This category will be announced at the Creative Arts Emmy Ceremony on September 15th.
CATEGORY: Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series
NOMINEES: Dylan Baker for The Good Wife, Jeremy Davis for Justified, Ben Feldman for Mad Men, Michael J. Fox for The Good Wife, Mark Margolis for Breaking Bad, Jason Ritter for Parenthood
ANALYSIS: Previously, I had seen Baker, Fox, and Ritter's tape. At first, I could not remember this episode of Parenthood to save my life, and I'm still not sure I remember it. Regardless, it's an okay tape for Ritter. He has a good amount of scenes for a guest star, and he's good in what he does. There's nothing spectacular about the storyline or the performance, it's exactly what you would expect on a quality TV show. I really do love Parenthood, and I love the relationship between Ritter and Lauren Graham's characters, and this episode explores Ritter's character's past (a reunion with high school friends) and his future (having a family with Graham's character). His final scene is pretty good and I'm personally not sure if there was any episode this season where he was miles better. Regardless, it's a major nomination for a show that does not nearly get enough praise, but Ritter won't be winning. Fox, as I mentioned earlier, is a competitor in both guest acting races this year, and he has a very strong chance of winning both. Here, he plays Louis Canning, a conniving lawyer whose relationship with Julianna Margulies' Alicia Florrick is quite witty. Fox is fast and slick with his delivery and his character is one of the best recurring characters on the show. In this particular episode, we get to see a different side of Canning, a caring, helpful side to a would-be enemy. It's peculiar, but at the end of the episode, we find out it's not exactly true. Regardless, it's a strong episode for Fox, but he has certainly had better, maybe in seasons past, and sometimes the Emmys like to arrive late to the party. After not giving him the award last year, maybe the Emmys will recognize his strong work in both television genres this year with a win here. But his strongest competition might be a guest actor from the same show. Baker is also back with his second nomination for The Good Wife, and with good reason. He's amazing at making you laugh and making your skin crawl at the same time. His chemistry with Margulies, like Fox's, is perfect, and his storyline is intriguing. For the better part of the episode, it's even hard to figure out what side of the conflict his character is on. He completely owns the character and the episode, and he's a frontrunner for the award. Next, I watched Davies' tape. I've heard a lot of great things about Justified and this performance, and I can definitely see why some people would say he deserves the award. He's kinda schizo the whole episode, going seamlessly from humor to horror, and the arc has an edge-of-your-seat climax, and I thought it was a good performance. If he were to win the award, I probably wouldn't be surprised, and it would be deserved. Feldman on Mad Men was a lot better than I was anticipating. He seemed like a very formidable match against strong actors like Elisabeth Moss and Jon Hamm, but he seemingly held his own as a man looking for the credit and attention in the ever-growing ad world. Compared to his fellow nominees, Feldman is younger and less experienced, which could be held against him, especially in a category that loves rewarding veterans. Speaking of veterans, the oldest nominee is Mark Margolis. His character on Breaking Bad is a mute, and he must communicate through face, body movements, and a bell. It's intriguing, but the character is really angry the entire episode, so it's kind of a one-note performance. With no speaking lines and little to do, it doesn't seem like this is an Emmy-winning performance. But because of his age and the Academy's overall love for Breaking Bad, do not be completely shocked if he does end up taking this award.
WHO SHOULD WIN: Dylan Baker's dynamite performance cannot be missed by voters, especially if his character should never make an appearance again. He deserves the award and recognition.
WHO WILL WIN: If I were a betting man, I'd say this category is going to an actor from The Good Wife. It doesn't even really matter which one wins, both are deserved and would be very good choices. But there are dark horses here, so this category could have a shocking result.
RANKINGS:
1. Dylan Baker - The Good Wife
2. Michael J. Fox - The Good Wife
3. Jeremy Davies - Justified
4. Ben Feldman - Mad Men
5. Mark Margolis - Breaking Bad
6. Jason Ritter - Parenthood
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Evan
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