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Emmys: Should Jon Cryer move up to the lead comedy actor race for ‘Two and a Half Men’?

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After reading my recent riff on the question of whether ‘Glee’ star Chris Colfer should jump up to the lead Emmy race from the supporting comedy actor competition, our forums moderator, Matt Noble, pondered another possible category switcheroo.

Should Jon Cryer (‘Two and a Half Men’) -- who won best supporting comedy actor two years ago -- move up? There’s a lot of room in the lead-actor category. Only three contenders look like shoo-ins for a nomination: Steve Carell (who’s never won for ‘The Office’), Alec Baldwin (won twice for ’30 Rock’) and last year’s champ Jim Parsons (‘The Big Bang Theory’). Matt Noble sends us his thoughts below:

With three open slots in the lead actor race, it seems like it could be a category worth competing in. There is talk that Chris Colfer and Ed O’Neill should perhaps take advantage of the field and promote themselves. However, it seems like the best person to step up to the plate is actually Jon Cryer from ‘Two and a Half Men.’ Firstly, Cryer has always had a prominent role in the series. The argument has been made every year that, as one of the show’s ‘two men,’ he was entitled to the lead category. He has already won once in supporting and likely wouldn’t be able to beat the tough field there to win again. His chance of winning lead actor is also minimal, but he has little to lose by going up. Charlie Sheen’s public self-destruction makes this a smart move. Sheen has been nominated three times before, but missed out last year. Now voters aren’t going to flock to him after his meltdown. With all the ‘Two and a Half Men’ drama over the past year, Jon Cryer can be the person the academy can rally ‘round. Giving Cryer a nom over Sheen is a way out of the current fiasco –- it acknowledges ‘Two and a Half Men’ in a top category without rewarding Sheen. It would also work well for CBS, which may be trying to promote the show next year without Sheen. It seems like a move up would mean that Cryer, the Academy and CBS could all end up ‘winning’ even if all Cryer gets is a nomination.

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-- Tom O’Neil

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