Emmy spotlight: Can Brad Pitt finally win Best Comedy Guest Actor for ‘Dave’?

From its writing and direction to an incredible soundtrack, “Dave” reached a creative penith this year. Nevertheless, viewership has remained low. One has to wonder if the newest season’s roster of guest performers was in part curated to fix that. Megan Fox, Jack Harlow, Don Cheadle, Drake and even Rachel McAdams all factor into Lil Dicky’s crude journey toward self-discovery, but the finale’s inclusion of Brad Pitt – Pete Davidson wanted him, but Dicky closed the deal – is so absurd and gut-bustingly funny that it’s impossible to ignore, which is sort of the point. And Dave Burd is nothing if not self-aware.

The third season’s finale, titled “Looking for Love” (no kidding), begins on the set of “Mr. McAdams,” a music video permitting our favorite man-child to serenade his childhood celebrity crush. After the shoot, Dave strikes up a conversation about window glass with Pitt, who inexplicably agreed to be in the video. If you think that’s the extent of the Oscar winner’s participation, you don’t know Dicky. It’s best to leave the nature of their reunion a secret, but let’s just say the episode simulates how “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” could’ve gone down had Cliff Booth been a New Age-y movie star instead of a certified bad ass. It’s one of the most balls-to-the-wall half-hours of television you’ll see this year. 

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Were it down to star power, Pitt would almost certainly be getting in. However, while this sort of stunt casting may garner a round of media coverage, it’s not as foolproof an awards strategy as you’d think – not even for Emmy favorites (case in point: Jon Hamm missing for “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in 2020). Furthermore, the guest categories in 2022 were filled out by contenders in shows also nominated for Best Comedy or Variety Sketch Series, and our odds predict a similar outcome this year, putting “Dave,” ranked 24th, at a disadvantage. But one needn’t venture too far into the past to find a precedent.

In 2021, Bernadette Peters earned a slot for “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” making her the only nominee for a series not recognized in either Comedy or Variety. But the show, in addition to earning nominations that year besides Guest Actress, also had prior bids on its side. “Dave” does not. In 2020, Dev Patel got into the category, nabbing “Modern Love” its one and only nomination, but any argument that rests on a pandemic-year irregularity probably isn’t very strong. The best counterexample is 2018, when Maya Rudolph provided a point of entry for “The Good Place” (along with Ted Danson in Lead). The show would go on to compete for Best Comedy the following year. It would be incredible for “Dave” to pull off the same combo, considering Pitt and Burd are ranked 27th and 43rd, respectively. Pitt has two previous Guest Actor nominations – 2002 (“Friends”) and 2020 (“Saturday Night Live”).

SEE Emmys update: Third time looks like the charm for ‘Dave’

How can you grow annoyed at a cry for attention this bold and original? The problem is that voters who aren’t already tuned in are unlikely to hear it. Trying to persuade someone to give “Dave” a shot will, nine times out of ten, elicit the question, “The show with all the dick jokes?” Instead of dissuading them by arguing the FXX masterpiece’s deeper meaning, it may simply be time to answer in the affirmative, all the while promising that the punchline is to die for.

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