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Though Steve Carell is a perennial Emmy nominee for his work on The Office, he's never taken home a trophy of his own (even as the show itself won the Outstanding Comedy Award in 2006). Now, the LAT's easily excitable Tom O'Neill thinks he's nailed the reason why: Carell is just too darn creepy in the role.

Sometimes I'm tempted to dismiss Steve Carell 's shot at winning the Emmy for two reasons. He portrays what we all (including Emmy voters) hate the most — the creepy boss from hell — and he's already lost the race for best comedy actor twice. How can he possibly have any hope now?

While O'Neill goes on to call Carell's Michael Scott, "detestable, "offensive," "awful," and "off-putting" (and don't even get him started on Rainn Wilson's Dwight!) we can't help but quibble with his logic: if Emmy voters were afraid of cringe-inducing comedy, why would Carell be losing out to twitchy performances by Ricky Gervais and Tony Shalhoub? No, we believe Carell's Emmy ignonimy is rooted in a different source: his humid reaction shot at the 2006 ceremony (pictured above). Steve, can you play all the creepy bosses you want to, but never let 'em see you sweat.