As the translucent statuettes were being doled out last night in Los Angeles at the 39th annual People’s Choice Awards, I often wondered, who are these “people” and what, really, do they know about comedy? That’s not to say I don’t enjoy Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, but are they seriously worthy of the Favorite Comedic Movie Actress and Actor awards?
Granted, Aniston (pictured above accepting her prize for her work on the admittedly hilarious Wanderlust) was up against a handful of average comedic actresses: Cameron Diaz, Emily Blunt, Mila Kunis and Reese Witherspoon.
Sandler, who, last year, appeared in the widely panned That’s My Boy and the animated Hotel Transylvania (he voices Dracula), beat out Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis (The Campaign), Ben Stiller and Channing Tatum, who proved to be surprisingly funny in 21 Jump Street opposite Jonah Hill.
Seth MacFarlane’s first dip into live-action features Ted, won the award for best comedy flick, beating out 21 Jump Street, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Dark Shadows and Pitch Perfect.
In the realm of television, MTV’s comedy Awkward, in a horrendous crime against the world of comedy, snagged the award for best cable comedy, beating out FX’s long-running, fan favorite It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The Big Bang Theory was named favorite network television comedy, beating out Glee, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family and New Girl.
NBC’s The New Normal snagged the award for best new television comedy; it was pitted against two other NBC comedies (the terribly-rated Guys with Kids and Matthew Perry’s Go On) as well as the severely underrated show The Neighbors and Fox’s The Mindy Project.
For her role on Glee, Lea Michele (pictured above) won the prize for favorite actress, beating out co-star Jane Lynch, Sofia Vergara, The Big Bang Theory‘s Kaley Cuoco (seen below hosting the event last night) and Zooey Deschanel. Michele’s co-star Chris Colfer snagged the actor award in the same category; he was up against Modern Family stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Ty Burell, as well as Neil Patrick Harris and Jim Parsons.
In what would turn out to be the most meaningful win of the night, Jimmy Fallon beat out David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien and Chelsea Handler for favorite late night talk show host. Steve Harvey went on to win for favorite new talk show host while Ellen Degeneres, not surprisingly, won for favorite daytime host.
You can check out the complete list of nominees and winners here.