Even with six men in the race for lead actor in a drama series, their award track record pales in comparison to their female counterparts. Among these half dozen contenders, they have just nine Emmy nominations before today with only three wins –- and all of those belong to James Spader, who has never lost an Emmy race for "Boston Legal" and its predecessor "The Practice." (The women have 28 previous Emmy nominations and 7 wins.)

Among those Spader bested in 2005 and 2007 was Hugh Laurie for "House." While this is Michael C. Hall's first nomination for "Dexter," he was a 2002 lead actor nominee for "Six Feet Under." And though this nod for "Breaking Bad" is Bryan Cranston's first drama bid, he was a three-time supporting nominee for the laffer "Malcolm in the Middle" (2002, 2003, 2006). New to the Emmys are Gabriel Byrne ("In Treatment") and Jon Hamm ("Mad Men").

While the women have 3 Oscars and 11 Oscar nominations among them, the men have none. The women have 3 Golden Globes for 13 movie nods as well as 4 Globes to show for 18 TV noms. The men have no movie Globe nominations and 3 TV Globes out of 8 nods. Laurie won 2 of his 3 Golden Globe bids for "House" and was bested this year by first-time Globe nominee Hamm for "Mad Men." Hall has lost both his Globe bids for "Dexter" (2007, 2008). Cranston lost his single Globe nom for "Malcolm in the Middle" in 2003 and Spader lost his only nod for "Boston Legal" in 2005.