My Emmy Ballot: Guest Performances

Believe it or not, the Emmy nominations are just four days away. With my on-and-off summer blogging hiatus I almost missed my chance to weigh in on who I thought SHOULD be nominated for an Emmy award for their work this past TV season. So in the next few days I'm going to give you all a peek at who I would've put down if I had a ballot. These are not predictions, of course, just my own personal wishlist. First up, guest actors and actress!

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.

Guest Actor, Comedy
Max Adler, Glee
Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live
Justin Long, New Girl
Mike O'Malley, Glee
James Marsden, 30 Rock
Paul Rudd, Parks and Recreation

For a show I mostly hate-watch it's a testament to Adler and O'Malley that I still consider their work to be award worthy with both giving the show rare moments of substance especially the former tackling a gay teenager driven to suicide. Long, Marsden, and Rudd took a break from their movie careers to brighten up (or in the latter's case to make chaotic) the lives of the shows' leading ladies with consistently funny results. I admit to not being a huge fan of Fallon, but his Christmas SNL episode was one of the season's highlights on that show.

Alternates: Ed Helms (Wilfred), Bradley Whitford (Parks and Recreation), Will Forte (30 Rock), Dermot Mulroney (New Girl), Christopher Abbot (Girls), and Greg Kinnear (Modern Family)

Guest Actress, Comedy
Elizabeth Banks, 30 Rock
Patricia Clarkson, Parks and Recreation
Kathyrn Hahn, Parks and Recreation
Dot-Marie Jones, Glee
Leslie Mann, Modern Family
Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live

This was a tough category considering a cursory glance at my alternates list boasts pretty damn good performances as well. With that said, I do love the ladies I've picked above. Like Fallon's stint, Rudolph's SNL episode was a season highlight for the show. Clarkson and Hahn made the best comedy on TV even better (and I'm hoping we get more of them next season), while Banks and Mann showed off their funny bones as expected with great skill. Jones was hammered this season with a controversial storyline, but she nonetheless acted the hell out of it.

Alternates: Ellen Barkin (Modern Family), Jane Kaczmarek (Wilfred), Megan Mullaly (Parks and Rec/Happy Endings), Becki Newton (How I Met Your Mother), and Sherri Shepard (30 Rock)

Guest Actor, Drama
Jim Beaver, Supernatural
Colin Hanks, Dexter
Jared Harris, Fringe
Mark Margolis, Breaking Bad
Matthew Perry, The Good Wife
Sebastian Stan, Once Upon a Time

From the looks of my nominees here, my tastes clearly run more genre than Emmy voters, but so what? I actually wouldn't be surprised to see Perry, Margolis, and Hanks all nominated since their shows are Emmy-respected enough and all of the actors had flashy performances to promote. But I do want to give kudos to Beaver (impressive farewell episode), Harris (doing double duty in both universes), and Stan (his scene-stealing Mad Hatter) and what they did. The latter especially really just had the one episode to make an impact and I already wanted a spin-off immediately.

Alternates: Dylan Baker and Michael J. Fox (The Good Wife), Michael Cerveris (Fringe), Mos Def (Dexter), Ben Feldman (Mad Men), and Iain Glen (Downton Abbey)

Guest Actress, Drama
Joan Cusack, Shameless
Louise Fletcher, Shameless
Bailee Madison, Once Upon a Time
Julia Ormond, Mad Men
Martha Plimpton, The Good Wife
Carrie Preston, The Good Wife

Like last year, I don't get why Cusack is in this category rather than supporting, but she's good enough that I'd nominate her in both anyways. Fletcher was fantastic as well as Frank's mom (and her scenes with Cusack were particularly well-done). Madison may be an odd choice here, but the way she mimicked Goodwin's Snow White acting style was downright eerie. Ormond was a pleasant surprise this season on Mad Men while Plimpton and Preston impressed yet again despite the small screen time they had.

Alternates: Pamela Dunlap (Mad Men), Barbara Hershey and Meghan Ory (Once Upon a Time), Bernadette Peters (Smash), Anika Noni Rose (The Good Wife), Rebecca Mader (Fringe), and Margarita Levieva (Revenge)

I'm sure I'm missing plenty of people who deserve nominations. I watch a lot of TV, but I don't watch every single show. For an alternate take, I recommend checking out Andrew's ballot for the guest categories (drama, comedy). Tomorrow I'll try to narrow down my picks in those super competitive supporting categories.