The Best of 2009 – A Look Back At This Year’s Outstanding Performances

Jocko Sims and Dennis Hopper in Crash

Best Drama Series: Crash. Starz has gotten little respect for its ground breaking yet low rated series, however, this one deserves a look.  You have to really watch Crash and pay attention or you might miss something.

Runners-up: Mad Men, Durham County, Southland, Medium, The Good Wife, Nip/Tuck

Best Comedy Series: Modern Family.  One of the most pleasant surprises of the new season, this show consistently delivers.  Instantly delivering a great supporting cast lead by Eric Stonestreet and Ed O’Neill, this is the show that proves that the comedy is hardly dead.
Runners-up: The New Adventures of Old Christine, The Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Desperate Housewives, Two & A Half Men, The Middle

Best Reality Show:  Survivor has had its best season since Season 1 thanks to the evil Russell who started out making me cringe and ended up making me route for him.
Runners-up: The Amazing Race, Tabitha’s Salon Takeover, Kitchen Nightmares, and The Biggest Loser

Simon Baker is The Mentalist

Best Lead Actor in a Drama: Simon Baker delivers the goods for this mammoth CBS hit The Mentalist that once again is never going to be water cooler TV mostly because it’s on CBS.
Runner-up: Kiefer Sutherland / 24 and Dennis Hopper / Crash

Best Lead Actress in a Drama: Kyra Sedgewick/The Closer. The show changes from routine to a solid hit thanks to an outstanding performance which should get a mention more often in the media.
Runner-up (tie):Sally Field/Brothers & Sisters and Elizabeth Mitchell/Lost

Best Lead Actress in a Comedy: Julia Louis Dreyfuss still has the best timing in comedy today.  She turned this show, which at first seemed destined for failure into a critical hit.  If only other viewers could give her another shot.
Runner-up: Amy Poehler / Parks & Recreation

Best Lead Actor in a Comedy: Jim Parsons/The Big Bang Theory.  Parsons low key performance is without a doubt the best and deserves to be rewarded one of these years.
Runner-up: Zachary Levi/Chuck

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama: Paul Gross / Eastwick came out of nowhere, but he was one of the few highlights in this failure.   Let’s hope we see more of him in the future.
Runner-up: Michael Emerson / Lost, John Slattery / Mad Men and Evan Handler / Californication

Archie Panjabi in The Good Wife

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama: Archie Panjabi / The Good Wife. With an ensemble of known and respected actors including Josh Charles and Christine Baranski, it’s Archie’s  performance that is the standout.
Runner-up: Christina Hendricks / Mad Men

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy: Eric Stonestreet / Modern Family If you have any questions about his ability or diversity for playing different roles, check out his recent guest performance on the fall finale of Nip/Tuck.
Runner-up: Simon Helberg / The Big Bang Theory and John Krasinski / The Office

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy: Jane Lynch/Glee.  I’ve been a fan of hers since I caught her hysterical performance in The Mighty Wind.  Since then she’s delivered hilarious performances on among other shows,  Two & A Half Men, Boston Legal and most recently, the big screen hit Julie and Julia.
Runner-up: Wanda Sykes / The New Adventures of Christine,  Conchata Ferrell / Two and a Half Men and Angela Kinsey / The Office