BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2021: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Today's award is Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series!

Check out the nominees and winner from 2020!

This year's nominees are:

SKYLAR ASTIN as Max in Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (NBC)

BRETT GOLDSTEIN as Roy Kent in Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)

MICHAEL HUISMAN as Alex Sokolov in The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)

BRENDAN HUNT as Coach Beard in Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)

GRIFFIN MATTHEWS as Shane Evans in The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)

NICO SANTOS as Mateo in Superstore (NBC)

JEREMY SWIFT as Higgins in Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)

KENAN THOMPSON as Various Characters in Saturday Night Live (NBC)

And the Winner Is...

BRENDAN HUNT

Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)

Where would Ted Lasso (the character and the show) be without Ted's trusty assistant Coach Beard. As played by Brendan Hunt, he was the perfect right hand man who knew when to support Ted and when to call him out on things. When a show has such a dynamic lead character like the title one, having a straight man as the number two is essential. Brendan Hunt probably didn't give the funniest performance of this group of nominees though he was responsible for many great dry one-liners. What was more important though was he was the most real and the perhaps the most essential supporting character in the truest sense of the word. He supported the lead character and lead stories in every way. And considering Brendan Hunt is one of the creators, I hope they take his character to the next level in season two.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:

This category was dominated with actors from Ted Lasso and The Flight Attendant. Joining Brendan Hunt from Lasso was Brett Goldstein and Jeremy Swift. Goldstein had a great arc during the season and was especially effective and interesting as the season wound down while Swift was a great at playing off of both Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham. Over on The Flight Attendant, Michael Huisman was key to the entire season and had great chemistry with Kaley Cuoco while Griffin Matthews wasn't always given a ton of material but made the most of it especially in the great "Funeralia" episode. Skylar Astin became a more important character in the second season of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist and had a lot of great moments musical and otherwise while Nico Santos was given an even bigger role in the final season of Superstore and became one of the MVPs in the ensemble comedy. Finally, I'm not a big fan of giving nominations to Saturday Night Live actors because it's always so up and down but there's no denying that Kenan Thompson is a legend at this point and he elevates everything he's in, even when the sketch is a complete bomb.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series!