My Emmy Ballot: Supporting Performances

So what if I had an Emmy ballot? Well yesterday, I wrote about who I'd pick for guest acting. Today, it's all about those supporting characters, which are usually way more interesting than the leads. In fact, for most of these, it didn't take me long to fill up my alternate slots with another half dozen actors. In any case, if you want to read the conversations I had with Andrew talking about supporting characters and my predictions to 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.

Supporting Actor, Comedy
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Danny Pudi, Community
Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation
Jason Segel, How I Met Your Mother

I view Burrell and Pudi as the MVP in their respective shows which is saying a lot since their shows are full of crazy talented people. And though it was a weaker year for Harris, he still knocks it out of the park when he's asked to, namely his scenes with John Lithgow. The MVP honors for How I Met Your Mother though goes to Segel who handled the death of his character's dad with a great blend of emotion and humor. Playing the straight man, Scott's role isn't as flashy as most of his castmate's, but his chemistry with Poehler is undeniable. Speaking of flashy, don't let Ron Swanson hear I called him that, but Offerman really should've been nominated already for this role a couple times over.

Alternates: Keir Gilchrist (United States of Tara), Donald Glover (Community), Chris Colfer (Glee), Adam Pally (Happy Endings), Josh Hopkins (Cougar Town), and Hunter Parrish (Weeds)

Supporting Actress, Comedy
Mayim Bialik, Big Bang Theory
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Alison Brie, Community
Heather Morris, Glee
Busy Phillips, Cougar Town
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Not sure when it happened, but Morris's Brittany S. Pierce went from background character to supporting player to one of my favorite characters on the show. In a way I could say the same about Bialik to a smaller extent since she just joined the cast this season. Phillips and Brie bring lots of energy and sass to their roles that keep me coming back while Vergara and Bowen just keep doling out funny, consistent work time and time again. Those latter two have a great show at Emmy nominations and one of them could just win.

Alternates: Jane Krakowski (30 Rock), Jane Lynch and Naya Rivera (Glee), Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother) Christa Miller (Cougar Town), and Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation)

Supporting Actor, Drama
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Nelsan Ellis, True Blood
Jared Harris, Mad Men
Cameron Monaghan, Shameless
John Noble, Fringe

Don't want to say career-best roles, but some of these men seem to be doing just that. I speak mostly for Cumming, Dinklage, and Noble, which in their defense have already done great work before they landed on TV playing the wonderful characters of Eli, Tyrion, and Walter. Ellis and Harris are two bit actors that are probably overshadowed by others in the cast, which is why I was compelled to nominate them myself. No regrets. Actually, I do have one in that I found only room for one Gallagher boy. I could've just as easily pick Jeremy Allen White, but I gravitated towards Monaghan's character more, for obvious reasons.

Alternates: Denis O'Hare and Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood), Joshua Jackson (Fringe), Jeremy Allen White (Shameless), Matt Czuchry (The Good Wife), and Vincent Kartheiser (Mad Men)

Supporting Actress, Drama
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Michelle Forbes, The Killing
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Sara Ramirez, Grey's Anatomy
KaDee Strickland, Private Practice

Probably in bad taste of me to put Forbes' and Strickland's names here having only seen a handful of their episodes, but in my defense, they were damn good. Everyone else though, I'll defend wholeheartedly. Clarke really owned a complicated and difficult role and all the while with very limited screen time. I've been a fan of Ramirez since I saw her Tony-winning performance in Spamalot and this year she was on fire. When Panjabi won last year, I literally jumped up and down and the 2nd season fleshed her character out a bit more. Finally, I will always nominate YoSaffBridge aka Hendricks.

Alternates: Chloë Sevigny (Big Love), Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men), Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones), Sandra Oh (Grey's Anatomy), Kristin Bauer van Straten (True Blood) and Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter)

Three more days until Emmy nominations!