Dream Emmy Ballot 2011: Lead Actor in a Drama

Sean Bean - "Lord Eddard Stark", Game of Thrones

Kyle Chandler - "Eric Taylor", Friday Night Lights

Jon Hamm - "Don Draper", Mad Men

Michael Imperioli - "Louis Fitch", Detroit 1-8-7

Donal Logue - "Hank Dolworth", Terriers

Timothy Olyphant - "Raylan Givens", Justified

So...who's got a chance in Bryan Cranston's year off? Is it fair that my love of Bean's performance is partly influenced by having read the books on which Game of Thrones is based? The deeply entrenched sense of honor that guides the Starks, for good or for ill, was firmly established by Bean in every episode of his appearance as Ned Stark, and it should resonate through the series. Chandler, of course, has always been great - the frustrations of intra-team discord and the ever-shifting scene in Dillon showed that he still found new layers in Eric Taylor even up until the end. When I rewatched the last season of Mad Men recently, I was struck by the way that Jon Hamm wore the weight of Don's disappointments in his weariness and shambling drunkenness. He had great showcases in individual episodes like "The Suitcase," but it's really an absorbing full-season performance. I almost hate Imperioli and Logue for making me fall in love with their doomed series; Imperioli showed impressive command over a series of quirks that might have buried another actor and Logue's performance was driven by an engaging charisma that infused every case the show covered with a sense of importance because Hank cared about them. Olyphant is another whose performance beautifully encapsulated the push and pull between a man and his ideas of honor as Raylan wrestled with his darker impulses and his past in Harlan.

Honorable Mention: David Boreanaz, Bones; Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire; Vincent D'Onofrio, Law and Order: Criminal Intent; James Badge Dale, Rubicon; Charlie Hunnam, Sons of Anarchy; Andrew Lincoln, The Walking Dead; Holt McCallany, Lights Out; Stephen Moyer, True Blood; Bill Paxton, Big Love

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Jeremy Irons, The Borgias; Hugh Laurie, House; William H. Macy, Shameless; Christopher Meloni, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; Ray Romano, Men of a Certain Age; Tom Selleck, Blue Bloods

Week in TV: September 19-25, Part II

I don't envy the people who get paid to watch the new pilots. It's exhausting; the human brain can only handle so much expository dialogue before everything starts blurring together. In retrospect, maybe the academically front-loaded structure of my week isn't the only reason I'm tired.

Boardwalk Empire

- A good pilot, not a great one, but it gave me enough that I know I'm interested in seeing more. A few more episodes should show the cast settling in more with the fabulous production design and really making the era feel lived in. It didn't always draw me in, plot-wise, but I did feel at the end like I really wanted to keep watching Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Michael Shannon each doing their thing.

- I like the imagery of the bottles washing up on the beach, but otherwise this show has one of the least dynamic opening credits sequences I've seen on a while in a cable drama.

Hawaii Five-0

- Very fun, with good chemistry among the central four actors. I think this show appeals to the same part of my brain that likes to drop everything and watch Armageddon whenever I find it on TV.

- Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park are awesome anyway, but also featured in sci-fi/fantasy's two most gloriously tragic romances of the past decade. (I like to pretend that I don't have a big softy shipper heart, but I'm only human.) Hopefully, the show's procedural structure means that somewhere down the line they can find guest spots for Yunjin Kim and/or Tahmoh Penikett. Just because it would be awesome.

Detroit 1-8-7

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this pilot. It was very reminiscent of Homicide, (the central partnerships in the pilot in particular reminded me a lot of Pembleton/Bayliss and Bolander/Munch) but that just makes it derivative, not bad, and, at least tonally, a solid change of pace from most other crime procedurals currently featuring on the dial.

Undercovers

- It almost seems unfortunate that J.J. Abrams has a creator credit on this show, if only because that means it will invariably be compared with Alias. I loved Alias, but I can also recognize that this is a very different show. With Chuck back too, I don't know whether I'm patient enough for two separate lighthearted spy shows on the schedule, but I liked the actors enough here that I'm willing to give it a few more weeks.

- I can recognize that I'm talking abnormally much about Deadwood now, but I do have to say that when I first saw Gerald McRaney in this show I was all, "EVIL!!!"

I don't have the energy to write up all of these, but I do know which ones I'm interested in watching again.

The Rundown:

Yes: Boardwalk Empire, Hawaii Five-0, Detroit 1-8-7

Yes, with various reservations: Raising Hope, Running Wilde, Undercovers

Yes, as long as the network keeps it on the air: Lone Star

Yes, at least for a few weeks, because I'm curious to see how the documentary construct plays out week-to-week: My Generation

I totally thought I wasn't in, but that twist at the end there sure was intriguing: The Event

Inoffensive and solidly acted, but there are only so many crime shows one person can watch: Chase, The Whole Truth, The Defenders, Blue Bloods

Not great, and at times uncomfortably condescending in tone, but I might keep watching because I'm interested in race and media: Outsourced

Not laughing during a comedy is such an awkward feeling, especially when there's a laugh track: Mike and Molly, Shit My Dad Says, Better With You