Emmys Failure Analysis: Lead Actress in a Drama

Prashant Gupta/FX

Nominees: 

Connie Britton as Tami Taylor, Friday Night Lights
Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick, The Good Wife
Kathy Bates as Harriet "Harry" Korn, Harry's Law
Mireille Enos as Sarah Linden, The Killing
Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson, Mad Men

Most Obvious Problem: Katey Sagal from Sons of Anarchy needs to be on this list. That's an egregious omission. 

PHOTOS: Emmy Nominations 2011: Snubs and Shockers

Remaining Problems: How does Kyra Sedgwick win it last year for The Closer and not get nominated this year? Emmy Rossum: an incredible, season-long virtuoso performance on Shameless puts her, at the very least, in the top three.  

Other Issues: Do you want to really make your head hurt? What if Edie Falco, Toni Collette and Laura Linney were in this category, as they should be? What if Khandi Alexander was in this category? Those are real problems. That's an All-Star team.

STORY: Emmy Nominations 2011: Full List

The Fix: Hargitay out, Sagal in. That's not even up for discussion. Hargitay is a good actress but there seems to be some rubber-stamping here. And Kathy Bates is, unquestionably, an excellent actress. Unfortunately, her show is woefully bad. (Why is she not on a cable series that could really push her? She can do Harry's Law in her sleep) Instead of opting for the marquee name, Rossum gets the nod. Of course, that still leaves Sedgwick with a legitimate complaint. The Closer is, like The Good Wife, a good but not great series that features a magnetic, talented lead actress. It's not my favorite series but fans of the show and Sedgwick will no doubt consider her absence a snub. But outside of Hargitay and Bates, you can't dislodge anyone else. Those were all deserving performances.

Email: Tim.Goodman@THR.com

Twitter: @BastardMachine