BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2021: Outstanding Guest Actor or Actress in a Comedy Series

Today's award is Outstanding Guest Actor or Actress in a Comedy Series!

Check out the nominees and winner from 2020!

This year's nominees are:

AZIZ ANSARI as Dev in Master of None (Netflix)

FRED ARMISEN as Bongo in Shrill (Hulu)

CORDELIA BLAIR as Nurse Cordelia in Master of None (Netflix)

PETER GALLAGHER as Mitch in Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (NBC)

ASHLEE GRUBBS as Maura in PEN15 (Hulu)

ANN MAGNUDSON as Janet Sokolov in The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)

ANDREW RANNELLS as Kev Hamlin in Girls5Eva (Peacock)

ROBIN WEIGERT as Andi Mueller in The Politician (Netflix)

And the Winner Is...

ANDREW RANNELLS

Girls5Eva (Peacock)

There were a lot of guest stars in the first season of Girls5Eva including some bizarre appearances from Stephen Colbert and Tina Fey. The best guest star was Andrew Rannells as Summer's (Busy Phillips) distant former boy band member boyfriend Kev. He fully dove into the role who was the type of guy who says "babe" a lot. He perfectly captured the pathetic nature of a "bro" from the early 2000s who is still hanging on to his past glory. Rannells made some very funny choices on line deliveries and also managed to ultimately be a sympathetic character despite the ridiculousness. I wouldn't be upset if he became a series regular in season two.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:

This was an interesting group of nominees. Two of them were characters who were series regulars on their shows in the past. Peter Gallagher saw his arc on Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist come to an end last season but returned for a couple strong guest appearances this season. Aziz Ansari was sorely missed on Master of None this season but made the most of his guest appearances. Speaking of Master of None, Cordelia Blair was wonderful as the nurse everyone probably wished they had. You can always count on Fred Armisen to provide some wonderfully weird comedy and he did so again in Shrill while Ann Magnudson was steely and strong in The Flight Attendant. Robin Weigert was responsible mainly for what was easily the best episode of a rough second season of The Politician. But the biggest threat to Rannells was Ashlee Grubbs in PEN15 as a very needy friend whose obsessive tendencies were very funny and  borderline scary.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Guest Actor or Actress in a Drama Series!