- Jon Hamm (Don Draper) in Mad Men
- Bryan Cranston (Walter White) in Breaking Bad
- Damian Lewis (Sgt. Nicholas Brody) in Homeland
- Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan) in Dexter
- Steve Buscemi (Nucky Thompson) in Boardwalk Empire
- Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley, Lord of Grantham) in Downton Abbey
MY REACTIONS TO THE NOMINATIONS:
Where to begin? Let's start with one of my favorite characters on television: Don Draper. Don Draper has changed since his cheating and smooth ways of Season One. Don Draper is still one badass mofo and does whatever he wants to whomever he wants. But for the past two seasons we have seen a subdued version of Don Draper. But that doesn't diminish Hamm's amazing acting abilities, it's just really frustrating and it's 100% creator and head writer Matthew Weiner's fault. But my final point is that Jon Ham is awesome and can no wrong... Bryan Cranston has won this award every year he's been eligible and he deserves every award that comes his way. Breaking Bad is the best show on television and a lot of it has to do with the amazing performance of Cranston. The show could not work without him... I loved the first season of Homeland and while Claire Danes (deservingly so) has garnered all the acting buzz and all of the awards from Homeland, I think Damien Lewis did a much better acting job than Danes. I thought Lewis was superb and I hope he wins every award he's nominated for... Hugh Bonneville didn't do a horrible job on Downton Abbey and he is a very good actor but like most of the actors who have earned acting Emmy nominations from Downton Abbey, they didn't really sparkle on the screen like many other actors who were nominated. If I had to chose one actor from Downton Abbey for this category I would have chosen Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley because he was one of the few people on the show who's performance and acting stood out above the rest... While I stopped watching Dexter after Season 4, I find it hard to believe that Michael C. Hall and Dexter did anything *that* much different in Season 6 than in the first four seasons. I think it's safe to assume I can judge Hall based on his past performances and while his character is good, I think the field has caught up to Dexter and Hall... I have no excuse to why I haven't seen Boardwalk Empire. I would have much rather seen B.E. than Downton Abbey. Feel free to pelt me with rocks.
If I Had An Emmy Vote:
- Jon Hamm (Don Draper) in Mad Men
- Bryan Cranston (Walter White) in Breaking Bad
- Damian Lewis (Sgt. Nicholas Brody) in Homeland
- Timothy Olyphant (Raylan Givens) in Justified
- Matt Bomer (Neal Caffrey) in White Collar
- Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley) in Downton Abbey
(NOTE: I'm sure once I see Boardwalk Empire I'll put Buscemi ahead of Stevens but I don't want to take anything away from Stevens because he was excellent)
EDITOR'S UPDATE: Now that I have seen 11 out of the 12 episodes of Season Two of Boardwalk Empire, I feel I can accurately reflect upon the show and about Steve Buscemi's perfromance. Buscemi is great always put his performance both in Season 2 and in Season 1 were nothing spectacular and the real star of the show is Michael Pitt as Jimmy Darmody. I wish Pitt made himself eligible in this category but sadly he was only eligible for a Supporting Emmy. Since Buscemi's Nucky Thompson is the only character eligible for the Lead Emmy nomination, I'm fine with my original selection and with leaving Buscemi off of my "If I Had An Emmy Vote" list and leaving Dan Stevens on.
MAJOR SNUBS:
Um, how about Mr. Beautiful Timothy Olyphant! While I thought Season 3 of Justified took a huge step backwards from both Season 2 AND Season 1, that doesn't mean Olyphant wasn't great as always. Raylan Givens is one of the best characters on television and Olyphant deserves a nomination every year no matter what.
WHO WILL WIN / WHO SHOULD WIN:
Who Will Win: Bryan Cranston
Who Should Win (In General): Jon Hamm
Who Should Win (Solely Based Upon The Nominated Season): Damian Lewis
Last year Breaking Bad was not eligible to be nominated which means Jon Hamm did was not forced to go head-to-head with Bryan Cranston. This looked like a guaranteed lock for Hamm to finally win a Best Actor Emmy. But then this cocksucker named Kyle Chandler from Friday Night Lights comes along and because it was his last eligible season he wins the award. I guess Hamm will just have to accept his Outstanding Guest Actor Emmy for his (hilarious and legit deserves to win for this one performance) cameo on the live episode of 30 Rock this year or wait two more years when Mad Men is on Season 7 and Breaking Bad has stopped airing new episodes. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Hamm lost the Best Guest Performance In A Comedy to Jimmy Fallon last week. WTF Emmys?!]
If you are just looking at the six, actual nominations and ask me who deserves to win, it's Jon Hamm because it's insane he will never win a Best Actor Emmy for playing probably the greatest character in the history of television (seriously, Don Draper is amazing and this is not a hyperbole). But if you're asking me to choose who deserves to win by solely looking at how Hamm acted in Season 5 of Mad Men versus how Damien Lewis acted in Season 1 of Homeland, I'll take Lewis ten times out of ten.
________________________________
If you would like to comment on this post, please visit our facebook page