Dream Emmy Ballot 2013: Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Benedict Cumberbatch - "Christopher Tietjens", Parade's End
Matt Damon - "Scott Thorson", Behind the Candelabra
Michael Douglas - "Liberace", Behind the Candelabra
Dominic West - "Hector Madden", The Hour
Ben Whishaw - "Freddie Lyon", The Hour

While Sherlock has been a standout in the past few years, this seems to be the year where Benedict Cumberbatch is determined to get as many shades as he's capable of captured for posterity. I'm not familiar with Ford Madox Ford's novels, but Cumberbatch made Tietjens real as a man clinging to notions of civility and propriety in a world seemingly determined to cast them aside, and the character feels both noble and frustratingly weak-willed at turns. The performances of Damon and Douglas form one of those tandem leads where it seems unfair that only one can win. While Damon is playing a character much younger than him, he makes Scott's innocence believable, his hunger for love, both paternal and romantic, palpable, and his eventual hardening into a lonely adulthood tragic. Douglas never shies away from Liberace's capacity for vanity, or the fundamental callousness that lies at the heart of his pursuit of ever-younger paramours. But neither is his performance cynical - he certainly believes in the rapturous potential of love, if not the intractability of soul mates. West plays Hector as a man painfully aware of his weaknesses, especially as he lets down his wife and coworkers in as public a fashion as possible, but always striving to live up to the full potential he knows is there too. His desire to do good always wars with the mercenary attitude he's supposed to affect as a man in his position. Even so, it's Whishaw's performance as Freddie that makes me so disappointed that The Hour won't be returning. The Hour took what The Newsroom expresses through endless speeches on the value of journalistic inquiry and just showed it, embodied in Freddie's determination to follow the season's story even unto his doom.

Honorable Mentions: Toby Jones, The Girl; Rufus Sewell, Restless

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Kenneth Branagh, Wallander: An Event in Autumn; Diego Morgado, The Bible; Al Pacino, Phil Spector

Dream Emmy Ballot 2013: Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Romola Garai - "Bel Rowley", The Hour
Rebecca Hall - "Sylvia Tietjens", Parade's End
Jessica Lange - "Sister Jude Martin", American Horror Story: Asylum
Elisabeth Moss - "Robin ", Top of the Lake
Sigourney Weaver - "Elaine Barrish", Political Animals

I love the way The Hour depicts its profession, showing Bel as the determined producer mediating between wary executives and reporters begging to be let off the leash. Garai demonstrates the balance of a woman's professional life in the nebulous period between World War II and the rise of the second wave in showing the value Bel places in doing a good job even as she struggles to keep her heart in check. Hall as Sylvia is mesmerizingly vain, a woman determined to challenge and laugh at the world, but constantly thwarted when she tries to bring others along with her on what some part of her fears might be the road to hell. Lange's performance brought an unexpected depth to the emotional and redemptive arc across the season of American Horror Story, bridging from the flinty sternness of Sister Jude to the deep-seated pain of Judy Martin. It's difficult not to compare Elisabeth Moss' two major performances this year, but each makes the other stand out in contrast because they're so different and together indicate a startling range. The interiority of Moss as Robin makes other "cop who takes it personally" roles feel awfully histrionic. And as acting in single scenes within the year goes, Robin telling the story of her rape is a heartrending high mark. Weaver resists imitating Hillary Clinton in a role obviously inspired by her, and instead finds an authoritative voice of her own without which Political Animals would not have worked.

Honorable Mentions: Hayley Atwell, Restless; Queen Latifah, Steel Magnolias; Sienna Miller, The Girl

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Angela Bassett, Betty & Coretta; Brenda Blethyn, Mary & Martha; Mary J. Blige, Betty & Coretta; Jewel, Ring of Fire; Laura Linney, The Big C: Hereafter; Lindsay Lohan, Liz & Dick; Helen Mirren, Phil Spector; Hilary Swank, Mary & Martha

Dream Emmy Ballot 2013: Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Peter Capaldi - "Randall Brown", The Hour
Rob Lowe - "Dr. Jack Startz", Behind the Candelabra
Zachary Quinto - "Dr. Oliver Thredson", American Horror Story: Asylum
David Wenham - "Al", Top of the Lake
Thomas M. Wright - "Johnno", Top of the Lake

Capaldi is so notoriously skilled with the rapid-fire profanity of the Iannucci oeuvre that his understated news executive proved unexpectedly to be a highlight of The Hour's second season. In addition to playing well off of Anna Chancellor, Capaldi took a potentially cliche-heavy story of a parent searching for a child placed for adoption and rooted in an emotionally honest, quietly devastated performance. Something about Rob Lowe in Behind the Candelabra felt grounded in his decades of experience in Hollywood - how many people who feed on the vanity of others in a youth-obsessed town may have crossed his path and wound up even partially represented in his chillingly blithe performance? I said last year that Quinto "was perfectly tuned to Murphy's particular wavelength," and his different role in the new incarnation of American Horror Story did the same with a more overtly villainous cast. The second season of AHS tapped into the same vein that made Quinto so magnetic in the early seasons of Heroes. I waffled about who to take from Top of the Lake, but had to ultimately make Peter Mullan my #6. Wenham's performance is creepy the way people in real life are creepy - many performances on TV can't leave it as subtext, but Wenham signals subtly that there's just something off about Al where another actor might have overplayed their hand. And Wright impressed me even before I realized that that nagging feeling of familiarity came from a goofy old Disney Channel movie. Within Johnno's reserved nature, Wright shows both his frustration with his inaction and the fact that he still can't push himself past it.

Honorable Mentions: Scott Bakula, Behind the Candelabra; James Cromwell, American Horror Story: Asylum; Rupert Everett, Parade's End; Joseph Fiennes, American Horror Story: Asylum; Michael Gambon, Restless; Stephen Graham, Parade's End; Peter Mullan, Top of the Lake; Evan Peters, American Horror Story: Asylum; Sebastian Stan, Political Animals; James Wolk, Political Animals

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Dan Aykroyd, Behind the Candelabra; Billy Campbell, Killing Lincoln; Ciaran Hinds, Political Animals; Lindsay Owen Pierre, Betty & Coretta; Oliver Platt, The Big C: Hereafter; Matt Ross, Ring of Fire; Jeffrey Tambor, Phil Spector; James Woods, Mary and Martha; Malik Yoba, Betty & Coretta

Dream Emmy Ballot 2013: Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Anna Chancellor - "Lix Storm", The Hour
Oona Chaplin - "Marnie Madden", The Hour
Holly Hunter - "G.J.", Top of the Lake
Sarah Paulson - "Lana Winters", American Horror Story: Asylum
Lily Rabe - "Sister Mary Eunice", American Horror Story: Asylum



Honorable Mentions: Ellen Burstyn, Political Animals; Adelaide Clemons, Parade's End; Frances Conroy, American Horror Story: Asylum; Michelle Dockery, Restless; Carla Gugino, Political Animals; Charlotte Rampling, Restless; Phylicia Rashad, Steel Magnolias; Miranda Richardson, Parade's End; Jill Scott, Steel Magnolias; Imelda Staunton, The Girl; Alfre Woodard, Steel Magnolias

Wouldn't be surprised to see: Roma Downey, The Bible; Janet McTeer, Parade's End; Condola Rashad, Steel Magnolias

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: 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.

Week in TV: September 4-10

Sons of Anarchy, 4.1: "Out"

- The few reviews I've read of this premiere emphasize this season returning the focus to the club as it functions in Charming as opposed to the more wide-ranging search for Abel last year. While I'm looking forward to the return to that scope of storytelling, in this episode I was most excited to see the show introduce new antagonists (and, at least based on their first appearances here, specifically non-crazy antagonists) for SAMCRO. By the end of last season, Stahl became too manic and desperate, to the point that, while it didn't rob the triple-cross in "NS" of its dramatic weight, it felt inevitable that her all-consuming desire to entrap the club would come back to bite her in the ass. And Hale's death left the show with a void regarding a practical, reasoned perspective on the club and their role in Charming. I also come in already liking Rockmond Dunbar and Ray McKinnon, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how the show uses them across the season's arc.

- Not only was Ryan Hurst great in infusing the wedding scene with just a hint of sadness, but the show demonstrated a lot of respect for the audience's ability to retain information in letting that subtle undercurrent of grief be the episode's most direct reference to Donna. Semi-Related: I also love Lyla's tacky wedding platforms.

- They're awfully fond of musical montages on this show, with this episode bookended by them, so this EW gallery with Kurt Sutter and Paris Barclay breaking down the one that closed out "Out" was an interesting glimpse into that particular creative process.

The Hour, "Episode Four"

- I've enjoyed this show from the beginning, but I think this was the episode where the tone really clicked and the disparate storylines felt like they were all of a piece, joining comments on suppression and repression to construct a portrait of people striving together to challenge a status quo that leaves too many things unquestioned and unsaid.

- How great is Jessica Hynes? Her terse, matter-of-fact tone in her scene at the beginning of the episode beautifully established the tension that drove the remainder of the hour. In recent weeks, I've also seen her appear as an oversharing hippie on Skins and as an Edwardian-era boys' school matron on Doctor Who, so I'm sort of in awe of her range. (I also watched Paul over the weekend, and it's really interesting to see the more drama-focused track she seems to have taken post-Spaced as opposed to the genre work for which Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have gained international attention.)

- I've gone down a slight rabbit hole of British television recently, and it's really highlighted why comparisons between this show and Mad Men are simplistic and unfair. It's not just that the only thing they really have in common is the era, and even then not really. There's the difference in years, but more importantly, there's the different trajectories in global identity that the United Kingdom and the United States take during those years, which necessarily and dramatically inform the goings-on on both shows. But the striking thing you notice after watching more than a few British productions? Quite simply, they've been owning us at period pieces for decades, and have a deep pool of acting talent to back up that continuing engagement with the past.

- Just because it's not really like Mad Men in any way doesn't mean I can't still obsess over the fashion. I love everything about Bel's wardrobe, especially the scarves-as-headbands. And this show really makes me want to try to work some red lipstick into my repertoire.

Doctor Who, 6.10: "The Girl Who Waited"

- A great episode, with one of Karen Gillan's best performances in the series - I was particularly, and somewhat unexpectedly, pleased to see the return of Amy's bitterness towards the Doctor, which has largely dissipated in the episodes since "The Eleventh Hour."

- I again felt like I was waiting for a direct reference to what happened with Melody - you'd think that that's a thought that would come up in thirty-six years of stewing. In interviews I've read with Steven Moffat, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, it seems like they've got a handle on what keeps Amy and Rory traveling with the Doctor after that kind of traumatic experience, but I'm not sure that that's coming through on screen. There's an argument to be made that it would make sense for them to decide that being on the TARDIS is better than staying in Leadworth alone with their thoughts, but I think they need to specifically say so out loud, instead of leaving it to conjecture. I'm not sure how long the issue can go under-addressed without the arc (or lack thereof) starts undermining the quality of individual episodes.

Revenge, "Pilot"

I was really intrigued by the specific promotion offered for an early viewing of this pilot - ABC offered the pilot script as a free Kindle download on Amazon, which concluded with a link to watch the episode online. The changes from the script to the screen made for an unexpectedly interesting glimpse into the creative process of setting up a show's world to start off a drama series, particularly one like this where a good chunk of the story is dependent on past events. I love a good primetime soap, so I hope this one sticks around long enough to dig into its central mysteries. The pilot shows a lot of potential without seeming too high-concept to be sustainable past thirteen episodes.

The New Girl, "Pilot"

- Took advantage of this one showing up free on iTunes. I liked it, though I felt like I'd already seen about 90% of the pilot in the ads that have been running all summer for the show. I also feel like this pilot is difficult to use as an indicator of how the show will be going forward, since they had to replace Damon Wayans, Jr. and the pilot is so focused on the four roommates. Still, I like Zooey Deschanel (and Max Greenfield - Deputy Leo!), and as a nerdy, crafty twenty-something, I'm excited to see how they develop her character in further episodes.

- I found this profile of Zooey Deschanel from New York Magazine really interesting, especially in its take on both positive and negative reception of her star persona.

Miscellaneous Links:

- I love a good Mad Men dissection, so this Daily Beast post with Matthew Weiner and Jon Hamm breaking down "The Suitcase" was right up my alley.

- An interesting AOLTV piece (shared by Katie) by Mo Ryan about declining numbers of women writers on television staffs.

- More Downton Abbey! (The pieces coming out about the show right now must drive PBS's marketing people crazy.) This time, a New York Times article profiling Julian Fellowes. I love that he defends Thomas to the interviewer.