We’re kicking off our Best of 2023 awards today, and as always, it’s starting with the Best of TV week. We’ll have a week of Top 5 awards before handing out the Top 10 TV Series of 2023. But for now, let’s start with some laughs.

Our picks for the best Leading Performances in a Comedy Series for 2023 sound like the start of a good joke. “What happens when a nun, a shrink and a detective walk into a bar?” You get some standout comedy series of the years, that’s what!

Here are our picks for the Best Leading Performances in a Comedy Series in 2023.

5. Madeline Sami – Deadloch

When a murder occurs in little ol’ Tasmania (shoutouts), the AFP sends Eddie Redcliffe down from the country’s sunnier side to help solve the case. When Madeline Sami walks onto the screen in boardies and flip-flops, it’s an icebreaker for how you’ll feel about this dark comedy that’s more than willing to play into the silly side. Every moment she’s on screen, it’s fantastic, and although special mentions are deserved for Kate Box being able to deliver the serious detective to make this role work. It was Sami who had me laughing or shaking my head in amusement. 

– Dylan

4. Emma Mackey – Sex Education: Season 4

The final season of Sex Education has become controversial for fans, especially how the show attempts to wrap up and give a “happy” ending to Maeve and Otis. But you can’t look past Emma Mackey’s ability to be the heart of this show, particularly this season. Between her relationship with Otis, dealing with a dick of a teacher in America, and then her mother’s substance abuse problems, a lot is going on in her life. But Emma still manages to bring the charm and jokes to keep the series feeling like its first couple of years. 

– Dylan

3. Cecily Strong – Schmigadoon!: Season 2

While Schmigadoon has a stellar ensemble cast, Cecily Strong’s star shone the brightest this season which sees the show move away from satirising wholesome 1940s and 1950s Musicals, instead focusing on dark musicals of the 1960s and 1970s. Strong has numerous memorable performances but the two that stand out the most are “I Need to Eat”, the A Chorus Line-inspired audition song where she showcases her comedic timing and physical comedy chops, and “Maybe It’s My Turn Now”, the ‘Maybe This Time’ sound-a-like that is an emotional high for the series. The asks so much of Cecily Strong and more than delivers on every front.

– Ashley

2. Jason Segel – Shrinking: Season 1

It’s been almost a decade since Jason Segel last starred in a TV comedy, but his performance here is vastly different from his time on How I Met Your Mother. While Marshall Erikson was a near-eternal optimist, Jimmy Laird starts at rock bottom and we see him slowly rebuild himself throughout the season. Segel is stellar here with him, never becoming too unlikable despite his constant bad decisions, nor too cringe-worthy with Jimmy’s seemingly natural instinct to make situations as awkward as possible. Whether he’s having fantastic banter with his co-stars or riding a bike, crying to Pheobe Bridgers, Segel gives 100% much to our delight.

– Ashley

1. Betty Gilpin – Mrs. Davis

I would love to know the pitch to Betty Gilpin or if she read the script on a whim and said, “screw it, I’m in!” Because the character of Simone is a role that you either commit to and make it work or fumble at the starting line. And, unsurprisingly, Betty Gilpin goes into this series ready to play a Nun, prepared to be Jesus’ girlfriend and ready to kick some AI ass. And if you have yet to see Mrs. Davis, not a single part of that is a lie, making this role so memorable and full of laugh-out-loud scenes featuring Gilpin at the centre.

– Dylan