It's been a good year for television and the GQ Men of the Year issue is celebrating some of these TV stars. These are the men (and women) of comedy, drama and late night that have given some knockout performances and raised their profiles in the past year. So who is lucky enough to make the list?
First up is late night host Jimmy Fallon who graces one of the four covers with History of Rap co-star Justin Timberlake. Fallon and Timberlake have recently made a third instalment of the incredibly popular viral video sensation for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (which you can see below). The show also got nominated for an Emmy and it is thanks to diverse and fun sketches such as History of Rap that has made the talk show a big hit. The pair discuss in the interview how the idea for doing a singing bit came about backstage at SNL with Fallon originally wanted to do Toto's 'Africa.' This would have probably been funny but it's probably a good thing that it evolved into The History of Rap.
Comedy is well represented in the issue with Mila Kunis being another one of the four cover stars and whilst her success story of 2011 is on the big screen with Black Swan and Friends with Benefits, the actress also still voices Meg on Family Guy. Kristen Wiig is another comedic actress that has made her name in film this year with the epic success of Bridesmaids which she starred in and co-wrote. Wiig was nominated for an Emmy this year for her work on SNL and Mad Men star (and Bridesmaids co-star) Jon Hamm first noticed Wiig in the SNL sketch "Lady Business". Hamm writes in the magazine that:
"Kristen’s line was "I'm a bitch in the boardroom, a bore in the bedroom, and I'm a bear on the toilet," which she delivered with over-the-top seriousness. I thought, "My God, this girl is funny.""
Tina Fey writes about pizza and Steve Carell and it is way better than I can make out as she talks about her Date Night co-star who ended his time on The Office this year. GQ gives the title of 'Comic Genius' to Louis CK, a title that I'm sure no one will argue with him getting and Joan Rivers talks about her guest spot on his FX show. Rivers gives the comic a glowing review saying "He's fearless and hates a lot of things that deserve to be hated."
The men of cable shows also fair well with the male cast of Breaking Bad getting the honor of 'Badassess' for what was yet another strong year of the show. There are a lot of performers from the cast of Boardwalk Empire that could make the issue (in fact the whole cast did last year) but Michael Shannon who plays agent Nelson Van Aldern is bestowed with the term 'Fanatic' after his intense work on the small and big screen this year.
Peter Dinklage won best supporting actor at this year's Emmy and also receives GQ's 'Stud' of the year for his role on Game of Thrones and says of his character that "Tyrion was made an outcast by his family, so he- how should I put it?- he doesn't give a shit." Another of this year's Emmy winners to make the list is Kyle Chandler for his last season of Friday Night Lights. Buzz Bissinger, who wrote the book that the show is based upon, describes Chandler's performance beautifully saying "Kyle's combination of authentic toughness and authentic compassion hauled you in."
South Park was renewed through till 2016 last week which ends a very good year for creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker who have had big success on Broadway with The Book of Mormon. Fellow Comedy Central star Jon Stewart is given the task of writing about the pair and does so in splendid and eloquent fashion.
What do you think of the TV stars that have made the list? Who would you include? Who are you happy to see featured?
To see all of the Men of the Year head to GQ and you can pick up a copy on newsstands now.
The way South Park was heading it didn't look like Stone/Parker wanted anymore – general theme was all about getting bored with doing the same thing and growing up!
Possible one of the best magazine covers I've ever seen though…