My Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

As you can see, my Dream Emmy Ballot experiment took a backseat to real life. I still want to get these out before the Emmy nomination announcements on July 19, so I'm giving it the old college try. Next up is Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. For some reason, this category's always been my blindspot, so my picks may end up being all no-brainers.

Remember, these picks are my "wouldn't it be nice" nominees and not real predictions because it's just easier to dream than try to face reality. If you want more legit insights, I'm sure you can find some online.

Claire Danes, Homeland
Great stuff from Claire Danes during Homeland's first season, and the early favorite to win the gold. It only made sense adding her to my dream ballot.

Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Don't know anything about this show or her performance, but the Emmys love her, so why not put her on this totally make believe and admittedly uninformed list? Plus, I needed a sixth person, and she made sense.

Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
I haven't watched a second of The Good Wife, but Margulies gets nothing but priase, so I decided to include her here.

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
I was new to Mad Men this season, and I was expecting more of Peggy, but even I had to admit that Moss did amazing things with the little screen time she received (like her counting out Roger's money).

Jessica Pare, Mad Men
I didn't hate Megan, and I actually liked most of her arc this season even if it did make her out to be a whiny brat. And, "Zou Bisou Bisou" was one of the most talked about pop culture moments of the season, so she has that to her credit.

Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy
I don't know if Season 4 of Sons was Sagal's best to date, but she's deserved so many past nominations that I wanted to make sure I had her on my ballot. At least the Golden Globes had the good sense to honor her.

So there you have it. Those would be my top six contenders for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series if I controlled the Emmys. Agree? Disagree? Who would your nominess be?