Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, Mike & Molly
This 40-year-old actress may be a television veteran (Gilmore Girls, Samantha Who?), but it wasn’t until she landed her first starring role in the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly—and a scene-stealing, sidesplitting role in the film Bridesmaids—that McCarthy was finally recognized as the fabulous comedienne she is.
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Amy Poehler
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, Parks and Recreation
Although we adore her competition—previous Emmy winners Tina Fey, Edie Falco and Laura Linney—Amy Poehler continues to both delight us as Leslie Knope and inspire us with her Smart Girls at the Party series. Here’s hoping this four-time nominee finally gets a win.
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Julie Bowen
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series, Modern Family
Julie Bowen didn’t become household name until late in her television career, when she joined the Modern Family ensemble in 2009 after stints on ER, Lost and Boston Legal. As Claire Dunphy, the 41-year-old gives a hilariously relatable voice to neurotic moms everywhere.
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Kristen Wiig
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series, Saturday Night Live
The 37-year-old has been nominated for an Emmy the past three years, but we’ve got a feeling this time it’s Kristen Wiig’s turn to win. On the heels of her breakout comedy Bridesmaids, Wiig and her SNL personas just keep getting funnier.
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Connie Britton
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series, Friday Night Lights
Ask TV fanatics what the most underrated series is and they’ll make your ears ring with support for Friday Night Lights. Connie Britton, 44, is a point of pride for the show, which sadly aired its series finale just days after Emmy nominations were released.
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Julianna Margulies
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series, The Good Wife
With a fresh political scandal breaking every other week, we take comfort in Julianna Margulies’ Alicia Florrick, who powerfully portrays a wife caught up in her husband’s humiliation—sure, it’s fiction, but it’s damn good television.
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Christina Hendricks
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series, Mad Men
Va-va-voom may be the operative phrase when it comes to the 36-year-old’s famous curves, but this beauty packs some serious office brawn as Mad Men’s tough-as-nails Joan Harris.
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Archie Panjabi
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series, The Good Wife
That star of 2002’s Bend It Like Beckham has hit her stride on The Good Wife, in a role that won her the Emmy last year. We’re rooting for the 39-year-old Londoner and her brilliant, sharp-tongued character yet again.
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Cat Deeley
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program, So You Think You Can Dance
After years of serious snubbing, the Emmys finally nominated Cat Deeley, the 34-year-old host of So You Think You Can Dance. She’s cheery, gorgeous and truly seems to care about her show and its contestants, even after five years with cranky judge Nigel Lythgoe.
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Gwyneth Paltrow and Dot-Marie Jones
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series, Glee
Both Paltrow, 38, and Jones, 47, were a breath of fresh air on a series that was close to becoming a tiresome variety show of emotionally distraught kids singing emotionally distraught songs. We loved Coach Beiste’s heart of gold almost as much as Holly Holliday’s cover of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You.”
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Elizabeth Banks
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series, 30 Rock
We can’t remember a single scene featuring Banks’ Avery Jessup that didn’t end in hysterical laughter. The only thing better than her winning an Emmy would be her becoming a permanent tenant of Fey’s 30 Rockefeller.
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Cara Buono
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series, Mad Men
We rooted for her as Mad Men’s Dr. Faye Miller—could she finally be the one to reform Don?—only to have our hearts broken right along with hers. Please, Emmy judges, don’t put us through that again!
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Taraji P. Henson
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie, Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story
We loved Taraji P. Henson in Hustle & Flow and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but who would have known that playing the mother of an abducted child in a Lifetime flick would be one of her greatest career moves?
