While Paul Giamatti is earning his first Emmy nomination in the comedy categories with his turn as Juror #10 on “Inside Amy Schumer,” this is not his first go around with the TV Academy. Giamatti won the trophy for Movie/Mini Actor in 2008 for “John Adams” and was nominated two other times: Movie/Mini Supporting Actor in 2011 for “Too Big to Fail” and Drama Guest Actor last year for “Downton Abbey.” But can he return to the winner’s circle this year? He’s looking to win Best Comedy Guest Actor with the episode “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer.”
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SYNOPSIS
The entire episode is a spoof of the 1958 film “12 Angry Men,” only in this one Amy Schumer is on trial and the jury is deliberating whether she is attractive enough to be on television. When the jury takes their initial vote and it’s 11-1 against her being hot enough, Juror #10 starts speaking mockingly of the dissenting juror’s opinion. As more jurors begin defecting to the side that believes Schumer is attractive enough for television, Juror #10 continuously ridicules them and makes comments like, “Women don’t need orgasms, that’s science,” and, “She’s built like a lineman and she has Cabbage Patch-like features. Her ass makes me furious.”
Finally, toward the end he’s confronted about whether Amy could give him an erection and when it finally happens, he collapses in his chair and says, “God help me,” in a very melodramatic fashion. At the end of the episode during the mini-gag reel Giamatti also gets a couple of good outtakes as well. Can Giamatti win with this episode of “Inside Amy Schumer”? Let’s examine the pros and cons:
PROS
Giamatti is hilarious with the way he delivers this performance in an over-the-top and melodramatic way and his sexist one-liners are some of the episode’s highlights.
Sketch shows usually do well in these guest categories, as seen by the many wins by “Saturday Night Live,” and Schumer’s show is so hot right now that the popularity could carry over into a win.
Giamatti is considered an actor’s actor and in a category that is voted on exclusively by performers, that can only help him.
CONS
Giamatti is part of an ensemble cast in this episode and that could hurt him as he’s not always the standout character.
If some of the voters are more prudish, they will probably find the humor to be too crude for their tastes.
Some voters may not get the context of the episode as a satire, so they might find Giamatti’s lines to be offensive and will want to avoid rewarding it.
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Photo Credit: Comedy Central
