Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Lead Actress in a Drama

Claire Danes - "Carrie Mathison", Homeland
Michelle Dockery - "Lady Mary Crawley", Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies - "Alicia Florrick", The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss - "Peggy Olson", Mad Men
Madeleine Stowe - "Victoria Grayson", Revenge
Kerry Washington - "Olivia Pope", Scandal

I've liked Danes for a long time*, but I don't think I realized that she had a character like Carrie in her. Her nervy energy made Carrie immediately distinctive and showed very early on in the season that the terrorist mystery wasn't Homeland's only draw. Mary Crawley might be my current favorite television character - I'm fascinated by her continual inability to act in favor of her own self interest, and I like how Dockery lets Mary's frustration with herself simmer just under her restrained surface. Margulies helped give more shape to the world of The Good Wife as Alicia took a step back to evaluate her relationships with her friends, family and coworkers. Moss' performance in the fifth season of Mad Men was a great slow burn, showing not only Peggy's growing discontent but her attempts to sweep it under the rug to keep up appearances and to try to save her relationship with Don. I keep using the phrase "classic soap" when I talk about Revenge, but that's just because it felt somehow refreshing to see that actors like Stowe could still embody that mode of melodramatic serial storytelling and produce a real diva turn. Washington made Scandal's claims of Olivia's power and capability feel like they weren't hyperbolic, and the show's puzzle pieces of people and relationships fell into place around her strong center.

*This is a digression, but as I first observed some time ago, repeat viewings of the 1994 version of Little Women at a young, impressionable age undoubtedly have an impact here. I sort of alluded to it in the unsubmitted post, but recent viewings have really made me appreciate Danes' work as Beth March and how much it avoids stereotypical sentimentality.

Honorable Mentions: Glenn Close, Damages; Emily Deschanel, Bones; Mireille Enos, The Killing; Katie LeClerc, Switched at Birth; Vanessa Marano, Switched at Birth; Jessica Pare, Mad Men; Ellen Pompeo, Grey's Anatomy; Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy; Anna Torv, Fringe; Emily VanCamp, Revenge

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Kathy Bates, Harry's Law; Mariska Hargitay, Law and Order: SVU; Marg Helgenberger, CSI; Taraji P. Henson, Person of Interest; Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey; Debra Messing, Smash

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Lead Actress in a Comedy

Laura Dern - "Amy Jellicoe", Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel - "Jess Day", New Girl
Lena Dunham - "Hannah Horvath", Girls
Amy Poehler - "Leslie Knope", Parks and Recreation
Ashley Rickards - "Jenna Hamilton", Awkward.
Krysten Ritter - "Chloe", Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23

Honorable Mentions: Christina Applegate, Up All Night; Leslie Bibb, GCB; Rachel Bilson, Hart of Dixie; Courteney Cox, Cougar Town; Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Jane Levy, Suburgatory; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep; Lea Michele, Glee; Lennon Parham, Best Friends Forever; Amanda Peet, Bent; Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope; Jessica St. Clair, Best Friends Forever; Dreama Walker, Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Beth Behrs, 2 Broke Girls; Kat Dennings, 2 Broke Girls; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Patricia Heaton, The Middle; Laura Linney, The Big C; Melissa McCarthy, Mike and Molly; Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Lead Actor in a Drama

Steve Buscemi - "Nucky Thompson", Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston - "Walter White", Breaking Bad
Jon Hamm - "Don Draper", Mad Men
Dustin Hoffman - "Ace Bernstein", Luck
Damian Lewis - "Nicholas Brody", Homeland
Timothy Olyphant - "Raylan Givens", Justified

Honorable Mentions: Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey; Charlie Hunnam, Sons of Anarchy; Dan Stevens, Downton Abbey; David Strathairn, Alphas

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Patrick J. Adams, Suits; Ted Danson, CSI; Michael Emerson, Person of Interest; Kelsey Grammer, Boss; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Jeremy Irons, The Borgias; Hugh Laurie, House; Denis Leary, Rescue Me; William H. Macy, Shameless; Ray Romano, Men of a Certain Age; Kiefer Sutherland, Touch

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Lead Actor in a Comedy

Alec Baldwin - "Jack Donaghy", 30 Rock
Louis C.K. - "Louie", Louie
Zachary Levi - "Chuck Bartowski", Chuck
Joel McHale - "Jeff Winger", Community
Adam Scott - "Ben Wyatt", Parks and Recreation
David Walton - "Pete", Bent

I don't love 30 Rock as much as I used to, but Jack's attempts to cope in the face of Avery's kidnapping still showcased Baldwin's strengths. Louis C.K.'s performance freely communicates the scope of his ambitions as a writer/director - at his best, it feels like his imagination has no limits. Levi is sort of a sentimental favorite for Chuck's final season, but his performance was really key to the show wrapping up its five-season arc in demonstrating Chuck's growth and maturity. McHale remains Community's chief straight man, but also lets us see Jeff giving himself over more and more to his friends' whims. Scott wore many different hats this season on Parks and Rec - romantic lead, unemployed sadsack, capable campaign manager - and proved to be a valuable part of the show's ensemble in all of them. It's a shame that NBC didn't want to give Bent a chance to grow an audience. It didn't get the opportunity to work all its kinks out, but always showed Walton off at his most charismatic.

Honorable Mentions: Will Arnett, Up All Night; Garret Dillahunt, Raising Hope; Rob Lowe, Parks and Recreation

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Tim Allen, Last Man Standing; Don Cheadle, House of Lies; Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men; Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory; Ed Helms, The Office; Ashton Kutcher, Two and a Half Men; Danny McBride, Eastbound and Down; Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory; Elijah Wood, Wilfred

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Supporting Actor in a Drama

Jack Huston - "Richard Harrow", Boardwalk Empire
Vincent Kartheiser - "Pete Campbell", Mad Men
Gabriel Mann - "Nolan Ross", Revenge
Neal McDonough - "Robert Quarles", Justified
Nick Nolte - "Walter Smith", Luck
Mandy Patinkin - "Saul Berenson", Homeland

Huston's performance is mesmerizingly quiet in a show full of big personalities. He made the act of simply flipping through a scrapbook seem like the saddest thing I'd ever seen, and makes Richard's mask feel like a part of him instead of a prop. Kartheiser has long been one of my favorite members of the Mad Men ensemble - this season, he made Pete's discontent so deeply felt that it could've been an extra character. I'm not the sort of viewer who particularly needs to like a character to enjoy watching them, but I really liked Nolan a lot. Mann is a supporting player in the best sense, letting Nolan function as a friend and sidekick to Emily, as a distinctive, droll character but not one who overshadows. McDonough gave a great single-season villain performance (a new-ish archetype in light of the rise of cable drama?), particularly in devolving over the course of the season from highly controlled to no control at all. I never really felt like I understood horse love until I watched Luck, and the warmth at the core of Nolte's performance was a big part of that. I hope whatever hype carried him to his Oscar nomination this year brings some attention to his work on Luck. I think Patinkin was fundamental to Homeland's success in its first season, a still point for the action to move around. He shows Saul as someone who deeply wants to trust Carrie, but remains wary so as to avoid being drawn into a folie a deux with her. 

Honorable Mentions: Dylan Baker, Damages; Raymond Barry, Justified; Sean Berdy, Switched at Birth; Christian Borle, Smash; Jim Carter, Downton Abbey; Brendan Coyle, Downton Abbey; Henry Czerny, Revenge; Jack Davenport, Smash; Guillermo Diaz, Scandal; Seth Gabel, Fringe; Walton Goggins, Justified; John Goodman, Damages; David Harewood, Homeland; Jared Harris, Mad Men; Joshua Jackson, Fringe; Joel Kinnaman, The Killing; Kevin McKidd, Grey's Anatomy; Joseph Morgan, The Vampire Diaries; Michael Mosley, Pan Am; John Noble, Fringe; Jeff Perry, Scandal; Nick Searcy, Justified; Brent Sexton, The Killing; John Slattery, Mad Men

Particular props to the ensembles of: Boardwalk Empire (Michael Pitt, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg, Shea Whigham, Michael Kenneth Williams); Breaking Bad (Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito, Dean Norris, Bob Odenkirk, Aaron Paul); Game of Thrones (Alfie Allen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Richard Madden); The Good Wife (Josh Charles, Alan Cumming, Matt Czuchry, Chris Noth); Luck (Ritchie Coster, Kevin Dunn, Dennis Farina, Jason Gedrick, Ian Hart, Richard Kind, Tom Payne, Gary Stevens); Sons of Anarchy (Dayton Callie, Ryan Hurst, William Lucking, Ron Perlman, Theo Rossi)

This category is my bete noire every year. (Yes, I know. Someday, when I have enough patience, I'll go hunt down the appropriate symbols for all this errant French.)

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age; Robert Sean Leonard, House

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Supporting Actress in a Drama

Jamie Anne Allman - "Terry Marek", The Killing
Anna Gunn - "Skyler White", Breaking Bad
Lena Headey - "Cersei Lannister", Game of Thrones
Christina Hendricks - "Joan Holloway Harris", Mad Men
Gretchen Mol - "Gillian Darmody", Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Siff - "Dr. Tara Knowles", Sons of Anarchy

I think Allman's performance rescued The Killing a bit, maintaining a continuity of character and performance that worked even when the overly twisty journey to the story's denouement strayed too far afield. Both Gunn and Siff played roles valuable to a practical appraisal of how shows like Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy depict their outlaw protagonists, exposing the way that "I'm doing all this for you" quickly becomes just another rationalization for bad behavior. It might be cheating a bit to judge based on possible future events, but I loved the way Headey's performance laid groundwork for Game of Thrones to follow Cersei's future path down the rabbit hole. There weren't many better single-episode performances this year than Hendricks in "The Other Woman," but the whole season she did great work as Joan dealt with new motherhood, the dissolution of her marriage and the intangible nature of her power in the office. Mol's role - the terrible, clinging mother, the Lady Macbeth figure - has become somewhat of a cliche in antihero-driven television, but she maintains a balance between the sadness in Gillian's past and the horror of her more recent actions to shape a truly distinctive character.

Honorable Mentions: Morena Baccarin, Homeland; Christine Baranski, The Good Wife; Betsy Brandt, Breaking Bad; Rose Byrne, Damages; Joelle Carter, Justified; Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones; Kerry Condon, Luck; Paz De La Huerta, Boardwalk Empire; Michelle Fairley, Game of Thrones; Megan Hilty, Smash; Anjelica Huston, Smash; Kelly McDonald, Boardwalk Empire; Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy; Aleksa Palladino, Boardwalk Empire; Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife; Morgan Saylor, Homeland; Caterina Scorsone, Private Practice; Kiernan Shipka, Mad Men; Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey; Darby Stanchfield, Scandal; Sophie Turner, Game of Thrones; Karine Vanasse, Pan Am

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Jennifer Carpenter, Dexter; Michelle Forbes, The Killing; Mary McDonnell, The Closer

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Anna Chlumsky - "Amy", Veep
Eliza Coupe - "Jane", Happy Endings
Cheryl Hines - "Dallas Royce", Suburgatory
Zosia Mamet - "Shoshanna Shapiro", Girls
Aubrey Plaza - "April Ludgate", Parks and Recreation
Casey Wilson - "Penny", Happy Endings

Chlumsky ably navigates between "high-strung" and "manic," a distinction that helps keep Veep from being too broad. I'm sure every Happy Endings fan has different favorites among the show's ensemble, and as someone who's kind of both a control freak and a total mess, mine are Jane and Penny. Coupe sells Jane's image of a world on which she can impose order without making her too draconian and Wilson sells Penny as an romantic and an optimist without making her seem naive. Hines' performance rests right in Suburgatory's sweet spot, with a perfect balance of the kind of superficiality the show sends up (with varying degrees of success) and the heart that shows that it's not all just silliness. Mamet, too, was distinctively, delightfully silly, but also undercut Shoshanna's superficiality by showing the fear driving her insecurity about falling behind her peers in gaining life experience. Plaza shows April growing into a more considerate adult without making it feel like a loss of her distinctive personality.

Honorable Mentions: Vanessa Bayer, Saturday Night Live; Sufe Bradshaw, Veep; Elisha Cuthbert, Happy Endings; Jemima Kirke, Girls; Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock; Diane Ladd, Enlightened; Busy Phillips, Cougar Town; Retta, Parks and Recreation; Naya Rivera, Glee; Maya Rudolph, Up All Night; Miriam Shor, GCB; Hannah Simone, New Girl; Allison Williams, Girls

Particular props to the ensembles of: Community (Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Gillian Jacobs); Suburgatory (Carly Chaikin, Ana Gasteyer, Allie Grant)

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory; Julie Bowen, Modern Family; Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives; Cloris Leachman, Raising Hope; Jane Lynch, Glee; Melissa Rauch, The Big Bang Theory; Eden Sher, The Middle; Catherine Tate, The Office; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family; Betty White, Hot in Cleveland; Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Adam Driver - "Adam Sackler", Girls
Donald Glover - "Troy Barnes", Community
Max Greenfield - "Schmidt", New Girl
Bill Hader - "Various roles", Saturday Night Live
Danny Pudi - "Abed Nadir", Community
Reid Scott - "Dan", Veep

As much as Lena Dunham obviously shapes the tone of Girls, Driver represented an important aspect of the show in bringing so much oddball energy to bear as a romantic lead truly unlike any other on television. Troy and Abed's relationship formed such a significant through-line for this season of Community that I might venture to say that they functioned more as leads than Jeff did, but not so much so that it seems like category fraud. Both Glover and Pudi grounded Community's wide-ranging universe in real-world emotions in showing Troy grappling with the way he wants and needs to change in growing older, and in recognizing at the same time that there are aspects of Abed's personality that resist that same kind of change. (Also, Troy's reaction to the troll doll when he returns to the apartment in the relevant timeline in "Remedial Chaos Theory" may be my favorite scene of the whole year. I kept that episode on my DVR for months just so I could watch it if I was in a bad mood.) It's repetitive and reductive, but also true to call Greenfield a scene-stealer. I'll also say that he benefitted the most from the New Girl writers shaping the characters as they got to know their actors better, revealing a sweet, somewhat fussy heart underneath Schmidt's player facade. It says "various roles," but in terms of more-or-less single-handedly keeping his show from teetering off the edge into cultural insignificance it might as well say "Stefon" next to Hader's name. Not only funny, but consistently funny on a show that tends to run recurring characters into the ground. It always seems easier to say someone's a charming asshole than to authentically represent one in the flesh, but Scott was more than up to the task of making it clear why Dan is indispensable to the people he works for, as well as why they hate themselves a bit for relying on his particular mode of doing business.

Honorable Mentions: Mark Deklin, GCB; Josh Hopkins, Cougar Town; Jake Johnson, New Girl; Luka Jones, Best Friends Forever; Taran Killam, Saturday Night Live; Bobby Moynihan, Saturday Night Live; Jim Rash, Community; Jeffrey Tambor, Bent; James Van Der Beek, Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23; Brian Van Holt, Cougar Town; Mike White, Enlightened; Luke Wilson, Enlightened

Particular props to the ensembles of: Happy Endings (Zachary Knighton, Adam Pally, Damon Wayans, Jr.); Parks and Recreation (Jim O'Heir, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt); Veep (Tony Hale, Timothy Simons, Matt Walsh)

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Fred Armisen, Saturday Night Live; Ty Burrell, Modern Family; Chris Colfer, Glee; Kevin Dillon, Entourage; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family; Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother; Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock; Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock; Ed O'Neill, Modern Family; Jeremy Piven, Entourage; Andy Samberg, Saturday Night Live; James Spader, The Office; Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family; Jason Sudeikis, Saturday Night Live; Rainn Wilson, The Office

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Guest Actress in a Drama

Loretta Devine - "Adele Webber", Grey's Anatomy
Margarita Levieva - "Amanda Clarke", Revenge
Carrie Preston - "Elsbeth Tascioni", The Good Wife
Anika Noni Rose - "Corinne Bennett", Private Practice
Uma Thurman - "Rebecca Duvall", Smash
Bellamy Young - "Mellie Grant", Scandal

Devine's work stands out in part because it's a role she's played over most of Grey's Anatomy's run - this stage of Adele's arc, focused on the impact of Alzheimer's disease, was some of her best work on the show to date. Levieva gave a classic soap vixen performance, presenting a vibrant counterpoint to Emily VanCamp's studied restraint. Rose's performance in Private Practice came right on the heels of the conclusion of her arc on The Good Wife, and the contrast between the two was striking. I'm always fascinated when someone capable of going really big turns in a performance as quiet and haunted as Rose's work as Corinne. Preston formally joined the ranks of The Good Wife's recurring-lawyer MVPs this season. The moments when Elsbeth's dizziness shifts over into mastery of the given situation should get old, but somehow they never do. Thurman's work was one of Smash's best-executed storylines as a meta sendup of the concept of stunt casting. I think Scandal has some interesting ways of looking at women in power and women in close proximity to power, and Young's performance as the well-educated, post-second wave First Lady was a key part of that. The moment when Mellie manufactures a miscarriage to boost her husband's campaign was genuinely shocking.

Honorable Mentions: Debbie Allen, Grey's Anatomy; Joan Allen, Luck; Bailee Madison, Once Upon a Time; Vanessa Marano, Grey's Anatomy; Marlee Matlin, Switched at Birth; Julianne Nicholson, Boardwalk Empire; Julia Ormond, Mad Men; Meghan Ory, Once Upon a Time; Bernadette Peters, Smash; Martha Plimpton, The Good Wife; Anika Noni Rose, The Good Wife; Chloe Sevigny, Law and Order: SVU; Sofia Vassileva, Law and Order: SVU; Liza Weil, Scandal

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Meredith Baxter, Switched at Birth; Joan Cusack, Shameless; Louise Fletcher, Shameless; Marilu Henner, Unforgettable; Lucy Liu, Southland

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Guest Actor in a Drama

Charlie Cox - "Owen Sleater", Boardwalk Empire
Rockmond Dunbar - "Deputy Sheriff Eli Roosevelt", Sons of Anarchy
Ben Feldman - "Michael Ginsburg", Mad Men
Ray McKinnon - "Lincoln Potter", Sons of Anarchy
Matthew Perry - "Mike Kresteva", The Good Wife
Mykelti Williamson - "Ellstin Limehouse", Justified

Cox's performance brought a levity to Boardwalk Empire that subtly lifted the show in its second season. Owen takes his work seriously, but doesn't let that make him an overly serious person, a welcome alternative to some of BE's preexisting gangsters. Dunbar and McKinnon brought a valuable presence to Sons of Anarchy in the form of law enforcement officials uninterested in offering SAMCRO any breaks, something that's been missing since David Hale died at the beginning of the third season. Dunbar shone in displaying Roosevelt's empathic desire to pull Juice back from the edge after pushing him there, and McKinnon made Potter's quirks distinctive but not overbearing. Feldman's performance was a surprise standout of Mad Men's fifth season, bringing a zeal to his character that made his drive and ambition distinctive when set against all those who've been ground down by life with Sterling, Cooper and associates. Perry's trademark dry delivery translated well to The Good Wife, in this case in defining a character with a logical skepticism regarding the Florricks that is rarely shown in the show's universe. I wrote a bit about Williamson's performance back in the winter, but I'll add that his work added a valuable element to Justified in a non-Boyd character who is neither a real ally nor an enemy to Raylan, one in this case who is tied to a deeply entrenched sense of duty to his community.

Honorable Mentions: Dylan Baker, The Good Wife; Mechad Brooks, Law and Order: SVU; Jere Burns, Justified; Michael Cerveris, Fringe; Jeremy Davies, Justified; Michael Gambon, Luck; Iain Glen, Downton Abbey; T.R. Knight, Law and Order: SVU; Mark Margolis, Breaking Bad; Chris Messina, Damages; Robert Morse, Mad Men; Sebastian Stan, Once Upon a Time; James Tupper, Revenge

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Ed Asner, Hawaii Five-O; Andre Braugher, Law and Order: SVU; James Caan, Hawaii Five-O; Colin Hanks, Dexter; Edward James Olmos, Dexter

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Guest Actor in a Comedy

Max Adler - "Dave Karofsky", Glee
Jimmy Fallon - "Host", Saturday Night Live
Will Forte - "Paul", 30 Rock
Dermot Mulroney - "Russell", New Girl
Paul Rudd - "Bobby Newport", Parks and Recreation
Doug Stanhope - "Eddie Mack", Louie

I noticed when I was pulling these together that a lot of the guest comedy performances mirrored across the gendered divide. To wit: it's always baffled me that the Glee writers have never given Adler more to do instead of dragging him out intermittently to advance his character in a generally heartbreaking direction. But nevertheless, he's maintained an emotional consistency across those appearances that paid off in his big showcase this season in "On My Way." Like Maya Rudolph, Fallon brought a sense of sheer glee in simply returning to SNL that enlivened his whole show. (And the Weekend Update joke-off was a highlight of the season, if not the past few years.) Forte fits in with 30 Rock's tone, and particularly its more absurd flights of fancy, in a way that feels less forced than almost any other guest actor the show's used over the years. Mulroney brought groundedness to Russell that provided a needed counterpoint to Zooey Deschanel at that arc's point in the New Girl season. Rudd scaled Bobby's good-natured idiocy just right, making him frustrating but fundamentally un-hateable. While I didn't love "Eddie" as much as some critics, I can't dismiss Stanhope's misanthropic performance at the heart of the episode. Louis C.K. glories in showing off the talents of the people he uses on Louie, and Stanhope was Season Two's exemplar of that impulse.

Honorable Mentions: Christopher Abbott, Girls; Dane Cook, Louie; Sean Hayes, Parks and Recreation; John Goodman, Community; Jason Lee, Up All Night; Justin Long, New Girl; James Marsden, 30 Rock; Chris O'Dowd, Girls; Mike O'Malley, Glee; Carl Reiner, Parks and Recreation; Chris Rock, Louie; Michael Kenneth Williams, Community; Dean Winters, 30 Rock

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Alan Alda, The Big C; Ed Asner, Hot in Cleveland; Matt Bomer, Glee; Bobby Cannavale, Nurse Jackie; Michael J. Fox, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Ricky Gervais, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Jon Hamm, 30 Rock; Don Johnson, Eastbound and Down; Greg Kinnear, Modern Family; Liam Neeson, Life's Too Short; Carl Reiner, Hot in Cleveland; Ray Romano, The Middle

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Guest Actress in a Comedy

Pamela Adlon - "Pamela", Louie
Lizzy Caplan - "Julia", New Girl
Patricia Clarkson - "Tammy One", Parks and Recreation
Kathryn Hahn - "Jennifer Barkley", Parks and Recreation
Dot-Marie Jones - "Coach Shannon Beiste", Glee
Maya Rudolph - "Host", Saturday Night Live

I've mentioned my love of "Subway/Pamela" before, but here want to specifically credit the way Adlon's acerbity keeps the story tethered to the ground even as Louie attempts to lift off into romantic ambitions. Caplan's dry humor brought a unique quality to her arc on New Girl and Julia functioned well as a vehicle for the show's writers to demonstrate that they understood how Jess plays to people not naturally receptive to whimsy. Clarkson lived up to the promise of the threat of the first Mrs. Swanson, hilariously undercutting Parks and Recreation's crew of optimists. Hahn similarly reveled in Jennifer's mercenary cynicism, providing a "real world" view of Pawnee and its citizens that still fit with the show's tone. Jones, who never gets enough to do on Glee, found the emotionally authentic heart of an episode otherwise written like an after-school special. Rudolph's returns to SNL are not only funny, but suffused with what feels like a genuine love of her former castmates and of the show's capacity for zaniness.

Honorable Mentions: Gideon Adlon, Louie; Elizabeth Banks, 30 Rock; Zooey Deschanel, Saturday Night Live; Hadley Delany, Louie; Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live; Idina Menzel, Glee; Megan Mullally, Happy Endings; Megan Mullally, Parks and Recreation; Becki Newton, How I Met Your Mother; Joan Rivers, Louie; Kristen Schaal, 30 Rock; Sherri Shephard, 30 Rock; Kiernan Shipka, Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23; Mary Steenburgen, 30 Rock

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Ellen Barkin, Modern Family; Barbara Barrie, Enlightened; Kathy Bates, Two and a Half Men; Margaret Cho, 30 Rock; Lauren Potter, Glee; Doris Roberts, Hot in Cleveland; Susan Sarandon, The Big C; Susan Sarandon, 30 Rock; Alicia Silverstone, Suburgatory; Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock; Lily Tomlin, Eastbound and Down

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Connie Britton - "Vivien Harmon", American Horror Story
Romola Garai - "Bel Rowley", The Hour
Nicole Kidman - "Martha Gellhorn", Hemingway and Gellhorn
Julianne Moore - "Sarah Palin", Game Change
Emily Watson - "Janet Leach", Appropriate Adult

Britton undoubtedly gets credit because I already like her, but also for rolling with the punches on a show that threw everything and the kitchen sink at her character. Garai infused Bel with professional competence, making the shaky-personal-life/good-at-her-job character seem like less of a cliche than it might have. I didn't love Hemingway and Gellhorn, but Kidman honored her character's intelligence and her impatience with other people's bullshit. Moore portrayed Palin without judging her or making the fish-out-of-water aspect of her story too cartoonish, grounding the narrative even when the movie didn't quite seem to know why they thought what they were doing was important. Watson completed Appropriate Adult's mesmerizing destructive dyad, making clear Janet's feelings about her responsibilities to the situation of representing Fred and attempting to get some version of the truth out of him, even as events spiraled out of control.

Honorable Mention: Rachel Weisz, Page Eight

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Patricia Clarkson, Five; Ashley Judd, Missing; Clemence Poesy, Birdsong; Emma Thompson, The Song of Lunch; Jeanne Tripplehorn, Five

Five is some sort of Lifetime short film collection/anthology thing? As with many Lifetime properties, various of the names involved are just well-known enough to throw doubt on how significant a contender they may ultimately be.

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Benedict Cumberbatch - "Sherlock Holmes", Sherlock
Idris Elba - "John Luther", Luther
Bill Paxton - "Randall McCoy", Hatfields and McCoys
Dominic West - "Fred West", Appropriate Adult
Ben Whishaw - "Freddie Lyon", The Hour

Sherlock's second series focused on examining Holmes' relationships with others, and Cumberbatch's performance utilized the right amount of introspection without seeming out of character or veering off into sentimentality. Much of the same is true of Elba's second-series arc on Luther, particularly in John's relationship with Aimee Ffion-Edwards' wayward teenager. Paxton tapped into a similar vein as his work on Big Love, presenting McCoy as a true believer for whom his family's feud is rooted in a deeply held sense of honor. West's performance was unbelievably chilling, depicting a man who spun an elaborate web of half-truths and outright lies that revealed a conscience-less core. There isn't really another performer right now with the same kind of nervous energy Whishaw brings to bear on his characters, in this case showing Freddie to be someone made restless by a lack of answers, whether in the show's spy plot or in his regular journalistic investigations.

Honorable Mentions: Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys; Woody Harrelson, Game Change; Dylan McDermott, American Horror Story; Bill Nighy, Page Eight; Clive Owen, Hemingway and Gellhorn; Dominic West, The Hour

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Sean Bean, Missing; Douglas Booth, Great Expectations; Bruce Greenwood, The River; Rob Lowe, Drew Peterson: Untouchable; Eddie Redmayne, Birdsong; Alan Rickman, The Song of Lunch

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Taissa Farmiga - "Violet Harmon", American Horror Story
Jessica Lange - "Constance Langdon", American Horror Story
Jena Malone - "Nancy McCoy", Hatfields and McCoys
Lily Rabe - "Nora Montgomery", American Horror Story
Mare Winningham - "Sally McCoy", Hatfields and McCoys

Teen characters on predominantly adult-cast shows are annoying at least as often as they're interesting, but Farmiga stood firmly in the latter category. The scene where Violet realizes she is dead is one of the show's high points. Lange's performance is a true diva turn, showing all the different layers of the facades Constance uses to alternately lull her neighbors into a false sense of security and distract herself from the tragedies of her life. Nancy McCoy's historical story is a puzzling one, but Malone made her actions, and especially her callous self-interest, feel plausible as those of a young woman who grew up in an environment saturated in violence. I found Rabe's performance fascinating when I watched it, bringing a sense of overheated Tennessee Williams-style melodrama to American Horror Story as the woman whose tragic motherhood has seeped into the house's character. Winningham's moment as Sally McCoy bid farewell to her sons as they're about to be executed was an emotional standout of the entire Hatfields and McCoys miniseries.

Honorable Mentions: Louise Brealey, Sherlock; Alexandra Breckenridge, American Horror Story; Frances Conroy, American Horror Story; Kate Mara, American Horror Story; Sarah Parish, Hatfields and McCoys; Molly Parker, Hemingway and Gellhorn; Sarah Paulson, Game Change; Lindsay Pulsipher, Hatfields and McCoys; Lara Pulver, Sherlock; Ruth Wilson, Luther

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Gillian Anderson, Great Expectations; Judy Davis, Page Eight

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Tom Berenger - "Jim Vance", Hatfields and McCoys
Powers Boothe - "Judge Valentine 'Wall' Hatfield", Hatfields and McCoys
Martin Freeman - "Dr. John Watson", Sherlock
Evan Peters - "Tate Langdon", American Horror Story
Zachary Quinto - "Chad", American Horror Story

Berenger and Boothe represented two poles on the Hatfield side - the eye-for-an-eye firebrand of Vance and the measured, highly rational mediator of Wall Hatfield. Freeman got to show not only how much Watson enjoys his life as a sleuth, but how deeply he's come to care about his friendship with Holmes. For all the attention Glee gets, Peters may have given this year's best performance as a teenager under the Ryan Murphy/Brad Falchuk umbrella, showing Tate's deep anger while also making him plausibly romantic as half of a ghostly Romeo and Juliet pairing. Like Tammy Lynn Michaels on Popular, Quinto was perfectly tuned to Murphy's particular wavelength, infusing his character with just the right mix of nastiness and out-and-out camp.

Honorable Mentions: Matt Barr, Hatfields and McCoys; Noel Fisher, Hatfields and McCoys; Ed Harris, Game Change; Boyd Holbrook, Hatfields and McCoys; Denis O'Hare, American Horror Story; David Strathairn, Hemingway and Gellhorn; Ronan Vibert, Hatfields and McCoys

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Ralph Fiennes, Page Eight; Michael Gambon, Page Eight; Tony Shalhoub, Five; Tony Shalhoub, Hemingway and Gellhorn; Ray Winstone, Great Expectations

Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: The Unsubmitted

It's well past time to get this show on the road. Ideally, I like to get these done and posted before the nominations get announced. We'll see how far we get before tomorrow morning.

Andrew Scott - "Jim Moriarty", Sherlock

Here's where I wish for a site that focused on the mechanics of how the television academy votes, because I'm not sure whether PBS electing to submit "A Scandal in Belgravia" for Sherlock precluded Scott from submitting his work in "The Reichenbach Fall". (It's a curious decision overall, as I think "Reichenbach Fall" is a stronger episode all around, especially for the central actors.) If that isn't the case, it's not surprising, necessarily, that Scott didn't submit, given that Cumberbatch and Freeman didn't get nominated last year, but his performance was such a standout that it's disappointing regardless. (He just won a BAFTA, for goodness' sake.) The scene where Moriarty insists he's actually an actor was eerie perfection in sowing little seeds of doubt.

Indeed, there's a whole chunk of British actors who I was surprised to see unlisted in the ballot of prospective nominees. Underinformed management teams across the pond?

Jack Gleeson - "Joffrey Baratheon", Game of Thrones
Charles Dance - "Tywin Lannister", Game of Thrones

More than the others, I think these two being absent from the ballot represents someone asleep at the wheel in compiling HBO's submission package. Gleeson and Dance helped the show's writers demonstrate a sense of scope in depicting the Lannisters and their thirst for power - Tywin as the craftiest guy in the room, but also a man who recognizes the potential inherent in being the one pulling the strings instead of the public face, and Joffrey as the rotten manifestation of all his family's foibles.

Laura Carmichael - "Lady Edith Crawley", Downton Abbey
Zoe Boyle - "Lavinia Swire", Downton Abbey

The Downton Abbey-as-convalescent-home storyline gave Carmichael an opportunity to grant some much-needed shading to Edith as she discovered a sense of purpose in helping others. (And Carmichael pretty much single-handedly kept that whole potential-heir/burn-victim story from going too far off the rails.) I think the fundamentally good-hearted but ultimately doomed young woman (Beth March, Melanie Wilkes, etc., etc.) is a deceptively difficult role, but Boyle performed hers capably.

Anna Chancellor - "Lix Storm", The Hour

An old-school character for a period show, Chancellor's savvy, experienced newswoman provided good low-key balance to the energies brought by Ben Whishaw and Romola Garai. (And her character feels more and more valuable the more I watch of The Newsroom. Another rant for another time.)

Alex Karpovsky - "Ray", Girls
Andrew Rannells - "Elijah", Girls

Both Karpovsky and Rannells performed admirably in their roles as the blunt truth-tellers of the Girls universe, keeping the show on an even keel by tempering the self-absorption of other characters. They also had my absolute favorite moments in the finale - Karpovsky's scenes with Zosia Mamet (there is like not even enough material there to get shipper-y over, and yet I am slightly obsessed with the concept of Ray and Shoshanna together. I need it to happen in Season Two) and Rannells' line reading of "Girls who huff." (The tone of which is difficult to communicate here, but it cracks me up every time.)

Matt Ross - "Dr. Charles Montgomery", American Horror Story

I already think Ross was criminally underrecognized for his work on Big Love, so that's probably giving him a boost here. But he made Dr. Montgomery's Frankenstein-esque forays into medical experimentation some of AHS's best trips over the top.

Lamorne Morris - "Winston", New Girl
Dan Byrd - "Travis Cobb", Cougar Town

I tend to take a sort of "Throw your hat in the ring! Why not?" attitude towards most potential submissions, especially when most or all of the other members of an ensemble present as contenders. It took New Girl's writers longer to "find" Winston than it did for Nick and Schmidt, but by the end of the season, Morris had turned in some good moments too. (Like the Theodore K. Mullins speech). And some of Byrd's best work on Cougar Town came this year in their exploration of Travis and Laurie's relationship.

Taran Killam - "Mr. Rad", Community

Maybe Community's best one-off, grounding the show's Glee parody in crazy-eyed mania and subtly sending up Matthew Morrison's performance as Will Schuster.

Roger Bart - "Mason Treadwell", Revenge
Ashton Holmes - "Tyler Barrol", Revenge

Bart was the best of the characters against whom Emily sought revenge, showing the cracks in his man-about-town facade where his image of himself as a journalist comes into conflict with the knowledge of how he sold his soul and screwed the Clarkes over. And Holmes' performance fit perfectly into the vein of classic crazy soap villains, from quiet menace to devourer of scenery.

Jay Jackson - "Perd Hapley", Parks and Recreation

Jackson has become Parks and Rec's most valuable tertiary player over four seasons, representing the heart of Pawnee's absurd media culture. The fourth season's depiction of the election cycle gave him ample opportunities for more examples of Perd's affable cluelessness - my favorite might be his running out the clock on Leslie's response in "The Debate."

Morena Baccarin - "Isobel Swift", The Good Wife
Mary Beth Peil - "Jackie Florrick", The Good Wife
Parker Posey - "Vanessa Gold", The Good Wife

Baccarin held her own as a foil to Dylan Baker's Colin Sweeney, a character who is essentially designed to suck all the air out of the room. Peil was great both in shrouding Jackie's machinations in a faux-innocent "who, me?" exterior, and in muddling her motivations as potential mental issues came into play in the latter episodes of the season. And maybe it's residual Josie and the Pussycats love, but I thought Posey and Alan Cumming were delightful together as politically minded exes.

Kate Burton - "Vice President Sally Langston", Scandal

Burton had twice as many potential submissions as ultimately ended up on the ballot, so I'm not surprised that her Scandal role fell by the wayside. Nevertheless, her scenes as the evangelical Christian VP of Scandal's universe didn't veer over into caricature when they easily could have and suggested that the show going forward may have some very interesting things to say about women in politics. (And as a lover of troupe-building creators, I love that Shonda Rhimes gave her such a different character from Ellis Grey to play here.)

Alison Brie - "Trudy Campbell", Mad Men
Embeth Davidtz - "Rebecca Pryce", Mad Men
Christine Estabrook - "Gail Holloway", Mad Men
Sam Page - "Greg Harris", Mad Men

None are terribly flashy performances, but all contribute to the fully realized world of Mad Men, particularly in the interplay and contrast between home and office beyond whatever Don's situation is in any given year. I've always been disappointed not to see Page submit his name for consideration - true, most (if not all) Mad Men fans hate Greg, but Page has always done a great job of presenting him without judgment, with all his weaknesses. You want Greg to accept responsibility for why things in his life are the way they are, but also understand why he doesn't feel the need to be introspective. I don't think Page gets enough credit for that.

Trailer Thoughts

Season 3 Invitation to the Set

Boardwalk Empire and Treme together on the same night seems a bit tonally wonky, but probably in an awesome way? I'm certainly looking forward to it.

Idle Movie Thoughts

Casting news for Catching Fire has begun in earnest, but I'm wondering if it's weird that I'm more curious to see who'll end up playing some of the older tributes than Johanna and Finnick. It's not surprising that most of the attention has been focused on the youngest of the potential new characters, the two whose facades are the most dynamic, but they're only two of the twenty-two representing what I think is one of the most compelling questions Suzanne Collins poses in the trilogy - when you win the Hunger Games, what does that really mean for the rest of your life? Only six of those twenty-two go unnamed or don't factor into the progression of the plot of Catching Fire, an inversion of the general namelessness of most of the kids who die in Katniss and Peeta's Games. They range in age from early-twenties to eighties. Some are addicts, some are emotionally unbalanced, some embrace their reputation as vicious killers, some acquiesce to whatever role the Capitol demands they play to stay under the radar and keep whatever they still hold dear safe. All have been forced to either shepherd a number of children to their deaths or to induct them into their fraternity of damaged ex-killers. Mockingjay delves more directly into the function of post-traumatic stress in the characters' lives, but Catching Fire offers a more interesting range of potential paths to adulthood as a former "winner."

In the casting of the Victors, part of me is really hoping for a quality similar to Montgomery Clift and Judy Garland's performances in 1961's Judgment at Nuremberg. Their casting as two witnesses in the trial is perhaps my favorite use of star persona of all time. As the movie recalls the past, so does it prompt the audience to recall Clift and Garland in their younger days and reconcile those images with the impact of age, substance abuse, Clift's car accident and the general effects of years spent in the Hollywood meat grinder. Later in the film, Spencer Tracy's character reviews the witnesses' files, and in looking at a photograph of Garland's character, observes wistfully, "She really was sixteen once, wasn't she?" Stanley Kramer doesn't show the photograph in a close up, but I don't think it's a stretch to think that the audience could readily supply an image at a time when television broadcasts of The Wizard of Oz were already in their early years of becoming an annual tradition.





There's so much potential in casting Catching Fire, not to create a false equivalency or one-to-one correlation between Hollywood and the Capitol, but to draw upon the similarities between two enterprises that unquestionably feed upon youth and take advantage of what film (popular culture?) offers as an adaptive medium. One of the things that I love about Woody Harrelson being cast as Haymitch is the fact that he really was in the public eye twenty-five years ago, an image of youth and guilelessness consumed by a large percentage of the nation's television viewers and syndicated around the world. How might the movie engage the audience on a different level by utilizing former child stars (while I know dream casting is mostly a fool's errand, I've decided that my dream casting for Beetee, who obviously would never, ever do it, is Ron Howard), or, for example, putting someone like Richard Roundtree or Fred Williamson in the role of Chaff?

Mood Music LXX

I was listening to Ceremonials a lot even before this video presented itself as an ideal representative of the Fourth of July spent alone.