Dream Emmy Ballot 2013: Lead Actress in a Drama

Claire Danes - "Carrie Mathison", Homeland
Julianna Margulies - "Alicia Florrick", The Good Wife
Tatiana Maslany - "Sarah/Beth/etc.", Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss - "Peggy Olson", Mad Men
Keri Russell - "Elizabeth Jennings", The Americans
Kerry Washington - "Olivia Pope", Scandal

Claire Danes' season on Homeland is about both little moments - that smile erupting in flickers across her face after Carrie's market chase, her reaction to Brody's suicide video - and the broad emotional arc. If the first season showed Carrie at both her hyper-efficient best and her unmedicated worst, the second rested in the shaky middle, with Danes showing Carrie's fragility, uneasiness, and the cracks created by betrayal and electroshock therapy. The journey of Alicia Florrick is one of subtle shifts made visible by Margulies. The woman who once appeared as a naif in the world of corporate law has transformed into someone savvier at working the system, but Margulies showed the constant note of disappointment in everyone around her simmering under Alicia's titular facade. Critics have been praising Maslany over and over in the past few months, but her achievement across only ten episodes of television was so astounding that it doesn't even feel hyperbolic. It's not just the multitude of distinct, specific characters she played, but the nuance involved in something like marking the difference between Sarah pretending to be Alison and Alison pretending to be Sarah. Thinking back on Elisabeth Moss' performance in this season of Mad Men, I keep landing on Peggy's initial rejection of Don's offer to leave in "Shut the Door, Have a Seat." That suspicion that her relationship with Don would become an anchor, that apprehension of his making her a target for his own disappointment with himself. Even more than the series of events that lead to her deciding to leave SCDP in the first place, this season showed those fears made manifest. Moss shows Peggy's enduring disappointment warring with the professionalism she has fought so hard to acquire and maintain. In a television landscape that seems unsure of how to define the female opposite number to the male antihero, the stern pragmatism of Elizabeth Jennings immediately felt bracingly different. Russell's performance shows the different parts of Elizabeth she has locked away to be able to function within her double life - she knows and shows the difference between Elizabeth the spy and Elizabeth the reserved woman determined to scorn sentimentality and romanticism even in her daily lfie. The expansion from the brief seven episodes of Scandal's first season really showcased the depth and shading in Washington's performance. The "good at her job, shaky in her personal life" figure is somewhat of a cliche, but Washington excels at both the professional hyper-competence and caring that draws people to Olivia, as well as the emotional spiraling of her relationship with the President.

Honorable Mentions: Khandi Alexander, Treme; Connie Britton, Nashville; Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey; Lucy Liu, Elementary; Ellen Pompeo, Grey's Anatomy; Jessica Raine, Call the Midwife; Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy; Robin Wright, House of Cards

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Glenn Close, Damages; Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel; Mariska Hargitay, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; Mary McDonnell, Major Crimes; Anna Paquin, True Blood; Emmy Rossum, Shameless; Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer; Emily Van Camp, Revenge

Dream Emmy Ballot 2013: Supporting Actress in a Drama

Troian Bellisario - "Spencer Hastings", Pretty Little Liars
Jessica Capshaw - "Arizona Robbins", Grey's Anatomy
Anna Gunn - "Skyler White", Breaking Bad
Annet Mahandru - "Nina ", The Americans
Monica Potter - "Kristina Braverman", Parenthood
Bellamy Young - "Mellie Grant", Scandal


Honorable Mentions: Morena Baccarin, Homeland; Christine Baranski, The Good Wife; Laura Carmichael, Downton Abbey; Joelle Carter, Justified; Erika Christenson, Parenthood; Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones; Kristen Connolly, House of Cards; Caroline Dhavernas, Hannibal; Kim Dickens, Treme; Natalie Dormer, Game of Thrones; Michelle Fairley, Game of Thrones; Miranda Hart, Call the Midwife; Lena Headey, Game of Thrones; Christina Hendricks, Mad Men; January Jones, Mad Men; Melissa Leo, Treme; Kelly MacDonald, Boardwalk Empire; Kate Mara, House of Cards; Susan Misner, The AMericans; Gretchen Mol, Boardwalk Empire; Olivia Munn, The Newsroom; Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy; Hayden Panettiere, Nashville; Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife; Jessica Pare, Mad Men; Morgan Saylor, Homeland; Kiernan Shipka, Mad Men; Maggie Siff, Sons of Anarchy; Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey; Mae Whitman, Parenthood; Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Rose Byrne, Damages; Jennifer Carpenter, Dexter; Linda Gray, Dallas; Laurie Holden, The Walking Dead; Anjelica Huston, Smash; Regina King, Southland; Mary McDonnell, The Closer; Debra Messing, Smash; Annie Parisse, The Following; Alison Pill, The Newsroom; Abigail Spencer, Rectify; Madeline Stowe, Revenge; Lauren Velez, Dexter

Dream Emmy Ballot 2013: Guest Actress in a Drama

Kate Burton - "Sally Langston", Scandal
Laura Fraser - "Lydia Rodarte-Quayle", Breaking Bad
Abby Miller - "Ellen May", Justified
Debra Mooney - "Verna Thornton", Scandal
Carrie Preston - "Elsbeth Tascioni", The Good Wife
Allison Wright - "Martha Westerfeld", The Americans


Honorable Mentions: Debbie Allen, Grey's Anatomy; Gillian Anderson, Hannibal; Linda Cardellini, Mad Men; Stockard Channing, The Good Wife; Anna Chlumsky, Law and Order: SVU; Lisa Edelstein, Scandal; Jane Fonda, The Newsroom; Beth Grant, Justified; Marin Ireland, Homeland; Sylvia Jeffries, Nashville; Shirley MacLaine, Downton Abbey; Margo Martindale, The Americans; Julia Ormond, Mad Men; Bernadette Peters, Smash; Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones; Kacey Rohl, Hannibal; Meg Chambers Steedle, Boardwalk Empire; Jess Weixler, The Good Wife

Wouldn't be surprised to see: Patricia Arquette, Law and Order: SVU; Kristin Chenoweth, The Good Wife; Joan Cusack, Shameless; Hope Davis, Law and Order: SVU; Jenna Elfman, Damages; Marcia Gay Harden, Law and Order: SVU; Judith Light, Dallas; Marlee Matlin, Switched at Birth; Janet McTeer, Damages; Liza Minnelli, Smash; Yvonne Strahovski, Dexter; Maura Tierney, The Good Wife; Rita Wilson, The Good Wife; Alfre Woodard, True Blood; Constance Zimmer, House of Cards

Dream Emmy Ballot 2013: Guest Actor in a Drama

Jim Beaver - "Shelby Parlow", Justified
William Daniels - "Dr. Thomas", Grey's Anatomy
Rupert Friend - "Peter Quinn", Homeland
Gregg Henry - "Hollis Doyle", Scandal
Derek Luke - "Gregory", The Americans
Patton Oswalt - "Bob Sweeney", Justified


Honorable Mentions: Dylan Baker, The Good Wife; Raymond J. Barry, Justified; Dan Bucatinsky, Scandal; Jere Burns, Justified; David Costabile, Suits; Ron Eldard, Justified; Scott Foley, Scandal; Michael J. Fox, The Good Wife; Walton Goggins, Sons of Anarchy; Harry Hamlin, Mad Men; Eddie Izzard, Hannibal; Nathan Lane, The Good Wife; Matt Lauria, Parenthood; Norm Lewis, Scandal; Gerald McRaney, House of Cards; Mike O'Malley, Justified; Harold Perrineau, Sons of Anarchy; Matthew Perry, The Good Wife; Jesse Plemons, Breaking Bad; Nick Robinson, Boardwalk Empire; Stephen Root, Boardwalk Empire; Jimmy Smits, Sons of Anarchy; Richard Thomas, The Americans

Wouldn't be surprised to see: Andre Braugher, Law and Order: SVU; Ciaran Hinds, Game of Thrones; Hal Holbrook, Monday Mornings; Lennie James, The Walking Dead; Gerald McRaney, Southland; Chris Messina, The Newsroom; Dallas Roberts, The Walking Dead

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: 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: 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.