Much like her character Sheila Jackson on Showtime’s comedy series “Shameless,” Joan Cusack just can’t win. As the show has teetered between the drama and comedy categories at the Emmys, two things have remained consistent: Cusack will be nominated in the Guest Actress category, and Cusack will lose. But hold on, Derbyites! It looks like the fifth time may be the charm for Cusack in the Best Comedy Guest Actress race thanks to her episode submission “Milk of the Gods.”
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SYNOPSIS
The Season 5 premiere finds Sheila still fending off her new husband Frank’s (William H. Macy) step-daughter Sammi and her son Chuckie. As Sammi tends to her nightly flings, Chuckie continues to wander into Sheila’s home and invites himself for dinner while he waits for Sammi’s rendezvous to end in her trailer, which is conveniently located next door to Sheila’s.
The tension between Sheila and Sammi gets to a boiling point when Shelia discovers Sammi had a fling on her pristine white couch and may or may not have used her sex toys. Sheila goes into a rage, changing the locks on Sammi and making sure Chuckie is no longer a frequent visitor to her house. Can this episode win Cusack an Emmy on her fifth try? Let’s weigh the pros and cons:
PROS
Cusack does have some name competition to contend with such as Tina Fey and Christine Baranski, but the two-time Oscar nominee isn’t too shabby on being a name herself.
The Emmys have nominated her five times in a row, even bringing her over from the Drama Guest Actress category for which she scored nominations in 2011, 2012, and 2013, to the Comedy Guest Actress race last year and this year.
It’s time. Obviously, Emmy voters know she’s been nominated over and over because they’re the one who keep nominating her. She’s the only one of the returning nominees to consistently get in to the Guest Actress categories and this year they may feel it’s just her time to claim the gold.
She’s really funny! Her facial expressions dealing with Sammi and Chuckie are gold and her reactions are even better. It also helps that not only is her episode the longest, but she has the most screen time and laugh-out-loud moments.
CONS
Losing the first few times is understandable but losing four times in a row may signal that the Emmys love Cusack, but maybe not Sheila Jackson as much.
Last year she had a brilliant submission in “Liver, I Hardly Know Her!” and lost. Maybe her time has just passed.
Unlike the other nominees’ shows in the category, “Shameless” hasn’t reaped any many major nominations or even won an Emmy in the past.
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Photo Credit: Cliff Lipson/SHOWTIME
