Who'll win the Emmy race for best drama series actor?

Finally, there is suspense in the Emmy race for best actor in a drama series. Three-time champ Bryan Cranston is not in the contest since "Breaking Bad" didn't air new episodes in the eligibility period. The current nominees: Steve Buscemi ("Boardwalk Empire"), Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"), Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), Jon Hamm ("Mad Men"), Hugh Laurie ("House"), and Timothy Olyphant ("Justified").

Hamm has lost all three times in this category to Cranston, so he has never known defeat to anyone else. Maybe he has been in second place all these years? For this past season of "Mad Men," he had his best showcase ever with the episode "The Suitcase," which was submitted to Emmy judges. In it, his character Don Draper gets drunk with coworker Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) one night while working late and finds out a friend has died in California. It is a surprisingly emotional performance from a character that normally keeps everything bottled up inside.

Most pundits believe that his closest competition is with Buscemi ("Boardwalk Empire"), who has already won this year at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards. In the season finale "A Return to Normalcy," his character Nucky Thompson, a politician with mobster ties, lets down his guard on election day with Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) when he recounts the tragic deaths of his wife and baby years earlier.

Hall has been nodded three times as Dexter Morgan, a secret, sympathetic serial killer employed by the Miami police on "Dexter." His riveting performance on last year's Emmy submission, the season finale "The Getaway," had tons of action and the surprise ending with his wife murdered in his bathtub. Since Hall couldn't win for that, it's doubtful that his latest episode submission can triumph: "Teenage Wasteland," which doesn't have that kind of energy but does feature a nice story arc depicting his search for a new set of killers while being worried that his stepdaughter is missing.

Olyphant ("Justified") is the only Emmy rookie in this field. In his episode "Reckoning," he portrays U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, who searches frantically for a murderer and ultimately drags the suspect out in the woods where he must decide whether he will live or die. It is a very compelling, forceful performance of a lawman distributing his own form of justice, not unlike the performance given by Kiefer Sutherland ("24") when when he won in 2006.

Emmys: Michael C. Hall says nominations will put a spring in the step of 'Dexter' cast, crew

Michael C. Hall woke up to his fifth Emmy nomination this morning ... but he had to track down his phone to do it. 

Tell me you weren’t murdering someone when you heard the news.

Even better: I was in my bathroom, where I leave my phone, which wakes me up [with an alarm]. I had a bunch of messages from publicists, friends, colleagues, so I was checking them.

You leave your phone in the bathroom?

If I put it by my bed, I’m too inclined to ignore the alarm. This way, I actually have to get up. That’s my technique.

I’ll have to try that.

Do it. It usually works.

Back to the Emmys. How do you plan to celebrate?

I don’t know. I mean, the ceremony itself will be a chance to celebrate the show. It received, what, seven nominations? Lots of us will be there. That’ll be a great chance to formally celebrate. We work today, we’re a third of the way done with the next season. It will definitely give us all a spring in our step.

Cablers seemed to get a lot of award recognition. Is that even surprising anymore?

I don’t know. I guess I haven’t put any attention to whatever the trends are this year. I’m certainly happy that that’s the case. I love my character, and he probably wouldn’t be as cool on broadcast TV.

Let’s talk about last season. What did you find most challenging in playing the character?

In the fifth season we sort of had to take responsibility for the mess in Dexter’s world. He had a big share in Rita’s death. It was difficult to try to play this guy who maintains some sort of disconnect from his emotions and still process all of that.

How about your fellow nominees? If you couldn't win, who would you like to take the trophy?

Well, I can’t say Bryan Cranston. Oh, gosh, I don’t know. It’s strange. We’re not running a 100-yard dash. We’re all doing very different things. It’s a strange thing deciding whose is best. Good luck to the voters doing that.

RELATED:

Emmys: Best drama nominees

Emmys: Drama actor, actress nominees

Show Tracker coverage of Dexter

 — Yvonne Villarreal

Photo: Michael C. Hall. Credit: Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times.

 

Envelope Emmy Week: Geek TV panelists talk about their favorite shows and first jobs [video]

In the Envelope Emmy Week's Geek TV panel on Wednesday night -- moderated by Times television critic Robert Lloyd -- Johnny Galecki (“Big Bang Theory”), Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), Jayma Mays (“Glee”), Joel McHale (“Community”) and Sam Trammell (“True Blood”) gathered to talk about their passionate fans, understanding their characters and, in the first clip below, their favorite geek TV shows. In the second clip, we learn what some of their earliest acting experiences were.

 

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Envelope Emmy Week: Geek TV panelists on Comic-Con and passionate fans [video]

Envelope Emmy Week: Geek TV panelists share traits with their characters

Envelope Emmy Week: Actors discuss the draw of their shows, and the odd families therein [video]

-- Elena Howe

Envelope Emmy Week: Geek TV panelists on Comic-Con and passionate fans [video]

In the Envelope Emmy Week's Geek TV panel on Wednesday night -- moderated by Times television critic Robert Lloyd -- Johnny Galecki (“Big Bang Theory”), Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), Jayma Mays (“Glee”), Joel McHale (“Community”) and Sam Trammell (“True Blood”) gathered to talk about the extremes some of their shows go to, understanding their characters and, in the clip below, their very passionate fans.

RELATED:

Envelope Emmy Week: Geek TV panelists share traits with their characters

Envelope Emmy Week: Actors discuss the draw of their shows, and the odd families therein [video]

Envelope Emmy Week: Bringing personal experience to the role and not knowing what direction their character might go [video]

-- Elena Howe

Envelope Emmy Week: Geek TV panelists share traits with their characters

For Envelope Emmy Week, we invited five actors to talk with us about their characters’ kooky idiosyncrasies (germophobia, social awkwardness, selfishness and, let's not forget, shape-shifting and killing people) and the effect of their shows on the fanboy (and girl) audience.

In the Geek TV panel Wednesday night — moderated by Times television critic Robert Lloyd — Johnny Galecki (“Big Bang Theory”), Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), Jayma Mays (“Glee”), Joel McHale (“Community”) and Sam Trammell (“True Blood”) discussed their careers, their fans and, in the clip below, how they relate to their characters, admitting they suffer similar anxiety, or keep secrets, or, as with McHale, had cheating in common with their character. Check back soon for more clips.

RELATED

Envelope Emmy Week: Actors discuss the draw of their shows, and the odd families therein [video]

Envelope Emmy Week: Bringing personal experience to the role and not knowing what direction their character might go [video]

— Elena Howe

'Dexter': Kill for an Emmy [Video spoof]

Our devilishly clever forums moderator Matt Noble takes on the killer persona of TV's Dexter Morgan to give us a new (and very bloody) perspective on Emmy's top drama races. For the past three years, "Dexter" has lost best series to "Mad Men" and Michael C. Hall has lost lead actor to Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad"). Noble imagines that Hall's character -- a secret serial killer -- can't stand the outrages any more and so now he picks up a kitchen blade to deal with it.

"It's the third time they both killed 'Dexter's' chances and they keep on getting away with it," he fumes in this video spoof. "Not this time. This time I take things into my own hands. 'Mad Men' is too big a target. People would notice its absence and ask too many questions. But 'Breaking Bad' -- I can do something about that."

Technically, "Breaking Bad" isn't Emmy eligible this year because no new episodes aired during the eligibilty period, but, hey, why ruin a good joke? Let's go with this narrative and assume "Breaking Bad" isn't around because, well, Dexter took care of business.

-- Tom O'Neil

Envelope Emmy Week: Screening series and roundtables kick off the season

With the Emmy race poised to shift into high gear, the Los Angeles Times will kick things off with Envelope Emmy Week -- five days of television series screenings, cast Q&As and roundtable panels beginning June 1. 

Matt Weiner's "Mad Men" will launch the screening series programming as stars Jon Hamm, Christina Hendricks and Kiernan Shipka join creator and executive producer Weiner for a lively discussion about the turns the AMC series took last season -- the new agency's in trouble, Don Draper's remarrying(!), Joan is pregnant and Sally, well Sally's growing up awfully fast.   

On June 2, William H. Macy and the cast of Showtime's "Shameless" will screen the series and talk about what could be television's most dysfunctional family ever, or maybe just its worst father ever.

Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins and the rest of the "Justified" gang gather on June 6 to take us behind the scenes of the highly acclaimed show about the U.S. marshal.

Emmy week continues on June 7 and 8 with two roundtables. Up first is Alternative Families in which an eclectic mix of actors will look at what "family" means on TV these days -- from biker gangs to vampire kingdoms -- and how their on-screen relationships help them and challenge them as actors.

The Geek TV roundtable on June 8 will look at the pop culture impact of shows that target the fanboy audience, as well as characters who embrace their geek status as a badge of honor.

After each panel, check back on Awards Tracker for video highlights of the night's discussions.

Guild members can get additional details and RSVP to attend any of the events at http://events.latimes.com/envelope/.

-- Elena Howe

Top photo: Jon Hamm as Don Draper. Credit: AMC

Bottom photo: Timothy Olyphant as U.S Marshal Raylan Givens. Credit: FX

Emmy inside track: The race for TV drama actor

After winning the Emmy for TV drama actor three years in a row, Bryan Cranston is now out of the derby because "Breaking Bad" wasn't televised during the award's eligibility period (June 1, 2010 - May 31, 2011). That's good news for three repeat contenders who are always nominated and never win: Michael C. Hall (who won a Golden Globe and SAG Award for "Dexter"), "House M.D.'s" Hugh Laurie (two Globes and two SAG trophies) and Jon Hamm (one Globe but no solo laurels from SAG for "Mad Men").

Most pundits believe Laurie probably never will win because of the Emmy's voting method. Winners are decided by a jury of actors who watch sample episodes submitted by each nominee. Laurie gives a fireworks performance, yes, but it's of an arrogant, unhuggable character. Maybe we shouldn't discount his chances too much, however, considering James Gandolfini won three times for portraying a murderous thug on "The Sopranos."

Hamm may have a good shot this year thanks to a strong episode of "Mad Men" titled "The Suitcase," which he'll probably submit. It's a real winner, giving him a showcase to display a wide range of emotions. He even gets drunk and has crying scenes.

Hamm's toughest competition may be Steve Buscemi, who's widely considered to be "an actor's actor" starring in the white-hot new HBO series "Boardwalk Empire."

Below is a breakdown of how the race looks like right now. Expect Buscemi, Hall, Hamm and Laurie to fill up four of the six nominee slots in this category. They'll probably be joined by Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"), who was nominated last year too. Who'll nab the sixth slot?

TV DRAMA ACTOR
(Favorites)
Simon Baker, "The Mentalist"
Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"
Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"
Billy Campbell, "The Killing"
Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights"
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
Jeremy Irons, "The Borgias"
Hugh Laurie, "House M.D."
Andrew Lincoln, "The Walking Dead"
William H. Macy, "Shameless"
Timothy Olyphant, "Justified"
Ray Romano, "Men of a Certain Age"

Emmy slugfest over best drama actor: Jon Hamm vs. Steve Buscemi

After three past losses for his work on "Mad Men," Jon Hamm will finally win best TV drama actor at the Emmys, according to three of the six pundits polled by Awards Tracker. The gurus are our forums' moderators, who monitor the Emmy voting process closely and believe that Hamm can finally prevail because of the emotional impact and range he displays in the Season 4 episode that he will probably submit to Emmy judges: "The Suitcase."

Our other three pundits are betting on Steve Buscemi in "Boardwalk Empire," which will certainly be a major Emmy contender. The hot new HBO series recently won best drama series at the Golden Globes, halting beat "Mad Men's" three-year winning streak, and may soon do the same at the Emmys.

For the last three years, the Emmy contest for best TV drama actor was dominated by Bryan Cranston, but he's not eligible now because "Breaking Bad" had no new episodes airing during the Emmy eligibility period that ends May 31. Five-time loser Hugh Laurie ("House M.D.") has never won. Other nominees last year included Hamm, Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights") and Matthew Fox ("Lost"). All may return except Fox.

Other top contenders: Simon Baker ("The Mentalist"), Gabriel Byrne ("In Treatment"), Idris Elba ("Luther"), Charlie Hunnam ("Sons of Anarchy"), Jeremy Irons ("The Borgias"), Andrew Lincoln ("The Walking Dead"), William H. Macy ("Shameless"), Timothy Olyphant ("Justified"), Bill Paxton ("Big Love") and Tom Selleck ("Blue Bloods").

Our participating Emmy pundits: Chris Beachum, Matthew Cormier, Marcus Dixon, Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria and Matt Noble. Below, they rank their top six predictions for best TV drama actor according to likelihood of winning (1 is most likely). Also, see their rankings for best drama series and comedy series.

-- Tom O'Neil

DRAMA ACTOR	Beachum	Cormier	Dixon	Dortch	Licuria	Noble
Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"	2	1	1	2	1	2
Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"		6		3	4	6
Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights"			3			5
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"	4	2	6	5	3	3
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"	1	3	2	1	2	1
Jeremy Irons, "The Borgias"	3				5
Hugh Laurie, "House M.D."	5	5	5	6	6	4
William H. Macy, "Shameless"	6	4	4	4

Photos, from left: Jon Hamm in "Mad Men"; Steve Buscemi in "Boardwalk Empire. Credits: AMC, HBO