I was pretty angry with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences last year after they snubbed Mr. Carlos Bernard’s incredible comeback turn as Tony Almeida in Season 7 of 24. But now they’ve got a clean slate again with me, so let’s see how they did in choosing this year’s nominees.

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

• Ryan Murphy, Glee (“Pilot – The Director’s Cut”, 1.01)
• Paris Barclay, Glee (“Wheels”, 1.09)
• Jason Winer, Modern Family (“Pilot”, 1.01)
• Allen Coulter, Nurse Jackie (“Pilot”, 1.01)
• Don Scardino, 30 Rock (“I Do I Do”, 4.22)

To be fair, I don’t follow either Modern Family or 30 Rock at this point, so I’m judging blind here, but I’m picking one of the two Glee directors to win. Probably Ryan Murphy for the Pilot, although Paris Barclay did a phenomenal job directing an episode that centered largely around the entire cast using wheelchairs.  The final “Proud Mary” number was really amazing to watch.

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

• Michelle MacLaren, Breaking Bad (“One Minute”, 3.07)
• Steve Shill, Dexter (“The Getaway”, 4.12)
• Jack Bender, Lost (“The End”, 6.17 & 6.18)
• Lesli Linka, Mad Men (“Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency”, 3.06)
• Agnieszka Holland, Treme (“Do You Know What It Means”, 1.01)

Having followed all of these this season except Mad Men, I know this is going to be a very tough field, and all the candidates are deserving.  Michelle MacLaren and Steve Shill both did amazing work.  MacLaren kept the tension up in her high-wire episode of Breaking Bad when Hank gets shot, and Steve Shill could win if only for the final scene of Dexter‘s 4th Season Finale when (SPOILER ALERT) Dexter finds Rita murdered. But my heart is saying Jack Bender for Lost. He has been one of the primary directors on the show since day 1, and he directed an epic and emotional finale to an epic final season of an epic series, with elements of everything — action and battles, insane special effects, character close-ups and expansive aerial landscape shots — as we said our last goodbyes to the Island.

Outstanding Music Composition for a Series

• Michael McCuistion/Lolita Ritmanis/et al, Batman: The Brave and the Bold (“Mayhem of the Music Meister!”, 1.24)
• Ramin Djawadi, FlashForward (“No More Good Days”, 1.01)
• Michael Giacchino, Lost (“The End”, 6.17 & 6.18)
• Adam Cohen & John Robert Wood, Psych (“Mr. Yin Presents”, 4.16)
• Sean Callery, 24 (“3:00PM-4:00PM”, 8.24)

I’m not familiar with the nominated work of anyone here except Sean Callery, Michael Giacchino and Ramin Djawadi, but that doesn’t matter.  Sean Callery is the best in the business, always has been and always will be.  He failed to capture the Emmy last year for his work on 24 Season 7, depsite it being some of his most innovative and most impressive work to date.  Season 8, the show’s last, saw him incorporate his new dark electronica influence with the best and brightest of his musical themes from the history of the show’s entire run.  No matter the ups and down of the writing on 24, the music has always been a foundation of pure awesome, and is a vital component of the show’s overall feel.  I will always pick Sean Callery over any other composer. But 24 was not nearly as influential a show this season as Lost, so I’m giving the win to Giacchino, who was also phenomenal in Lost‘s final season. He drew the emotion of the audience more successfully than any other composer’s work that I experienced. I liked Djawadi’s work on FlashForward, but he doesn’t have quite the same polish as Callery or Giacchino, and I don’t think did as much to elevate his show overall as they did either.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

• Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory
• Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester, Glee
• Tony Shaloub as Adrian Monk, Monk
• Steve Carrell as Michael Scott, The Office
• Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock

A tough field, it looks like.  I haven’t managed to catch up on The Big Bang Theory or 30 Rock yet, and I don’t watch Monk. Curb Your Enthusiasm is still on the air? I could see Steve Carrell winning, because he’s not only fantastic, but he’s also leaving the show soon.  Alec Baldwin took this last year and from what I hear could easily take it again.  But I think Matthew Morrison also has a good shot, because he has come through with some really spectacular pieces of acting in Glee‘s debut season, especially in the series finale when he cries on the side of the road listening to Journey.

Major snubs in this category: David Duchovny as Hank Moody, Californication.  Thomas Jane as Ray Drecker, Hung.  Peter Krause as Adam Braverman, Parenthood.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

• Bryan Cranston as Walter White, Breaking Bad
• Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, Dexter
• Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor, Friday Night Lights
• Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House, House
• Matthew Fox as Dr. Jack Shephard, Lost
• Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Mad Men

Toughest field EVER!  Bryan Cranston is looking for a three-peat in this category, and his work in Season 3 is certainly deserving.  He hasn’t missed a step.  Michael C. Hall demonstrated the nuances and intricacies of his character’s psychology better than anyone else on this list.  I’m not familiar with Mr. Chandler’s work as of yet.  Hugh Laurie is undoubtedly talented, but I don’t follow House regularly, and from what I have heard from those who did, even though Laurie’s performance remains excellent, the show itself wasn’t quite a winning vehicle this season.  I know the Academy is in love with Jon Hamm and all, but I have five words for you, Emmy voters: Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard. He was amazing. Epic. Heartbreaking. And has been consistently phenomenal throughout the show’s history.  He deserves it. That is all.

Major snubs in this category: Denis Leary as Tommy Gavin, Rescue Me.  Charlie Hunnam as Jax Teller, Sons of Anarchy.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

• Lea Michele as Rachel Berry, Glee
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine Campbell, The New Adventures of Old Christine
• Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, Nurse Jackie
• Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation
• Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, 30 Rock
• Toni Collette as Tara Gregson, United States of Tara

You know, this category is a complete toss-up this year.  It really depends on what tickles the Emmy voters’ fancy.  You have the rapier wit and razor sharp delivery of A-list comediennes Amy Poehler and Tina Fey (so lovely to see these two best friends, colleagues and amazing women nominated alongside each other, they are going to party so hard at the afterparty).  You have the endearing zing, nattering charm and bombastic voice of Lea Michele in a role that is very dear to my heart.  You have the epic comic legacy of Julia L-D.  And you have the expertly wielded cynicism and darkly dark humour of the legendary Edie Falco.  My heart says Lea Michele, but I don’t think she’s paid her dues yet.  So my choice is Falco as Jackie Peyton, a dedicated nurse with a serious prescription drug problem.  The laugh out loud moments on Nurse Jackie are relatively rare for me (though when they happen, they smart), but the show is deeply incisive in a darkly comic way about a culture and a health care system obsessed with pharmaceuticals and miracle cures.  However, Poehler and Fey will just be very tough to beat.  It’s anybody’s game!

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

• Kyra Sedgwick as DC Brenda Johnson, The Closer
• Glenn Close as Patty Hewes, Damages
• Connie Britton as Tami Taylor, Friday Night Lights
• Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick, The Good Wife
• Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson, Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit
• January Jones as Betty Draper, Mad Men

Emmy voters, I have another five words for you: Glenn Close as Patty Hewes.  I know, I know, this would be a three-peat for her, but this role is just heads and shoulders above anything and everything else on TV in terms of lead roles for women, and Close NEVER lets us down.  Britton and Margulies could be dark horses, but I predict the hat-trick for the beautiful and talented Ms. Close.  I’m bored with seeing Hargitay nominated.  She’s very talented, no doubt, but let’s give somebody else a chance.  Like Katey Sagal, for instance, who was brutally snubbed in her role as the Old Lady of all Old Ladies, Gemma Teller Morrow, on Sons of Anarchy.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

• Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel, Glee
• Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell, Modern Family
• Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker, Modern Family
• Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy, Modern Family
• Jon Cryer as Alan Harper, Two and a Half Men

Gee, I wonder if someone from Modern Family is going to win this category?  Jesus, how about a little variety?  I haven’t been watching that show, though I hear it’s good, but COME ON!  I am definitely pulling for Chris Colfer to win this.  He was a breakout fan favourite on Glee‘s debut season in a role that was specifically written into the show just because Ryan Murphy was so impressed with his audition.  Great voice, and brings an amazing amount of depth to Kurt Hummel, a gay teenager coming to terms with who he is and being “out”.  Of course, he is also amazing in his hilarious bitchy queen moments as well.

Major snubs in this category: Paul Schulze as Eddie Walzer, Nurse Jackie.  Evan Handler as Charlie Runkle, Californication.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

• Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, Breaking Bad
• Martin Short as Leonard Winstone, Damages
• Terry O’Quinn as John Locke, Lost
• Michael Emerson as Benjamin Linus, Lost
• John Slattery as Roger Sterling, Mad Men
• Andre Braugher as Owen, Men of a Certain Age

Again, a VERY TOUGH field.  It was an amazing year in drama for on-screen men.  I think I am still pulling for Aaron Paul to win, especially after he lost when he should have won last year.  Paul does such a fantastic job of making the audience feel genuine empathy and caring for Jesse, who is on the surface a “bad guy” and a “worthless junkie”, but who has a very complicated pathology and set of motivations, an intelligence he is not yet emotionally equipped to deal with, and a moral compass that is swinging all over the damn place.  He is the perfect foil for Bryan Cranston’s Walt, and the inexplicable bond of loyalty and love between these two characters is what drives the show.  But HOLY DAMN, Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson are also both SO DAMN GOOD that I’m torn.  Martin Short, as well, was superb in a brilliantly written role on Damages.  I have never seen Men of a Certain Age, but knowing it stars Andre Braugher, I’m interested.  Hard to identify snubs, because the field is so talented, but …

Major snubs in this category: Ron Perlman as Clay Morrow, Sons of Anarchy.  John Goodman as Prof. Creighton Burnette, Treme.  Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder, Justified.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

• Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester, Glee
• Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy, Modern Family
• Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, Modern Family
• Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
• Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney, 30 Rock
• Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper, Two and a Half Men

I don’t think there’s much question that this category should be a lock for Jane Lynch.  She rocked it, plain and simple.  I doubt there was another supporting female character in any other comedy series on the air with as many singlehandedly epic, legendary and laugh-out-loud hilarious, rush-to-tweet-it-on-Twitter one liners than Sue Sylvester, and Jane Lynch has made herself a watercooler sensation in this role.  I love Kristen Wiig, of course, but this will be Lynch’s night.

Major snubs in this category: Madeleine Martin as Becca Moody, Californication.  Anne Heche as Jessica Haxon, Hung.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

• Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen, Burn Notice
• Rose Byrne as Ellen Parsons, Damages
• Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma, The Good Wife
• Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, The Good Wife
• Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris, Mad Men
• Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson, Mad Men

Who should win: Rose Byrne.  Who will win: Elisabeth Moss.  Who was brutally snubbed: Callie Thorne as Sheila Keefe, Rescue Me.  Jennifer Carpenter as Debra Morgan, Dexter.  Khandi Alexander as Ladonna Batiste-Williams, Treme.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

• Mike O’Malley as Burt Hummel, Glee
• Neil Patrick Harris as Bryan Ryan, Glee
• Fred Willard as Frank Dunphy, Modern Family
• Eli Wallach as Bernard Zimberg, Nurse Jackie
• Jon Hamm as Dr. Drew Baird, 30 Rock
• Will Arnett as Devin Banks, 30 Rock

The only ones I’m really qualified to judge here are Glee, so go Neil Patrick Harris!  Although really Mike O’Malley is probably more deserving, with consistently honest and engaging work throughout in his recurring role as Burt Hummel, Kurt Hummel’s single dad, a widower, owner of a car repair shop and a “man’s man” who does his best to support and love his gay son unconditionally even though he doesn’t always understand him.  Will Arnett is funny as hell though.  It would be cool if he and Amy Poehler won his and hers Emmys.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

• Beau Bridges as Detective George Andrews, The Closer
• Ted Danson as Arthur Frobisher, Damages
• John Lithgow as Arthur Mitchell, Dexter
• Alan Cumming as Eli Gold, The Good Wife
• Dylan Baker as Colin Sweeney, The Good Wife
• Robert Morse as Bertram Cooper, Mad Men
• Gregory Itzin as President Charles Logan, 24

Of the performances I saw (3 of 7), it’s still really hard to pick a winner because they’re all so good.  Ted Danson returned to the final season of Damages to bring closure to the character of Arthur Frobisher and face up to the things he’s done (namely ordering the murder of David Connor), and was as good as ever.  John Lithgow was chilling as Dexter’s adversary, The Trinity Killer, this season, which saw Dexter diving more deeply into his own psychology and those of the people he hunts, with devastating consequences.  And Gregory Itzin’s return as disgraced former President Charles Logan in the third act of 24‘s final bid almost singlehandedly saved the season.  I vote for Itzin, but would be happy if either of the other two won it.

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

• Christine Baranski as Beverly Hofstadter, The Big Bang Theory
• Kathryn Joosten as Karen McCluskey, Desperate Housewives
• Kristin Chenoweth as April Rhodes, Glee
• Tina Fey as Host, Saturday Night Live
• Betty White as Host, Saturday Night Live
• Elaine Stritch as Colleen Donaghy, 30 Rock
• Jane Lynch as Dr. Linda Freeman, Two and a Half Men

Aw man.  I *want* to go with Kristin Chenoweth, because she was absolutely brilliant as washed-up former glee club star and boozy pill-head April Rhodes.  But my heart is screaming BETTY WHITE!!!  The muffin sketch alone was worth an Emmy, never mind “barking up the wrong lesbian”.

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

• Mary Kay Place as Adaleen Grant, Big Love
• Sissy Spacek as Marilyn Densham, Big Love
• Shirley Jones as Lola Zellman, The Cleaner
• Lily Tomlin as Marilyn Tobin, Damages
• Ann-Margret as Rita Wills, Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit
• Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet Burke, Lost

Though I adored Elizabeth Mitchell’s performance in the Lost Season 6 premiere and finale, there is no one I can go with other than Lily Tomlin for her role in Damages.  She was spectacular and in the few scenes where she played opposite Glenn Close, it almost set the TV screen on fire.  She was amazing.  Forget anyone else.

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

• Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk & Ian Brennan, Glee (“Pilot – The Director’s Cut”, 1.01)
• Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd, Modern Family (“Pilot”, 1.01)
• Greg Daniels & Mindy Kaling, The Office (“Niagra”, 6.04 & 6.05)
• Matt Hubbard, 30 Rock (“Anna Howard Shaw Day”, 4.13)
• Tina Fey & Kay Cannon, 30 Rock (“Lee Marvin Vs. Derek Jeter”, 4.17)

I am ignorant about all of these nominations except Glee, but Glee‘s writing has been consistently daring, surprising and hilarious, starting with the pilot, so I’m pulling for Murphy et al.

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

• Rolin Jones, Friday Night Lights (“The Son”, 4.05)
• Michelle King & Robert King, The Good Wife (“Pilot”, 1.01)
• Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse, Lost (“The End”, 6.17 & 6.18)
• Robin Veith & Matthew Weiner, Mad Men (“Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency”, 3.06)
• Matthew Weiner & Erin Levy, Mad Men (“Shut the Door, Have A Seat”, 3.13)

Again, I am ignorant of all but one of the nominations, which naturally is the one that should win.  DARLTON for LOST!!!!!

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Glee
• Modern Family
• Nurse Jackie
• The Office
• 30 Rock

Lots of strong contenders here.  Two breakout hits in Glee and Modern Family, the old guard of The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm, as well as shows like Nurse Jackie and 30 Rock that are hitting their stride.  Predictably, I pick Glee.  The show has been an absolute worldwide sensation, and has brought something fresh and joyful and young-at-heart back to primetime.  The music is a legitimate hit in and of itself, the writing is sharp, the acting superb, and it was surely the comedy series of the year.

Major snubs in this category: Californication

Outstanding Drama Series

• Breaking Bad
• Dexter
• The Good Wife
• Lost
• Mad Men
• True Blood

What should win: Dexter.  What will win: Mad Men.  What would be an acceptable outcome as a winner: Lost, Breaking Bad.  What was horribly snubbed: Damages, Rescue Me, Sons of Anarchy.

So there you have it, my picks, predictions and thoughts on the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards nominations.  The show will be hosted by the spirited and hilarious Jimmy Fallon and will air August 29, 2010 on NBC.