You know what would be fun? To get to vote for the Emmy nominations. After all, every year when they come out I like to make a big deal out of how my favorite shows/actors have been snubbed. So I decided to do my own.

A few disclaimers. I didn’t do all the categories – one look at the long list of reality show eligible for nomination and I thought “Yeah, that’s like asking me to rank flavors of chips. I could do it, but in the end I’d still rather spend more time talking about gourmet meals.” I didn’t do Miniseries/TV Movie because I don’t watch any. And I didn’t do Writing because that would require me to look up each episode to remind myself whether I’d liked it.

And of course, all this must be taken with a large grain of salt. I’m not a professional TV critic and don’t have time to watch every single show. So I can only base this on what I like and watch, even though I’m sure everyone who guest starred on Louie or 30 Rock was really, really funny. And I made a couple of exceptions in categories where I had nothing else to put – i.e., if I only had four lead actors in a drama I really cared about, Bryan Cranston was an obvious choice to round out the five.

OK now, with all that nonsense out of the way, let’s talk about who should be nominated this year!

DRAMA

Drama Series: Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Parenthood

If I had my druthers, this would go to Mad Men yet again. The season was fantastic. I hold no real hope that Parenthood will get the nomination (I’m sure Homeland will fill that spot) but I love the show, so I included it. These are my fantasies, after all!

Lead Actor Drama: Hugh Bonneville on Downton Abbey, Bryan Cranston on Breaking Bad, Jon Hamm on Mad Men, Damian Lewis on Homeland, Peter Krause on Parenthood

And yeah, I’d hand this one to Jon Hamm in an instant.

Lead Actress Drama: Claire Danes on Homeland, Michelle Dockery on Downton Abbey, Elisabeth Moss on Mad Men, Jessica Pare on Mad Men, Emily VanCamp on Revenge

I’d like Elisabeth Moss to win this, please. Even though I think she’s probably had better material on other seasons, she needs an Emmy.

Supporting Actor Drama: Max Burkholder on Parenthood, Jim Carter on Downton Abbey (that’s Carson the butler, FYI), Peter Dinklage on Game of Thrones, Jack Huston on Boardwalk Empire (Richard Harrow), John Slattery on Mad Men

Slattery had a standout season on Mad Men, I’d like to see him win.

Supporting Actress Drama: Lauren Graham on Parenthood, Christina Hendricks on Mad Men, Maggie Smith on Downton Abbey, Mae Whitman on Parenthood, Maisie Williams on Game of Thrones

I’d like to see Christina Hendricks win, since this was a great season for Joan.

Guest Actor Drama: Mos Def (yeah yeah, I know he has a new name) on Dexter, John Corbett on Parenthood, Ben Feldman on Mad Men, Robert Morse on Mad Men, Jason Ritter on Parenthood

I would give this to John Corbett.

Guest Actress Drama: Loretta Devine on Grey’s Anatomy, Julia Ormond on Mad Men

I just didn’t have a lot of strong feelings when it came to this category so I only ended up with two selections. Loretta Devine won last year for playing Adele Webber, but with the Alzheimer’s storyline I think she deserves it again.

COMEDY

I didn’t mean to leave out Modern Family in every category here, it just kind of happened. There’s a lot of fantastic comedy on right now, I think, and it was very VERY difficult to narrow these down to five in each category. A combination of Modern Family having a weaker season and already winning so many Emmys led to me eliminating them every time. I like the show, but there are others that deserve to be recognized.

Comedy Series: Community, Cougar Town, Girls, Happy Endings, Parks and Recreation

I love Parks and Recreation the most, so I’d like it to win.

Lead Actor Comedy: Zachary Levi on Chuck, Rob Lowe on Parks and Recreation, Joel McHale on Community, Jim Parsons on The Big Bang Theory, Adam Scott on Parks and Recreation

This was also a difficult category, and I really wanted to keep Zach Levi in it. A lot of people would put Louis C.K. in here, which is a perfectly acceptable choice – I just haven’t seen that show yet. I honestly can’t say who I wish would win…but I’ll go with Adam Scott.

Lead Actress Comedy: Christina Applegate on Up All Night, Courtney Cox on Cougar Town, Zooey Deschanel on New Girl, Lena Dunham on Girls, Amy Poehler on Parks and Recreation

Nothing makes me happier than getting to say “This category is overflowing with funny ladies.” It was tough to choose just five, and that’s great. I went with people who really make me laugh over the respected actresses that star on various Showtime half hour shows. I want need Amy Poehler to win.

Supporting Actor Comedy: Aziz Ansari on Parks and Recreation, Donald Glover on Community, Max Greenfield on New Girl, Nick Offerman on Parks and Recreation, Damon Wayans Jr. on Happy Endings

Dammit! This category was insanely hard, too. It’s monopolized by anywhere up to four actors from Modern Family. I consider Nick Offerman a lead, but he’s here. I also wanted to include Danny Pudi, Adam Pally and Chris Pratt. Overall, I’d like to see Nick Offerman win. But of course, someone from Modern Family will.

Supporting Actress Comedy: Alison Brie on Community, Ellie Kemper on The Office, Busy Phillips on Cougar Town, Aubrey Plaza on Parks and Recreation, Casey Wilson on Happy Endings

I didn’t expect to include The Office anywhere, but when I thought about it, Ellie Kemper did some of her best work this season. I’d like to see Aubrey Plaza win here.

Guest Actor Comedy: David Cross on Modern Family, Jimmy Fallon on SNL, Justin Long on New Girl, Mike O’Malley on Glee, Paul Rudd on Parks and Recreation

Is there any other acceptable choice than Paul Rudd? No. There’s not.

Guest Actress Comedy: Lizzy Caplan on New Girl, Kathyrn Hahn on Parks and Recreation, Melissa McCarthy on SNL, Megan Mullally on Parks and Recreation (and Up All Night and Happy Endings – any will do!), Kiernan Shipka on Don’t Trust the B—- In Apartment 23

I wanted to include Kiernan Shipka for Supporting Actress in Drama, but there wasn’t room. I thought she was funny on Apt 23 though, so I’d like to see the kid get a nomination. She’s fantastic for her age. But I’d like a Megan Mullally win here, for any show. She was hilarious on all of them.

Variety Series: The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, The Soup

Jimmy Fallon FTW! I love him.

OK guys, those are my picks. Hit me with some of yours! And don’t forget to check back for more Emmy content and the annual predictions contest later this summer!

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