A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: There are only 4 days left in the 2005-2006 network television season, mostly marked by a few much anticipated finales (Desperate Housewives tonight, Alias on Monday, Idol on Tuesday and Wednesday, Lost on Wednesday) and a few big and awful-looking TV movies (Stephen King's Desperation, 10.5: Apocalypse). A few shows have yet to wrap up their seasons (cable shows, and a couple of shows on the WB), which means it's time to look at the season and ask who deserves to be nominated for an Emmy. Now, let's not bother with the obvious nominees (Hugh Laurie, Steve Carrell, Felicity Huffman, Kyra Sedgwick) or the folks who've been on the "shoulda been nominated" list for eons (Lauren Graham, John C. McGinley, Battlestar Galactica). Give me your best slightly off, but still deserving folks. A few from me?

• Christopher Eccleston, Outstanding Leading Actor in a Drama, Doctor Who. Eccleston brings both humor and pathos to the Doctor and just flies with it. Regardless of how ridiculous or bizarre the situation is, the Doctor has, if not a solution, at least an explanation. Particularly nice work in Dalek, where the Doctor is confronted with the question of when it's right to take a life in vengeance
• Donald Faison, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy, Scrubs. Despite the fall of comedy over the past few years, this is an extraordinarily nasty category, with John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, John C. McGinley, and Neil Patrick Harris all in it, but Faison is one of Scrubs' secret weapons. Whether the script calls upon him to play Dr. Blacula or asks him to be the straight man, he's there, and he's always, always, excellent.
• Emily Van Camp, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama, Everwood. Van Camp's character has done some mighty unlikable things this year, but it's to her credit that she always makes it believable and plausible what her character is doing.
• Eric Close, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama, Without A Trace. It's hard to get glory for your work in a police procedural, but Close had a character arc this year which is part of what made Trace so effective--the weaving of the personal and the procedural.

Toughest category to fill this year again, assuming the Housewives and the Gilmore Girls go comedy? Leading actress in a drama. Sure, Edie Falco's getting a nomination, and I assume so are Mariska Hargitay and Ellen Pompeo, with Jennifer Garner likely beyond that. But beyond that, you quickly reach bottom, with other network options being Sarah Lancaster, Patricia Arquette, the ladies from the three CSI variants, Emily Deschannel, Maura Tierney, Kristen Bell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jennifer Finnigan, and Kathryn Morris.