BENJAMONSTER AWARDS: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Today's award is Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series!

The nominees are:

ANTHONY ANDERSON as Andre Johnson in Black-ish (ABC)

TED DANSON as Michael in The Good Place (NBC)

MICHAEL DOUGLAS as Sandy Kominsky in The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

JOHN GOODMAN as Dan Conner in The Conners (ABC)

BEN PLATT as Payton Hobart in The Politician (Netflix)

ANDY SAMBERG as Jake Peralta in Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC)

DAX SHEPARD as Mike in Bless This Mess (ABC)

RAMY YOUSSEF as Ramy in Ramy (Hulu)

And the Winner Is...
TED DANSON
The Good Place (NBC)
This was an interesting category because there are many veteran actors in here (only one was part of a brand new show). I'm not sure any of them had their best season ever but they were all rock solid and strong. I went with Ted Danson for his final season of The Good Place. Danson is a TV legend and has made each part his own from the suave Sam on Cheers to the grumpy Becker on Becker to the wildly goofy Michael on The Good Place. He had such a wonderful closing arc for his goofy and endearing character. When The Good Place meandered a bit early in its final season, Danson continued to be excellent every moment he was on screen. The character went through so many incarnations but he was so easy to root for in the end thanks to Danson's portrayal.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:
As I mentioned, this is a category full of rock solid veterans but many have maybe had their breakout season a different year (and probably several would have one in previous years if I had been doing these awards every year). The only star of a new show represented is Ben Platt who was interesting and complex as a character that could have been very easy to hate in The Politician (I haven't watched season two yet). I thought Black-ish had an uneven season but Anthony Anderson was easily the strongest part of it. Dax Shepard really shined in the underrated and sadly now cancelled Bless This Mess. John Goodman has really come into his own and taken control since Roseanne Barr's departure on The Conners. Michael Douglas brings his movie star charm to a vulnerable performance in The Kominsky Method. Andy Samberg turned in another great year with some very funny moments in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Finally, Ramy Youssef had a very interesting second season on Ramy that has his fingerprints over every aspect of that series.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series!