh…and Garry/Jerry/Larry/Terry I guess.  We’ve got 13 episodes left in that journey and I can’t WAIT to see where they end up.

Best Actress in a Comedy

The Nominees Were…

Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation

Mindy Kaling as Mindy Lahiri, The Mindy Project

Malin Akerman as Kate Harrison, Trophy Wife

Lena Dunham as Hannah Horvath, Girls

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer, Veep

Ilana Glazer as Ilana Wexler, Broad City

And the Feelie goes to Amy Poehler!

Life hero.  Imaginary best friend.  Icon.  These are all terms that can describe Leslie Knope AND the woman that brings her to life, Dame Amy Poehler (she’ll get that title SOMEDAY).  As Sage said in the nominee post, there is not much for us to say about Leslie/Amy that we haven’t said before.  She won this category with 50% of the vote so you are all agreed that she’s amazing.  The fact that she is a perpetual “also ran” at all major awards ceremonies BAFFLES me.  Perhaps they don’t think she is acting because the Leslie persona feels like how Amy would be in real life?  Perhaps they think that giving her awards WOULD make her the perfect human being that no one else could ever live up to?  Whatever the reasons are, they are crap.  Amy deserves all the awards and we are so proud of our readers for recognizing this.  Amy, we’ll be proud to give you your award next time you are in NYC.  Cocktails will be on us.

Best Actor in a Comedy

The Nominees Were…

Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt, Parks and Recreation

Chris Messina as Danny Castellano, The Mindy Project

Andy Samberg as Jake Peralta, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Geoff Stults as Sgt. Pete Hill, Enlisted

Joel McHale as Jeff Winger, Community

Louis C.K. as Louie, Louie

And the Feelie goes to Chris Messina!

After some initial competition from co- HOF Sexiest Men Alive 2012 Adam Scott and Joel McHale, the runner-up for HOF Sexiest Man Alive 2013 (what can we say? We like our sexy men talented) handily won this category with over 40% of the vote.  Danny Castellano is more than a crotchety dreamboat who wears old-man glasses.  In Chris Messina’s hands, Danny is a man of ambition and integrity.  He’s a man who has been hurt before and is terrified of the emotions and the vulnerability that comes with falling in love with his best friend.  He’s a man who will learn about Micheal Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch and Bradley Cooper because he knows you like them.  He’s also a MAN who is not afraid to man the fuck up when the situation demands it.  He’s a man who will always go for the ass grab when he kisses you.  He’s a man with the sexiest goddamn half smile on the planet and sweet dance moves that he uses just for you.

He’s perfect and we would like to thank Chris Messina for ruining our lives all season.  It would be offensive if it weren’t just so damn perfect.

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy

The Nominees Were…

Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate, Parks and Recreation

Marcia Gay Harden as Diane Buckley, Trophy Wife

Michaela Watkins as Jackie Fisher, Trophy Wife

Anna Chlumsky as Amy Brookheimer, Veep

Kate McKinnon as Everything, Saturday Night Live

Natasha Lyonne as Nicky Nichols, Orange is the New Black

And the Feelie goes to Kate McKinnon!

10 Minutes before the polls closed this race was a three way tie between McKinnon, Natasha Lyonne, and Aubrey Plaza.  Kate eked out this victory by ONE VOTE.  The tightness of this race throughout the entire voting period (the top 3 all held a solo lead at one time during the week) proves that we picked excellent nominees in this category and that the field of supporting actresses in comedy is SO RICH with talent.  Well done, ladies.

It’s hard to believe that this season was Kate McKinnon’s first as a principle cast member on Saturday Night Live. She proved to be an invaluable player in what many considered to be a rebuilding season of the show and she is poised to join the ranks of the all time female SNL greats.  She heightens every sketch she is in whether she is doing her remarkable Ellen DeGeneres impression or one of her wacky Weekend update guests.  And to think…she is just BEGINNING.  We’ve got so much more to see from her and I can’t wait to see what she does in the coming years.

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy

The Nominees Were…

Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson, Parks and Recreation

Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer, Parks and Recreation

Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir, Community

Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother

Albert Tsai as Bert Harrison, Trophy Wife

Timothy Simons as Jonah Ryan, Veep

And the Feelie goes to Nick Offerman!

Like with Amy Poehler, there is very little to say about Ron Swanson and Nick Offerman that we haven’t said before.  Years from now television scholars will look at this character and actor and write essays on why awards bodies were FOOLS not to shower him with all the things.  The best thing about Ron’s character growth is that we have seen that the man who claims to love nothing actually loves EVERYTHING and he loves it DEEPLY, even if he doesn’t always know how to express it.  It has been such a joy seeing him softened by his friendship with Leslie and by becoming a husband to Diane and father to his children.  Don’t let the gruff exterior fool you.  Ron’s a big old softie and he is a fount of wisdom for all the people he encounters.  There are few things better than a Ron Swanson smile or giggle and I love that the show has let that side of him come out more as he has evolved.

Plus, he’s right about frozen yogurt.  Be ice cream or be nothing.

Best Drama Series

The Nominees Were…

Breaking Bad

Mad Men

Hannibal

Sleepy Hollow

The Walking Dead

The Good Wife

And the Feelie goes to Sleepy Hollow!

Oh, so you thought Breaking Bad was a shoe-in here? Let this be a lesson to never underestimate the Sleepyheads and their love for last season’s ballsiest network drama debut. While plenty of half-cocked genre series have limped out of the gate in recent years and then quickly fizzled out, Sleepy Hollow owes its success to its complete commitment to its weirdness. From day one, we were all in with petite badass Lt. Abbie Mills, Revolutionary dreamy-pants Ichabod Crane, and their various friends, enemies, and TBDs. Sleepy‘s first season was a rollercoaster of cop show, camp, horror, and, oh yeah, shippiness that culminated in a cliffhanger we have yet to stop thinking about. We met them there when the show was still in its early days, so hopefully the team will return to New York Comic Con this year as conquering heroes. If they do, we’ll have a Feelie waiting for them. The kind that won’t get us dragged out by Javits Center security.

Best Actress in a Drama Series

The Nominees Were…

Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olsen, Mad Men

Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick, The Good Wife

Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, Scandal

Tatiana Maslany as The Clones, Orphan Black

Keri Russell as Elizabeth Jennings, The Americans

Lizzy Caplan as Virginia Johnson, Masters of Sex

And the Feelie goes to Tatiana Maslany!

Through the voting, Tatiana Maslany led this category by a comfortable margin. It’s almost as if even TV fans outside of Orphan Black‘s audience share (what up, Clone Club?) understand and appreciate the breadth of her work on that show. Are you listening, Emmys? We gave you season one as a buffer to get on the Maslany train. Now you just look out of touch. Ignore the show if clones aren’t your bag, but how can you deny giving acting props to the woman plays almost every character on it? Who is usually reacting only to her own performance? But these aren’t the Emmys. These are the Feelies. And here, Tatiana is going to be rewarded for her mind-boggling skill and adaptability.

Best Actor in a Drama Series

The Nominees Were…

James Spader as Red Reddington, The Blacklist

Hugh Dancy as Will Graham, Hannibal

Mads Mikkelson as Hannibal Lecter, Hannibal

Bryan Cranston as Walter White, Breaking Bad

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Mad Men

Tom Mison as Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow

And the Feelie goes to Tom Mison!

B. Cranst. quickly pulled to the front of the pack when this race got underway, and we were reasonably sure his blistering portrayal of Walter White would bring him yet another accolade. Then the Sleepy Hollow fandom got into the game.

Apparently, we’re just crazy about lobbing awards at Tom Mison. You all voted him our 2013 Sexiest Man Alive (love that both our winner and our runner-up are now proud owners of Feelies) and now he’s beaten out not just Cranston, but Jon Hamm, the Hannibal boys and James Spader to be your favorite Lead Actor in a Drama. I cannot stress this enough: nothing about Sleepy Hollow should work. It just shouldn’t. But it does, and that’s in no small part thanks to the main ensemble’s performances. (And casting in general – well bloody done, casting department.) Little known to most of us before he stepped into modern-day New England, Mison lends Ichabod the courtliness, bravery, charm, and sass that add up to an unforgettable character. He’s turned struggling with modern conveniences into an art; proved that chivalry and feminism aren’t mutually exclusive; and forever raised the bar on how to relate to the OnStar lady. It is we who should be thanking you, dear Tom, for unlocking our hearts from afar.

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

The Nominees Were…

Bellamy Young as Mellie Grant, Scandal

Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, The Walking Dead

Anna Gunn as Skyler White, Breaking Bad

Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris, Mad Men

Hayden Panetierre as Juliette Barnes, Nashville

Erika Christensen as Julia Graham, Parenthood

And the Feelie goes to Bellamy Young!

Our sad queen Mellie Grant juuuuust eked this out over Sklyer “SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP” White and our other sad queen, Carol Peletier. Scandal is oozing with complex characters who are difficult to like. (And some who are very un-complex and impossible to like. *cough*FITZ*cough*) Bellamy Young brought depth and strength to the shrew-behind-the-guy trope, adding more shades to her Lady MacBeth than Shakespeare ever dreamed of. And as Olivia Pope faded into a shadow of her capable self, Mellie owned this season. From the reveal of the personal trauma that’s poisoned almost all of her relationships to her agony at losing the one man who doesn’t want anything from her but her, Mellie is a survivor. Scandal is unquestionably a primetime soap, but Bellamy Young plays it like a Greek tragedy. And that begs the question: who’s the real handler around here?

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

The Nominees Were…

Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, Breaking Bad

Thomas Sadowski as Don Keefer, The Newsroom

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead

Josh Charles as Will Gardner, The Good Wife

Jeff Perry as Cyrus Beene, Scandal

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones

And the Feelie goes to Peter Dinklage!

Despite a group of nominees we’re mighty proud of, it was always between Dinklage and Aaron Paul here. (And probably for the Emmy too.) It was a rough year for GoT fan favorite Tyrion, but at least it paid off in a fictional award from an obscure blog!

Once a man who’s only problem was what would come first, the tits or the wine, Tyrion endured serious injustice at the hands of most of his family. (The only relative who was kind to him only has one of those – coincidence?) His lover betrayed him; he was falsely accused of murdering his wretched nephew; and he watched the man who was battling for his freedom have his skull crushed like a Gusher. Tits? Wine? No??

It was easy to get on board with witty, drunk Tyrion, whose main goal in life was to ridicule the life he was born into. But now shit has hit the fan. He is in it. And we’re hard pressed to think of another actor of any size who could instill the same bright intellect and world-weariness into the black sheep of the House Lannister.

See? Doesn’t that feel better? Now we can go into awards season knowing that true talent and innovation is at least being honored somewhere, if only on the internet. Thanks to everyone who voted, tweeted, Facebooked, or campaigned for their choices. Are you pleased with the outcome? Let us know in the comments!