Basic-cable TV series rocked the Emmys last year with victories in the drama acting races by Bryan Cranston (AMC's "Breaking Bad") and Glenn Close (FX's "Damages"). Now what about such overdue veterans as Denis Leary (FX's "Rescue Me") and Kyra Sedgwick (TNT's "The Closer") and rookies Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad") and Christina Hendricks (AMC's "Mad Men")?
ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Front-runners
Simon Baker, "The Mentalist," CBS
Benjamin Bratt, "The Cleaner," A&E
Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment," HBO
Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights," NBC
Michael Chiklis, "The Shield," FX
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad," AMC
Laurence Fishburne, "CSI," CBS
Matthew Fox, "Lost," ABC
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter," Showtime
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men," AMC
Hugh Laurie, "House," Fox
Denis Leary, "Rescue Me," FX
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, "The Tudors," HBO
Bill Paxton, "Big Love," HBO
James Spader, "Boston Legal," ABC
Kiefer Sutherland, "24," Fox
Spotlight: It's a crowded, fierce slugfest. Just like the race for lead drama actress, all six of last year's nominees may return to the ring: Byrne, Cranston, Hall, Hamm, Laurie and Spader. Cranston's victory was a jaw-dropper last year, but now he must square off against three-time champ Spader, 2002 winner Chiklis and 2006 victor Sutherland, who had to sit out last year's bout because of the writers strike. Also in the race are overdue Laurie (three past nominations), Hall (two noms), Leary (two bids) and hot rookies like Baker.
Possible
Jeffrey Donovan, "Burn Notice," USA
Dennis Hopper, "Crash," Starz
Timothy Hutton, "Leverage," TNT
Joshua Jackson, "Fringe," Fox
Anthony LaPaglia, "Without a Trace," CBS
Rob Lowe, "Brothers & Sisters," ABC
Benjamin McKenzie, "Southland," NBC
Ian McShane, "Kings," NBC
Christopher Meloni, "Law & Order: SVU," NBC
John Noble, "Fringe," Fox
Edward James Olmos, "Battlestar Galactica," Sci Fi
Tim Roth, "Lie to Me," Fox
Patrick Swayze, "The Beast," A&E
Spotlight: Emmy voters are secretly Oscar snobs, and there are lots of Academy Award rivals in this TV race, including past champ Hutton ("Ordinary People") and nominees Fishburne ("What's Love Got to Do With It"), ), Olmos ("Stand and Deliver") and Roth ("Rob Roy").
ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Front-runners
Patricia Arquette, "Medium," NBC
