And yes, there were the usual suspects we expected to overwhelm us this particular year, most notably Game of Thrones. I mean, really, who doesn't recognize the power of that series?
However, this year of all the female actors, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is at the top of the proverbial heap. No question.
We all remember seeing Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Seinfeld. She played Elaine Benis, a hyper-moving, hyper-talking funny chick who wore impossible shoes (those black and white bucks!) and a hair-raising hair line. Julia made Elaine mercurial, annoying, adorable and somebody we secretly wanted to have as a friend.
Then came Selina Meyer, the Vice President who wore fabulous outfits, slayed us with her wit and generally allowed Julia to stretch her acting chops even more than she had with Elaine.
Anyone who saw the Final Episode of VEEP watched Louis-Dreyfus morph Selina into the most horrific Presidential candidate anyone could possibly imagine. Selina out-bitched the worst bitches, turned on her friends, lied to her daughter, stabbed her long-time assistant in the back and well, did all the things many politicos do on their way up the ladder.
It was an acting tour-de-force to watch those last few minutes of the series. Now I hated Selina, loathed what she had become. I had rooted for her so long to reach the Presidency. And now that she had blurred so many lines to achieve her goal, I wanted nothing more to do with her.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus in a single hour subtly maneuvered Selina Meyer into the Oval Office by morphing her into a card-carrying politician with all the bad characteristics we have unfortunately come to expect from so many of them.
I vote for Julia Louis-Dreyfus to land a well-deserved Emmy this coming Fall. It's frightening to watch a television character snow a fictitious country into giving her the most important job in the United States, even as a fictional character. More frightening to consider which real-life person inspired Julia Louis-Dreyfus as she turned Selina into a monster. We can all learn a lesson from this.
Amen, and pass the mustard.
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