Many award watchers like me have always had a sneaky suspicion that screen time plays a big part in winning an Emmy for a series role. Not always. Allison Janney appeared in less than 15 minutes of the sample episode of  "The West Wing" she submitted to judges in 2002 — "The Women of Qumar" — but she still won best drama actress anyway, probably because judges used to be deliriously, inexplicably smitten with her. Janney reaped four Emmys out of six nominations, two in the supporting slot before she moved up to lead, sensing their worship, and cashing in shrewdly on it.

But screen time clearly plays a major role in general. Do you ever wonder how Helen Hunt kept winning year after year — four times in a row — for "Mad About You"? Sure, voters were clearly mad for her, too, but it probably helped that she often submitted special one-hour episodes to compete against her half-hour rivals.

Other stars of half-hour programs who ended up winning for one-hour specials include Michael J. Fox ("Spin City"), Jennifer Aniston ("Friends") and Eric McCormack ("Will & Grace"). Curiously, Debra Messing submitted the same one-hour episode of "Will & Grace" that McCormack did ("Low in the Mid-Eighties"), but lost to a half-hour submission ("The Cannister") by Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond." So there's further evidence that size doesn't always matter. But, come on. It's Hollywood. Size matters.

And have you ever wondered why actors often win when nominated against co-stars? Shouldn't that mean they'd split a program's vote? Nope. Quite the opposite is true, in fact. Dennis Franz prevailed three times when judges got to see the additional performances he gave in the episodes of "NYPD Blue" submitted by Jimmy Smits and David Caruso. In two of the three cases when Edie Falco won, she was nominated against "The Sopranos" costar Lorraine Bracco.

It is widely accepted among many Emmy experts that Felicity Huffman gave judges a lousy episode of "Desperate Housewives" after its debut season, but won because of the bravura turn she gave on Marcia Cross' entry.

So . . . hmmmm . . . wouldn't it be great this year, when making your predictions, to know how much screen time each actor has on their sample episode being judged? Huzzahs and cheers go our forums moderator Chris "Boomer" Beachum for running those numbers for us! Below is his tally in the comedy races.

LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock" -  9:30 minutes / 9 scenes
Steve Carell, "The Office" - 12:00 minutes / 13 scenes
Ricky Gervais, "Extras" - 25:00 minutes / 10 scenes
Tony Shalhoub, "Monk" 37:15 minutes / 13 scenes
Charlie Sheen, "Two and a Half Men" - 20:15 minutes / 10 scenes

LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty" - 31:15 minutes / 18 scenes
Tine Fey, "30 Rock" - 8:15 minutes / 6 scenes
Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives" - 14:30 minutes / 13 scenes
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "New Adventures of Old Christine" - 18:45 minutes / 9 scenes
Mary Louise-Parker, "Weeds" - 13:30 minutes / 8 scenes