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« Ausiello Report
2008 Dream Emmy Ballot Part Deux: Best in Drama
Ginnifer Goodwin courtesy HBO; Matthew Fox by Mario Perez/ABC; Ted Danson courtesy FX
Dear Emmy voters:
Yesterday, I told you suggested which actors and actresses on the comedy side most deserved your Emmy love. Today, things get more serious, with my picks in the dramatic acting categories. Please, I beg of you, study this list before filling out your ballot (which should be arriving in your mailboxes any day now). Otherwise, all the wrong people will get nominated again and, well, that'll suck for everyone.
Sincerely, Michael Ausiello (with strong input from Matt Roush and Bruce Fretts)
Lead Drama Actress
Connie Britton (Tami, Friday Night Lights)
Glenn Close (Patty, Damages)
Ginnifer Goodwin (Margene, Big Love)
Chloë Sevigny (Nikki, Big Love)
Jeanne Tripplehorn (Barb, Big Love)
FNL threw everything but the kitchen sink at Britton this season (new baby, hellion daughter, marital problems), and she cleaned up; Close was scary as hell, and we still rooted for her Damages counterpart; and the three wives at the center of Big Love, riding the show's quality wave, turned in the best work of their careers. You try picking a favorite from the batch. (OK, we may be the teensiest bit partial to Goodwin, who impressed us as the not-as-naive-as-we-thought Margene.)
Lead Drama Actor
Kyle Chandler (Eric, Friday Night Lights)
Bryan Cranston (Walter, Breaking Bad)
Matthew Fox (Jack, Lost)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter, Dexter)
Jon Hamm (Don, Mad Men)
No matter how demanding his FNL storyline, Chandler continued to make it look easy; eschewing the "middle" ground, Cranston got us high on his drug-dealing suburbanite; Fox quietly solidified his status as one of the tube's most reliable and unshowy stalwarts; Hall slayed us by adding a touch of crazy to his sexy, cool serial killer; and Hamm proved anything but in a performance that was as subtle as it was memorable.
Supporting Drama Actress
Christina Hendricks (Joan, Mad Men)
Adrienne Palicki (Tyra, Friday Night Lights)
Maggie Siff (Rachel, Mad Men)
Ally Walker (Katie, Tell Me You Love Me)
Grace Zabriskie (Lois, Big Love)
Among all the Men, Hendricks' office manager and Siff's mistress were the only ones with real cajones; Palicki's killer performance was one of the few upsides of FNL's ill-advised murder plot; Walker brought admirable nuance to her unsatisfied married mother character; and Zabriskie... oh, c'mon! They should package her special brand of crazy already! At this point, she doesn't even have to steal scenes; writers lay them at her feet as sacrifices.
Supporting Drama Actor
Ted Danson (Arthur, Damages)
Matthew Rhys (Kevin, Brothers & Sisters)
John Slattery (Roger, Mad Men)
Donald Sutherland (Tripp, Dirty Sexy Money)
Michael K. Williams (Omar, The Wire)
Cheers to Danson, who played evil so well that he made us forget all about Sam Malone; Rhys, as the uptight gay sibling who learned to loosen up and fall in love, warmed our hearts and swept us off our feet along the way; Slattery imbued his ultracool character with a shock of vulnerability; Sutherland delivered a modern-day Blake Carrington deserving of his dynasty; and Williams showed a surprising vulnerability as the ultimately doomed stick-up artist Omar.
OK, it's your turn: Agree/disagree with the selections above? Any glaring ommissions you'd like to alert Emmy voters to? Sound off below!
Coming up tomorrow: My Dream nominees for comedy and drama series.
Related:
2008 Dream Emmy Ballot Part One: Best in Comedy.
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May 19, 2008 11:40 PM
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Your missing one important Drama Actor: Jensen Ackles, Supernatural
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May 19, 2008 11:52 PM
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I'd like to tell you to add more actors from "The Wire" in there, but it would be hard to since the show is such an ensemble. I would probably have added Dominick West to the Best Supporting Actor ballot as Jimmy grappled with a department that couldn't care less about real police work, jumped over the edge and crossed a line that should never be crossed.
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May 20, 2008 12:25 AM
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left out a certain JAMES SPADER for lead actor!!
and I have to say, after watching tonight's finale, HUGH LAURIE should also be nominated!!
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May 20, 2008 12:43 AM
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are you high?! Michael Emerson has to win this time, never mind be nominated.
Matthew Fox, like pretty much everyone on Lost, is doing a great job. Emerson still manages to blow them all out of the water.
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May 20, 2008 1:01 AM
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as long as Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton get nominated, i can die happily.
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May 20, 2008 1:09 AM
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Here are some more well-deserving actors and actresses I hope Emmy has a place for:
Lead Actor:
Hugh Laurie, House
Edward James Olmos, Battlestar Galactica
Lead Actress:
Mary McDonnell, Battlestar Galactica
Kyra Sedgewick, The Closer
Supporting Actor:
Henry Ian Cusick, Lost
Michael Emerson, Lost
Michael Hogan, Battlestar Galactica
Supporting Actress:
January Jones, Mad Men
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy
Gee, can you tell I'm a fan of Battlestar Galactica?
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May 20, 2008 1:26 AM
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I really like your lists, I'd probably only add Mary McDonnell in lead actress and I'd add one of the fantastic players from FNL in supporting actor (any of Scott Porter, Zach Gilford, Gaius Charles, Jesse Plemons, Taylor Kitsch, etc). It would just be nice to have FNL represented in ALL the categories, don't you think 
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May 20, 2008 1:36 AM
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Nice to see some love for Donald Sutherland! I would be happy if ANY of the men from Dirty Sexy Money made the cut. (Personally, I'm most fond of Seth Gabel. He handled comedy and drama beautifully.) The Lead Drama Actor category also looks great, particularly Michael C. Hall and Bryan Cranston. I also definitely like Ginnifer Goodwin for Lead Actress.
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May 20, 2008 1:47 AM
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Michael C. Hall (Dexter, Dexter)
Jon Hamm (Don, Mad Men)
Yes, it should totally be between these two. We'll see if the Emmys are as forward thinking as the Golden Globes were in giving Mad Men its due.
Don't agree with all three lead females from Big Love. I think I'd leave Tripplehorn out.
Matthew Rhys (Kevin, Brothers & Sisters)
John Slattery (Roger, Mad Men)
Donald Sutherland (Tripp, Dirty Sexy Money)
Absolutely these three, although Matthew Rhys could almost be nominated in the comedy category. I think some of his best turns as Kevin Walker are the dry and sarcastic moments. Slattery was fantastic in the episode when his character Roger had a heart attack. And watching Sutherland as Tripp Darling is like watching a master class in acting. His performances are inspired.
I'd love to see Christina Hendricks get a nod.
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May 20, 2008 2:23 AM
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What about Jensen Ackles for lead actor drama?
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May 20, 2008 4:04 AM
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EDIT ALERT: put Patty's name in the parentheses, and change the period to a comma in the Ginnifer Goodwin nomination.
Other than that, I'm happy. But where's Terry O'Quinn???
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May 20, 2008 4:07 AM
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Oh no you didn't leave out Hugh Laurie. That man has been robbed of an emmy everytime he's been up, and after watching the season finale, he's gotta win. Ugh.
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May 20, 2008 4:07 AM
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How can you leave out Michael Emerson?
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May 20, 2008 4:40 AM
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The Emmy's suck (Dream or otherwise)
Can't they just go away.
The day they actually award a worthy winner I think I might have a stroke. James Spader anyone.......anyone? God, even James Spader was embarrassed to get that Emmy last year.
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May 20, 2008 5:00 AM
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