My Emmy Ballot: Supporting Performances

So I meant to post this way earlier, but my power went out and so did my 75% finished blog entry which I then irretrievably lost. I'm sorry to say that those beautiful words will forever be gone and will sadly be replaced with this hastily put together version. With all of that said, below is my Emmy ballot for the supporting categories. They're the most competitive categories as evident by my "short" list that ended up having 20-30 names and that's me only seeing a fraction of performances that were submitted. So without further a due...

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
Adam Driver, Girls
Jason Gann, Wilfred
Max Greenfield, New Girl
Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation
Jim Rash, Community
Damon Wayans Jr., Happy Endings

First and foremost, Offerman will always be in my ballot and I wait with bated breath until Emmy voters do the same. It's pretty ridiculous he hasn't been nominated yet for playing Ron freaking Swanson. Oscar winner Rash steals every single scene he is in and considering his show with that cast, that's saying a lot. Greenfield and Wayans are consistently wacky without overdoing and are usually good even if the episode is bad. And finally, Driver and Gann really suprised especially in very, very tricky roles. I mean the latter has to dress up in a dog suit for Pete's sake!

Alternates: Ty Burrell (Modern Family), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Hunter Parrish (Weeds), Danny Pudi (Community), Reid Scott (Veep), and James Van Der Beek (Apartment 23)

Supporting Actress, Comedy
Mayim Bialik, Big Bang Theory
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Eliza Coupe, Happy Endings
Cheryl Hines, Suburgatory
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Zosia Mamet, Girls

While Chlumsky's role is not as flash as some of the others here, I commend her great chemistry with every in the cast making me look forward to her scenes many times. Bialik and Mamet have quickly become my favorite actors in their respective shows especially since they both do SO much with the very little screen time they are given. It also helps that they give me the most laughs on their shows as well. Coupe and Hines are consistently funny and adept at physical humor. Last, but not least, Krakowski is just a star. She probably had her best season yet.

Alternates: Alison Brie and Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Aubrey Plaza and Retta (Parks and Recreation), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Elisa Cuthbert (Happy Endings), and Carly Chaikin (Suburgatory)

Supporting Actor, Drama
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad
Gabriel Mann, Revenge
John Noble, Fringe
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Jeremy Allen White, Shameless

In retrospect, it wasn't that difficult to pick my top five or so performances in this category, but it really did seem nearly impossible in such a packed year for this category. The Emmy winners of the past two years, Paul and Dinklage, should be seen as the front-runners just based on history and if it was up to me it would still be between the two of them. With that said, Esposito just had such an explosive year while White successfully tapped into the fuckery of being a young adult. Mann was my favorite thing about his show while Noble broke my heart more than once this past season. Quick shout out to Minnette in my alternates... that's how you portray a teenage boy on network TV. Watch and learn, actors.

Alternates: Robert Carlyle (Once Upon a Time), Mandy Patinkin (Homeland), Matt Czuchry (The Good Wife), Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones), Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad), Christian Borle (Smash), Norman Reedus (Walking Dead), and Dylan Minnette (Awake)

Supporting Actress, Drama
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
Lena Heady, Game of Thrones
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Archie Panjabi, Good Wife
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones

This is always such a fun category full of supremely talented and awesome women. Williams shone this season especially acting alongside side guys who are way older. Dame Maggie Smith is well... Dame Maggie Smith so enough said while Heady really got deeper into who her character was and what made her tick. Gunn was a delight with her character catching up on breaking bad and the hilarious/scary consequences of it all. And what to say about Hendricks and Panjabi except to say how awesome they both are... again. Both play women who are so inherently sexy, cool, and collected and whose resolved were severely tested to the point of extreme measures. Quick shout out to Vanasse in my alternate... can someone give her a starring role in a TV show soon?

Alternates: Christine Baranski (The Good Wife), Kristen Bauer van Straten (True Blood), Karine Vanasse (Pan Am), Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter), Morena Baccarin (Homeland), Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) and Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood)

Tomorrow, barring another power outage, I'll tackle the leading performances which are thankfully a tad easier than the supporting ones. For an alternate take on supporting performances, make sure to read Andrew's ballot (drama, comedy). Our ballots are so hilariously different mostly because I just don't watch some of the shows he does and vice versa.