Our forums moderators and crafty Emmy seers Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Robert "Rob L" Licuria (AwardsHeaven.net) agree that there are two front-runners in the Emmy race for best supporting comedy actor, but clash on which one is ahead. Boomer picks Rainn Wilson ("The Office"); Rob opts for Emmycast host Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother").

They also disagree on who could be the spoiler. Boomer warns us about Tracy Morgan ("30 Rock"), while Rob is leery of Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men").

It's important to note that these assessments are based on close scrutiny of the same material being viewed by Emmy judges: the episodes chosen by nominees as samples of their best work from the last TV season. Each contender picks one, which is noted in parentheses in the lists below.

BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR: ROB L'S PREDIX
1) Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother" ("Benefits")
2) Rainn Wilson, "The Office" ("Heavy Competition")
3) Jon Cryer, "Two and a Half Men" ("Sir Lancelot's Litterbox")
4) Tracy Morgan, "30 Rock" ("The Funcooker")
5) Jack McBrayer, "30 Rock" ("The Bubble")
6) Kevin Dillon, "Entourage" ("Tree Trippers")

ROB L'S COMMENTARY: As with every category, the eventual winner will depend on whether voters watch the episode submissions (like they are supposed to) and base their vote on that, or whether voters read through the nominated actors and tick off a name based on other factors, such as popularity, that intangible "buzz factor," or maybe a sense that the actor in mind is overdue for recognition.

I think Neil Patrick Harris chose wisely with his submission, and don't quite understand why some tend to think it is not as strong as it could be. He has enough screen time to make a lasting impression, is very likable and has some very funny scenes. He is what I have been calling a scene stealer ever since this show began a few years ago. Coupled with him being all over the airwaves as host of this awards show and that awards show, and a general sense that he should have won already (but for the Jeremy Piven three-peat), I think Harris is the well-deserved front-runner.

Rainn Wilson also submitted well -- his episode features his character front and center, and he really delivers the laughs. My only problem with this submission, and perhaps his character in general (both of which may hurt his chances for the win), is that Dwight Schrute is not as likable a character as Neil Patrick Harris' Barney Stinson has become -- and, in this episode, he doesn't allow the audience to really want to see him succeed in his quest to take Michael Scott down. Still, Wilson probably has never had a better shot, and it is still possible for him to fend off what is perceived in Emmyland as 2009 being Neil Patrick Harris' turn to grab the gold.

Special mention must go to Jon Cryer -- he has never had a better episode than this one as far as I'm concerned. I am not a big fan of this show, but I recognize funny when I see it, and Cryer is hysterical in this one -- likable (perhaps even pitiful) Allan suffers humiliation after humiliation, and takes a fair amount of pratfalls and bruises in this slapstick-fest. If voters feel like finally awarding Jon Cryer after a few fruitless nominations, then this might be the surprise of the category.

Tracy Morgan's nomination is probably a couple of years too late for me -- I didn't see much at all to be terribly excited about in his episode, and he doesn't really even benefit from any scenes in Jack McBrayer's episode to really warrant having a genuine shot at the win this time around. Similarly, McBrayer doesn't really deliver the laughs and likability needed to topple the favorites in this category in his episode. A win by either of the "30 Rock" gentlemen would be more about a "30 Rock" sweep as far as I'm concerned, and I am not even sure whether either of them would have enough "30 Rock" votes anyway, given that fans of the show have two actors to choose from (the dreaded “vote split” theory).

Finally, this will almost certainly not be Kevin Dillon's year. In his episode submission, he doesn't do anything Emmy-worthy to warrant the other guys in this category being worried about an upset. In fact, it is interesting that Jeremy Piven seems to outshine Dillon in the scenes they share in this episode, but he gets to sit this one out (probably because of Sushi-gate and perhaps voter fatigue).

Therefore, I am going with Neil Patrick Harris to finally win that Emmy that has so far eluded him.

BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR: BOOMER'S PREDIX
1) Rainn Wilson, "The Office" ("Heavy Competition")
2) Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother" ("Benefits")
3) Tracy Morgan, "30 Rock" ("The Funcooker")
4) Jon Cryer, "Two and a Half Men" ("Sir Lancelot's Litterbox")
5) Jack McBrayer, "30 Rock" ("The Bubble")
6) Kevin Dillon, "Entourage" ("Tree Trippers")

BOOMER'S COMMENTARY:What kind of judging panel will this category have?  If it has the type that rewards the best episode, there is absolutely no question that Rainn Wilson will win. He has the only submission with tons of screen time and the sort of over-the-top moments that traditionally win this category.

OK, you've seen who all of the experts predict will win the Emmys (CLICK HERE), including me, but you haven't yet seen my careful breakdown of all contenders in each top category. Below: Gold Derby's racetrack odds. Please note: they're issued for entertainment purposes only and should not be used for gambling. Missing are the two reality races, but soon I'll add those odds too. Right now I haven't finished watching all of the episodes each nominee submitted to Emmy judges as samples of their best work.

My evaluations rely heavily on episode submissions. For example, note that I think "Saturday Night Live" is a real threat to "The Daily Show," which has won best variety series five years in a row. Granted, "SNL" hasn't won since 1993 and I still put "Daily Show" out front, but "SNL" submitted the same blockbuster episode that's likely to pay off with a win for Amy Poehler as best supporting actress: Tina Fey's return as host. Jon Stewart's episode is fantastic too — it's 20 minutes of ranting against the White House (of course) followed by a brief, fun chat with Judd Apatow.

But I don't think, like many of my peers, that Tina Fey will win best comedy actress. Three of her opponents submitted episodes that involved some element of split personality and that usually pays off with a victory. (Never again wonder how Lindsay Wagner won best drama actress for "The Bionic Woman" in 1977 — that's when she suddenly discovered her evil twin, remember?) In this year's derby, America Ferrera goes bonkers when sprayed with a poisoned perfume, Christina Applegate goes psycho when she hears the song "We've Got the Beat" on the radio and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, pumped up on testosterone, threatens to kick the "sorry, tanned, bleach-blonde, Botoxed" butts of rival school moms. The reason I give the best odds to Ferrera is because she stars in a one-hour program. The longest shows usually win — as Ferrera proved last year.

To see a full list of all episode submissions, CLICK HERE. Click through the subsequent pages of that forum to read the predix of our posters based upon what they think of those episodes. If you're curious to see what episodes were entered at past Emmy derbies, CLICK HERE. Remember: actors submit one sample episode; ditto for contenders for best variety and reality series. Nominees for best comedy and drama submit six that are paired off into three groupings that are randomly submitted to voters. Actors vote on actors, writers on writers, everybody gets to vote in the program categories. Roughly 250 to 300 voters volunteer to judge submissions in the races for best comedy and drama series. The typical acting category has about 50 to 75 judges.

BEST DRAMA SERIES
"Mad Men" - 5/4
"Damages" - 7/5
"Lost" - 8/1
"House" - 9/1
"Dexter" - 10/1
"Boston Legal" - 50/1

BEST COMEDY SERIES
"30 Rock" - 1/3
"The Office" - 8/5
"Entourage" - 20/1
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" - 30/1
"Two and a Half Men" - 40/1

BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad" - 2/1
James Spader, "Boston Legal" - 11/5
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men" - 13/5
Hugh Laurie, "House" - 8/1
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter" - 8/1
Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment" - 35/1
(NOTE: I changed this prediction from James Spader to Bryan Cranston on Sept. 19.)

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Glenn Close, "Damages" - 2/1
Mariska Hargitay, "Law and Order: S.V.U." - 3/1
Sally Field, "Brothers and Sisters" - 7/2
Holly Hunter, "Saving Grace" - 4/1
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer" - 9/2

BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock" - Even
Steve Carell, "The Office" - 5/2
Lee Pace, "Pushing Daisies" - 7/2
Tony Shalhoub, "Monk" - 6/1
Charlie Sheen, "Two and a Half Men" - 50/1

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty" - 2/1
Christina Applegate, "Samantha Who?" - 7/3
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "New Adventures of Old Christine" - 5/2
Tina Fey, "30 Rock" - 3/1
Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds" - 50/1

BEST MINISERIES
"John Adams" - 1/2
"Cranford" - 7/5
"Tin Man" - 30/1
"The Andromeda Strain" - 40/1

Again our two top Emmy gurus are clashing over who'll win a top race!

Chris "Boomer" Beachum believes the champ will be Steve Carell ("The Office") and he may be right. Steve Carell is arguably America's biggest comedy star, and it's shocking that he's lost this category twice for a show that won best comedy series (2006).

This year Carell has a secret edge: a special, one-hour episode he submitted to judges ("Goodbye, Toby"). Because the comedy acting categories are usually dominated by half-hour sitcoms, having twice the face time of your rivals often pays off. Over the last eight years, five champs prevailed in one-hour episodes. Curiously, three of the five nominees this year have that advantage: Carell, Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies") and Tony Shalhoub ("Monk"). To be brutally frank, Shalhoub probably owes a few of his three past victories to the fact that he plays a colorful oddball on a one-hour show.

I totally agree with Boomer's evaluation of Carell's amazing performance in "Toby." "He gets to be over-the-top funny, sentimental, romantic and just about everything else," Boomer notes. "If he doesn't win this time, I don't think he ever will." Read my full examination of Carell's episode HERE.

But Carell has a problem: he portrays a boss from hell who's so creepy that he's hard to embrace — and Emmys are all about TV industry insiders passing out hugs, of course. Yes, Carell has many redeeming, even sympathetic moments here, but he had a doozy of a heart-tugging scene at the end of last year's episode ("Business School") that suddenly redeemed his character, and he still lost — to someone portraying a creep, no less (Ricky Gervais, "Extras")!

I agree completely with the ranking in this category made by our other forums moderator: Robert "Rob L" Licuria (AwardsHeaven.net). Alec Baldwin only stars in a half-hour show ("30 Rock"), but his performance in the "Rosemary's Baby" episode has the most powerful impact of all five nominees, even though it's just one scene.

The usual Emmy formula for winning is this: The actor must show off a broad emotional range and have at least one big-impact scene in an empathetic role. Baldwin displays a dazzling array of emotions when he breaks into his outrageous jive riff during the therapy session with Tracy, which has the impact of a nuclear bomb. Empathy? Sure, Baldwin, like Carell, portrays a creepy boss from hell, but admit it — I do — he's so hilariously devilish that you can't help but root for him. Read my full examination of Baldwin's episode HERE.

This race is neck and neck, a total toss-up. Boomer may be right and, if so, Carell would totally deserve the victory. But I have a hunch Rob's correct. However, I don't pick Baldwin with enormous confidence.

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Now that we've carefully examined the episodes submitted to Emmy judges in the race for lead actor in a comedy by Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock"), Steve Carell ("The Office"), Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies") and Tony Shalhoub ("Monk"), it's time to scrutinize the entry of poor, oft-neglected Charlie Sheen ("Two and a Half Men"). To read our analysis of the other episodes, click on the nominees' names above.

Weighing the five Emmy nominees for best comedy actor, Charlie Sheen already rules with the highest Nielsens thanks to headlining TV's highest-rated laffer. Now many Emmywatchers believe he's submitted his best performance ever to judges. And they're right. The problem with it, however, is the stuff of "Two and a Half Men," a zany, knee-slapping sitcom that doesn't give Sheen a dark, soulful moment to offset his deft comic fireworks — and, surprisingly, OK singing chops.

The premise of "Is There a Mrs. Waffles?" is outrageous: Charlie (Charlie Sheen) becomes the "King of Kid Songs" when he assumes the identity of "Charlie Waffles" and appears in TV commercials selling silly ditties to kiddies with titles like "Who Cut the Cheese?" "Grandma May Smell Funny" and "Bye Bye Boobies."

His brother Alan (Jon Cryer, who really shines here too) becomes horrified, gasping, "I just don't understand what kind of spiteful god could allow my drunken whoremonger of a brother to become a children's singing star while I toil away in poverty-stricken anonymity!"

Worse, Charlie uses his success to pick up the single moms of his wee fans when he encounters the ladies at the supermarket and CD signings. But Charlie suddenly becomes humbled — and panics — when he learns from his manager that he must perform a live concert before 1,200 kids. As he and Alan drive in the car, Charlie confesses, "I have stage fright — severe, debilitating wet-your-pants stage fright."

Later, as Charlie and Alan chat on the sofa at home, Charlie continues his piteous confession: "The last time I was in front of an audience (was) seventh grade talent show. I started shaking, sweating, felt like I wanted to throw up."

But Charlie agrees to do the concert when his manager threatens to sue him for violation of contract.

However, he shows up drunk, boasting, "I figured out what happened in seventh grade! I hadn't started drinking yet!"

He goes out on stage, tries to sit down on the piano bench and falls backward to the floor. The kids howl with laughter. When he burps, the kids cackle more. "That one's not on the CD!" he tells 'em.

The concert is a huge success and soon the DVD footage is being sold on TV too.

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Considering that Alec Baldwin has already won a Golden Globe and two SAG Awards for his role on "30 Rock," it's surprising that he still hasn't nabbed an Emmy for the show voted best comedy series last year.

Ricky Gervais ended up pulling off a jaw-dropping upset in that race for best comedy actor in 2007, but Gervais is currently shuttled off to the lineup for TV movie actors because that's where the "Extras" finale qualifies. Now Baldwin competes against Charlie Sheen ("Two and a Half Men") and three chaps who have, literally, a big advantage over Baldwin and Sheen. They compete with one-hour episode entries over half-hour rivals. In the last eight years, stars with one-hour episodes won five times. To read in-depth analysis of the sample episodes they chose to submit to Emmy judges, click on their names: Steve Carell ("The Office"), Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies") and Tony Shalhoub ("Monk").

But don't write off Baldwin hastily. In "Rosemary's Baby," he gives the flashiest performance of all nominees in this category, and it's a dangerous performance that risks being slammed as racist if it wasn't so over-the-top ridiculous. It's a shocking comic riff that really shows off Baldwin's gifts as a comic actor.

The gist: Baldwin's smug TV exec Jack Donaghy must stop his star Tracy (Tracy Morgan) from doing everything he's told not to — like organizing dog fighting. Tracy says he can't help himself because he's still rebelling against the ne'er-do-well dad who deserted him when he was young. Jack sets up a powwow with the network therapist, who suggests that Jack help Tracy to act out role playing so Tracy can confront these ghosts from his past.

Jack agrees but enacts outrageous African American TV roles. When portraying Tracy's dad, he channels Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford in "Sanford and Son" and, when being Tracy, he's Jimmie Walker as J.J. in "Good Times." Jack cranks up the racial stereotypes so high that the therapist is flabbergasted and offended, but not Tracy. He gets seriously absorbed in the exchange.

JACK (AS FRED SANFORD): "Hey, dummy! I'm mad at you too! Why you gotta act out that way?"

TRACY: "Cause you left me, Dad!"

JACK (AS FRED SANFORD): "I was young and confused and your mom didn't want me around no more. Now pass me dem damn collard greens."

TRACY: "Is this true, Mom?"

JACK (AS TRACY'S MOM): "He gambled away my welfare check!"

JACK (AS FRED SANFORD): "I got a mind to smack you upside the head!"

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Our two best Emmy gurus — forum moderators Robert "Rob L" Licuria (AwardsHeaven.net) and Chris "Boomer" Beachum — clash on what show will win best drama series (see HERE), but agree on what'll prevail as best comedy: "30 Rock." And this time I agree with them.

Last year's champ will not only repeat for all of the reasons they outline in their text below, but one more. "30 Rock" is a show about the lunacy of the TV biz and that probably proves irresistible to TV academy members who must cope with that craziness in their daily jobs. Sure, one of Emmy's biggest losers — "The Larry Sanders Show" — was about the late-show biz, but it was brilliantly creepy and off-putting and it didn't showcase superstars like Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey.

Boomer and Rob agree with what's in second place too ("The Office"), but thereafter their rankings diverge. Boomer holds out some hope for "Entourage," but not Rob. Very interesting. But here I tend to agree with Boomer.

BEST COMEDY SERIES: BOOMER'S RANKING
1. "30 Rock"
2. "The Office"
3. "Entourage"
4. "Two and a Half Men"
5. "Curb Your Enthusiasm"

QUICK EARLY CALL —  Unlike the drama series race, this is a very easy category to predict.  "30 Rock" has all the industry buzz, the hip cool factor with Tina Fey at the helm, and is the defending champ.  It doesn't hurt that the show has far more than six excellent episodes to submit too.

The only other show even close is "The Office," but even its greatest fans would say that the show slipped a little this last season.  The producers can certainly assemble a great package of episode submissions, but I just don't think it will win this time.  Much like the drama series race, it is extremely rare for a series to win this category without a directing or writing nomination (the only time in the last 25-plus years was "Friends"), so I think it is safe to say that "Men" and "Curb" are out.  "Entourage" has a slim hope, but it also fell in quality this last season.  It is a real shame that "Pushing Daisies" did not make this race after claiming so many other nominations.

BEST COMEDY SERIES: ROB'S RANKING
1. "30 Rock"
2. "The Office"
3. "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
4. "Two and a Half Men"
5. "Entourage"

QUICK EARLY CALL — If "30 Rock" submits "Rosemary's Baby," then it's a shoo-in. With "Cooter," it is vulnerable, because although it's a clever and entertaining episode, the laughs are not there as much. Ditto for "The Office," which looks to have submitted unwisely. That being said, it's a two-horse race, with the two NBC comedies dominating the buzz and positive cult-like reviews of the media and fans alike.

Sometimes I'm tempted to dismiss Steve Carell 's shot at winning the Emmy for two reasons. He portrays what we all (including Emmy voters) hate the most — the creepy boss from hell — and he's already lost the race for best comedy actor twice. How can he possibly have any hope now?

This year Carell gave Emmy judges a special, one-hour episode of "The Office" titled "Goodbye Toby" as the sample of his best work. As everybody knows, size matters in Hollywood and it really, really matters at the Emmys. In the race for best comedy actor, which is usually reserved for the stars of half-hour sitcoms, one-hour episodes have won five times over the last eight years. Tony Shalhoub won three times for his one-hour show "Monk" in 2003, 2005 and 2006. In 2000, Michael J. Fox won for submitting his one-hour special farewell eppy of "Spin City" titled "Goodbye/Conclusion." In 2001, Eric McCormack won for "Lows in the Mid-Eighties," the one-hour flashback episode that reveals how the title characters of "Will & Grace" met.

This year we have three one-hour entries — Steve Carell, Tony Shalhoub and Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies") — plus an extremely strong half-hour entry by Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock"). Charlie Sheen's 30-minute performance in "Is There a Mrs. Waffles?" is quite good too, but the lightweight nature of "Two and a Half Men" probably sinks him.

The detestable nature of Carell's character Michael in "The Office" is probably what's sunk him twice in the past. Now it's back big time. In "Goodbye, Toby," Michael has an irrational, unfair hatred of his personnel director and he's caught giving Toby a cruel farewell present — a rock with the note marked "Suck on this!"

Unfortunately, Michael gets caught in front of the new personnel director, Holly, with whom he's utterly, hopelessly in love. The fact that Michael is so ridiculously smitten throughout this episode does help to blunt his offensive nature — sometimes — like when he and Holly take a ferris-wheel ride out in the parking lot where the whole office gang throws Toby a farewell party.

"It's love at first sight," Michael confides to Jim (John Krasinski) about his hots for Holly. "Actually, no, it was when I heard her voice. It was love at first see with my ears!"

Carell's big, theatrical, knock-out scene comes when the party starts and Michael lets loose with a knock-off version of Supertramp's "Goodbye, Stranger" sung to the words of "Goodbye, Toby" with the help of a local rent-a-band at the shindig. Carell surrenders shrewdly to the silliness of the scene while he hops around, screeching and overselling every absurd lyric. He's great.

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"Monk" star Tony Shalhoub won three Emmys and only lost twice because he usually has two advantages over his rivals in the race for best comedy actor. Tony Shalhoub stars in a one-hour program ("Monk" is twice as long as the sitcoms competing against it) and he gets to wig out in big, grandstanding scenes thanks to his character being a nut job.

This year Tony Shalhoub is a major contender again, but has three serious rivals. Lee Pace may be the front-runner because he has the one-hour advantage too, and gives a full-bodied, sensitive performance in the pilot episode ("Pie-lette") of "Pushing Daisies." But, beware: two-time past loser Steve Carell gave Emmy judges a special one-hour eppy of "The Office" too ("Goodbye Toby" — read our analysis HERE). Alec Baldwin doesn't reveal much emotional range in his 30-minute "30 Rock" submission, "Rosemary's Baby," but he sure does wow Emmy judges with his audacity as he launches into jive-pumped imitations of Redd Foxx/Fred Sanford ("Hey, dummy! I'm mad at you too!") and Jimmie Walker/J.J. ("Dyn-o-mite!") that might offend African Americans if the imitations weren't so over-the-top ridiculous.

Frankly, Forget the fifth nominee. Charlie Sheen submitted the superb "Is There a Mrs. Waffles?" episode of "Two and a Half Men." It's his best perf ever, but, considering the shallowness of the role, that's not saying much. Besides, it's creepy too -- it portrays the scum-bum rascal as a hero to kids when he becomes a hit singer of their favorite, silly ditties.

One of the biggest questions looming over this Emmy race is how that wild card Tony Shalhoub will play out. On one hand, it's tempting to dismiss him now because his episode, "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man," doesn't have the same gravitas as episodes that resulted in his three previous wins: "Mr. Monk and the Airport" (2003), "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine" (2005) and "Mr. Monk Bumps His Head" (2006).

But it does have one touching scene before it explodes into utter absurdity. In this episode, Monk is so freaked out by the sight of skin that he can't solve the murder of a girl on a nude beach. When he sits down to sort this out with his therapist, he grabs a Kleenex to prepare for a teary chat, then he reveals, "Something I never told you. Something happened when I was a boy. There was an incident with a man. I'd never seen him before, a stranger. I was young, so small , I remember, I remember, I was naked, so naked. I hated being naked. I was crying. He hit me. There was blood, blood everywhere. I was screaming, wanted him to stop. My mother was smiling. Why didn't she stop him? She was supposed to protect me. He kept hitting me. Swinging me around, upside down. I never wanted to be naked again!"

Now here comes the absurd part when his therapist interrupts, noting, "That man was a doctor. You're remembering your own birth."

"Oh, come on!" I gasped at that point of viewing this episode. Emmy voters too?

As if that scene's not ridiculous enough, consider the scene that TV academy voters see a few minutes earlier, one so preposterous that it may dash Tony Shalhoub's newest Emmy hope.

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Ted Danson was a lead comedy actor Emmy nominee for each season of "Cheers." It took him till Season 8 before he finally won (he repeated for Season 10). Now, 15 years after that classic sitcom left the airwaves, Danson is back in the race for showing his dark side on "Damages." BuddyTV.com does a great job of compiling comments the 60-year-old actor made about this change-of-pace role and his thoughts on the Emmys then and now. "When you're younger and get nominated, there was part of me — I don't know if I took it for granted — but now it's a very rich experience," he told the AP.

Jon Cryer does not think the third time will be the charm for him at the Emmys as he competes once again as supporting actor in a comedy series for "Two and a Half Men." As he tells TV Squad he faces two strong competitors: "Entourage" star Jeremy Piven, who beat him both times in the past ("Laugh all you want, [he] is my nemesis. He's a force of nature") and fellow CBS Monday night star of "How I Met Your Mother," Neil Patrick Harris. While Cryer makes light of his chances, his co-star Charlie Sheen would sure like to see him triumph: "After 25 years in the business, he finally gets the recognition he deserves. So if he wins, that's plenty for me."

Over at AwardsDaily.com, Sasha Stone adds to the Oscars drum sound for Melissa Leo ("Frozen River") - READ MORE

Sony Pictures Television is becoming a significant Emmy player, earning a company-high 29 Emmy nods this year. As part of its promotional push for its Emmy contenders like drama series nominee "Damages" and telefilm nominees "A Raisin in the Sun" and "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," the studio has set up a website. Academy voters can log in to catch up with the studio's offerings and review information about each nominee. This initiative is one that is proving popular among studios looking to reduce costs of reaching all voters via direct mail.

A judge has ordered Craigslist to identify the person who posted an ad online selling scalped Oscar tickets last February for $2,500 apiece. The AP reports his name is Daniel — that's all that is known for now. READ MORE

EW's Popwatch blog has a step-by-step breakdown of the Emmy race for best choreography — CLICK HERE.

The Toronto International Film Festival has announced its lineup for its Midnight Madness showings in September — HERE.

To raise charitable donations, the Grammys are right now auctioning a guitar signed by Jeff Beck and more, CLICK HERE.

(FX, CBS)

While the women contending for lead performer in a drama series far outshine their male counterparts when it comes to award hardware, the comedy contenders are more evenly matched. Before today's nominations, the five men up for lead actor in a comedy series counted 12 performance Emmy nominations among them with 3 wins (albeit all by Tony Shalhoub, who now has six successive nods for "Monk.")

Alec Baldwin, the sole Oscar nominee of the bunch, is a five-time Emmy performance nominee as well as a 2001 producing nominee for the miniseries "Nuremberg." He picked up his second consecutive nod for "30 Rock" today. Both Steve Carell ("The Office") and Charlie Sheen ("Two and a Half Men") earned their third consecutive lead nominations today. Newcomer to the pack is Lee Pace, a first-time nominee for the freshman season of "Pushing Daisies."

While Emmy has proved to be a fickle mistress for these actors, they have had much more luck with the Golden Globes, winning four of 17 nominations. Sheen is one for three at the Globes with a 2002 win for "Spin City" and two losing bids for "Two and Half Men." Shalhoub won the first of his four Globe nods for "Monk" back in 2003. Steve Carell won the first of his three consecutive Globe nods for "The Office" in 2006 and Baldwin, a five-time Globe TV nominee, won for the first season of "30 Rock" in 2007. Pace is a two-time Globe nominee, with a 2004 nod for the telefilm "Soldier's Girl" and a bid for "Pushing Daisies" last January. (By the way, the winner then was the Emmy-snubbed David Duchovny for "Californication.")

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