'Community's' Joel McHale: 'Mad Men,' 'Party Down' among his Emmy picks

It's a tough field this year, but we think NBC's "Community" has a chance at an Emmy nomination for outstanding comedy series. Though the show's lead, Joel McHale, says he never went into the project expecting awards.

"My only main concern is making 'Community' and helping 'Community' be the best show on television," McHale tells Zap2it. "If people will give us a nomination, then terrific. But I love going to work. So, I feel like a kid in a candy store."

That doesn't mean that McHale, who will be announcing the Emmy nominations Thursday (July 8) morning along with "Modern Family's" Sofia Vergara, wouldn't be ecstatic if he gets to announce some nods for his "Community" colleagues.

"Dan Harmon, our creator, I really do think he's some sort of mad genius," McHale says. "And I will fight to the death for all my castmates. I'm blown away by what they do every day."

McHale says between stand-up comedy shows, hosting E!'s "The Soup," starring in "Community" and being a married father of two, he has very little time to actually watch television. Despite that, he does have some shows other than his own, that he feels deserve a nomination.

"I think that 'Modern Family' is a really, really good show," he says. "And it sounds like I'm talking about the team, but I think 'The Office' and '30 Rock' and 'Parks and Rec,' especially with Adam Scott, are really good shows. And 'Party Down.' I look like a really big Adam Scott fan, huh? I think it's really good, really funny, and should be recognized."

And when it comes to dramas, McHale shows he has an attraction to the darker side of the genre.

"Well, I think that, and this is such a cliché -- cliché because it's true -- but 'Mad Men' and 'Breaking Bad' is some of the finest television that's ever been made," he says. "And I think the final season of 'Lost' should be nominated definitely."

He adds, "And 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand.' People are saying, 'huh?' That show got so incredibly good toward the end of the season. I was really blown away. And I thought 'Caprica' was really good."

How do McHale's Emmy picks stand up to yours?

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Photo credit: NBC