My Emmy Ballot: Leading Performances

Just two more days until the Emmy nominations. The past couple days I've been talking about who I would pick if I could fill out a ballot. Today I'm tackling the lead actors and actresses, which by their definition, gave me less to work with compared to the supporting or guest categories. To read the chat Andrew and I had regarding about who we think would get nominated in these categories, click here and here.

Disclaimer: Only performances I have seen are qualified and I'm going to honor the category the actors have chosen to submit themselves in, even when I think it's ultimately wrong.

Lead Actor, Comedy
Steve Carrell, The Office
Zachary Levi, Chuck
Rob Lowe, Parks and Recreation
Joel McHale, Community
Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory
Josh Radnor, How I Met Your Mother

This was tough, because after I put down Carrell, McHale, and Parsons I was stuck. These three were pretty damn wonderful this past season especially Carrell during Michael Scott's swan song. I'm not saying that Radnor, Levi, and Lowe don't deserve my nominations, they do, but this category was ridiculously open. I guess that's why Lowe wrongly submitted himself here rather than the much more competitive Supporting category. I think another reason is some shows/performances that would fit right at home here (White Collar's Bomer, Castle's Fillion) are randomly in the drama category.

Alternates: Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Lucas Neff (Raising Hope), and Johnny Galecki (Big Bang Theory)

Lead Actress, Comedy
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Courtnex Cox, Cougar Town
Kaley Cuoco, Big Bang Theory
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

I'm heartened at the fact that half of my picks seem like a good bet for the Emmys namely Collette, Fey, and Poehler. It's hard to compare Fey and Poehler's work to the darker and amazing performance put up by Collette during her show's last season, but they do set the standard for network comedy. I developed a better appreciation for Cuoco early in the season when she had to miss episodes due to and injury and the show SUFFERED for it. Cox is a veteran that has shockingly never been nominated and Plimpton is the new girl, which is kind of weird to say. Crazy mothers for the win!

Alternates: Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) and Brooke Elliott (Drop Dead Diva)

Lead Actor, Drama
Matt Bomer, White Collar
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Nathan Fillion, Castle
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Andrew Lincoln, The Walking Dead

Even though I already mentioned it above, I still want to say that Bomer and Fillion probably feel more at home in the Comedy category, but since they've submitted here, I had to give them their props. Though I do feel bad leaving out Tim Dekay since he and Bomer ARE the show. Last time I saw Lincoln, he was professing his love for Keira Knightley in Love, Actually so naturally he's now a zombie-killing sheriff and clearly loving it. The last three, who were nominated for an Emmy last year, should be nominated again for another strong season. Hall and Hamm especially showed off the vulnerable sides of their usually stoic characters.

Alternates: Sean Bean (Game of Thrones), Tim DeKay (White Collar), William H. Macy (Shameless), and Bill Paxton (Big Love)

Lead Actress, Drama
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
Stana Katic, Castle
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Emmy Rossum, Shameless
Anna Torv, Fringe

Can I just declare my love for all of these ladies? Britton and Katic did impressive work especially in tandem with their partners. Margulies shined as a stronger and simultaneously more damaged Alicia Florrick while Moss rose this season to become the MVP of her magnificent cast. Whoever gave Rossum this role deserves a gift from not just Rossum, whose career had flatlined after Phantom of the Opera, but from the audience as well since we get to see this fierce, sexy, affective version of Rossum on a weekly basis. Finally, I've continually praised the excellent and brilliant dual/triple/inimitable work of Torv this season on Fringe. Her being most likely snubbed will be Emmy's biggest mistake this year.

Alternates: Lena Heady (Game of Thrones), Elizabeth Mitchell (V), Anna Paquin (True Blood), Jeanne Tripplehorn (Big Love), and Mireille Enos (The Killing)

Based on my ballot picks for guest, supporting, and now lead categories, it's pretty easy to parse out which shows I'm going to choose tomorrow, but patience is a virtue!