2012 Emmy Predictions: Drama

Yesterday we discussed all the categories in the comedy field.  Today let's look at the actors competing for drama.

SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS

Anna Gunn as Skyler White in "Breaking Bad"
Maggie Smith as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham in "Downton Abbey"
Joanne Froggatt as Anna in "Downton Abbey"
Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma in "The Good Wife"
Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart in "The Good Wife"
Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway Harris in "Mad Men"

Right away you can take away the two actresses from "The Good Wife" which is a shame because both actresses do well on the show, they just can't deal with the same themes that the other shows do on cable.  If I had to pick one of the actresses from "Downton Abbey" I would have to pick Maggie Smith as the superior actress as the Countess, but she just won last year in the miniseries category.  I'm glad to see Anna Gunn finally nominated, but never deserved the award as much as she did this past season.  Unfortunately season five isn't for consideration, season four is.  So while I fully expect her to win next year for the scene below, she can't win yet but voters may forget about that.  Christina Hendricks is who I believe deserves the win, she has been nominated four times in the past.  The episode she submitted was also the same one Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss submitted and its a Joan centric episode, "The Other Woman" is a heartbreaking episode and worth the watch and she deserves the win for it, but Maggie Smith may just take the award anyway.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrtyYCWjR0s]

SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR

Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in "Breaking Bad"
Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo 'Gus' Fring in "Breaking Bad"
Brendan Coyle as John Bates in "Downton Abbey"
Jim Carter as Mr. Carson in "Downton Abbey"
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in "Game of Thrones"
Jared Harris as Lane Pryce "Mad Men"

The "Downton Abbey" actors are out of their league in this category. It includes two past winners and two who very much deserve the win.  I would think because  Aaron Paul and Peter Dinklage have won in the past and probably had better seasons the previous years would not be serious contenders, though each episode they submitted were fantastic.  Dinklage submitted Blackwater which features a fantastic speech before a major battle which is what won him the award last year.  While Aaron Paul features a tense standoff between him and his partner, Walt.  When I think of this past season of "Breaking Bad" though I always think of Gus especially the last image of him from that season.  He was fantastic all year, as was Jared Harris who has a heartbreaking arc this season.  His episode also featured a very funny moment for him before the inevitable conclusion.  But Giancarlo Esposito had a better all around season and for that will get the win and become the first Afrian-American to win the award in this category.

DRAMA ACTRESS

Glenn Close as Patty Hewes in "Damages"
Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley in "Downton Abbey"
Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick in "The Good Wife"
Kathy Bates as Harriet Korn in "Harry's Law"
Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in "Homeland"
Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson in "Mad Men"

Claire Danes is going to win for "Homeland."  The show is amazing and it is all her.  The episode she submits is called "The Vest" and it features an emotional breakdown which Emmy voters love.  But her last moments of the episode is what clinches the award.

DRAMA ACTOR

Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson in "Boardwalk Empire"
Bryan Cranston as Walter White in "Breaking Bad"
Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan in "Dexter"
Hugh Bonneville as Robert, Earl of Grantham in "Downton Abbey"
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody in "Homeland"
Jon Hamm as Don Draper in "Mad Men"

What is really impressive about this other inevitable win is that now Bryan Cranston has never lost the award.  Last year he was ineligable due to when the shows came out.  But he is now three for three and for anyone who saw this scene you realized immediately that this was not only a special actor but a once in a generation show.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMEq1mGpP5A]

P.S. Why is Dexter still on television.

DRAMA SERIES

"Boardwalk Empire" (HBO)
"Breaking Bad" (AMC)
"Downton Abbey" (PBS)
"Game of Thrones" (HBO)
"Homeland" (Showtime)
"Mad Men" (AMC)

This has been the "Mad Men" award for the past several years now, but could this finally be the year "Breaking Bad" takes down the king?  "Mad Men" was on point this season, and just as good as the previous years, my only knock on the show would be that it had too many final gotcha moments at the end of episodes that made it seem more like just another dramatic series than an analysis of society in the sixties in comparison to today.  Where as "Breaking Bad" has gone above and beyond.  And I didn't think it was possible to get any better.  Two years ago when the shows clashed I thought that "Breaking Bad" would win for Best Series as it was a down year for Don Draper and the gang where as "Breaking Bad" was on the rise of greatness.  Now there is no doubt what is the best series.  I know Emmy voters are loyal but it would be a crime to give the award to anyone else.  "Breaking Bad" is the greatest show on television and should win the award.  All hail the king.

Who do you think will win? Let me know and hit me up on twitter for your take on the Emmy Awards as they happen.  Thanks for putting up with me.  For that below is Neil Patrick Harris doing one of his many great musical numbers from 2009.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT1DZVn5h2Y]