If I had an Emmy ballot

I want to thank the fine people of Throwing Things for pointing out that the big Emmy ballot of submitted performances is out, and therefore derailing my work for the last hour as I pored over the list and tried, as I did last year, to come up with five six nominees per category , based on where the actors submitted themselves. It's not as easy as you'd think. In some categories, the six picks were obvious, while in many others I either struggled to come up with six or struggled to pare it down to six.

As Tom O'Neill points out, the most obvious omission is Terry O'Quinn from "Lost," who won a couple of years ago and either forgot to submit himself again or decided he didn't care.

After the jump, my own picks, plus the toughest names I had to leave out of each category. Feel free to offer up your own, or simply heckle my choices.

Lead actor in a comedy

Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Steve Carell, "The Office"
Zachary Levi, "Chuck"
Ken Marino, "Party Down"
Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"
Adam Scott, "Party Down"

Tough omissions: Bret & Jemaine from "Flight of the Conchords," maybe Zach Braff

Lead actor in a drama

Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"
Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights"
Michael Chiklis, "The Shield"
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
Edward James Olmos, "Battlestar Galactica"

Tough omissions: Hugh Laurie, Michael C. Hall, Damian Lewis, Jeffrey Donovan

Lead actress in a comedy

Toni Collette, "United States of Tara"
Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Anna Friel, "Pushing Daisies"
Yvonne Strahovski, "Chuck"

Tough omissions: None. I couldn't come up with four from shows I watch where I like the performance enough. Amy Poehler was very good in a few eps of Parks and Recreation, but too broad in others, as they tried to find that character.

Lead actress in a drama

January Jones, "Mad Men"
Mary McDonnell, "Battlestar Galactica"
Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"
Jill Scott, "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency"
Jeanne Tripplehorn, "Big Love"

Tough omissions: I would say Holly Hunter, except I stopped watching Saving Grace even though I like her performance. So I only have five, I think.

Supporting actor in a comedy

Donald Faison, "Scrubs"
Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother"
Chi McBride, "Pushing Daisies"
Tracy Morgan, "30 Rock"
Ray Wise, "Reaper"
Rhys Darby, "Flight of the Conchords"

Tough omissions: Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahay (if only I could nominate Jeffster! as a single entity), John C. McGinley, Brian Baumgartner (for the spilled chili scene alone), Martin Starr, John Krasinski (for the "send in the subs" scene alone), Ed Helms, Jim Gaffigan


Supporting actor in a drama

Justin Chambers, "Grey's Anatomy"
Jeremy Davies, "Lost"
Walton Goggins, "The Shield"
Michael Hogan, "Battlestar Galactica"
John Mahoney, "In Treatment"
Michael Emerson, "Lost"

Tough omissions: Josh Holloway, Aaron Paul, Vincent Kartheiser, Aaron Shaw, Bruce Campbell, Kevin McKidd, Taylor Kitsch, John Slattery

Supporting actress in a comedy

Lizzy Caplan, "Party Down"
Portia de Rossi, "Better Off Ted"
Rosemarie Dewitt, "United States of Tara"
Jenna Fischer, "The Office"
Cobie Smulders, "How I Met Your Mother"
Jane Lynch, "Party Down"

Tough omissions: Kristen Schaal

Supporting actress in a drama

Connie Britton, "Friday Night Lights"
Hope Davis, "In Treatment"
Alison Pill, "In Treatment"
CCH Pounder, "The Shield"
Dianne Wiest, "In Treatment"
Christina Hendricks, "Mad Men"

Tough omissions: Anna Gunn, Ginnifer Goodwin, Tricia Helfer, Adrianne Palicki, Katee Sackhoff, Chloe Sevigny, Amanda Seyfried, Chandra Wilson