THE TV TALK BEST OF 2012 – NOMINEES

In the midst of Award Season 2012-13, I’m putting my favorites in television for the year 2012 out here. Do vote for your favorites in the polls alongside. The results will be declared here in the first half of February 2013.

It was a year of great television for me. I started watching several new shows, among which were breakthroughs in drama, like HOMELAND and THE NEWSROOM. I caught up on shows like THE GOOD WIFE, MAD MEN, BREAKING BAD and WEB THERAPY. I gave a few new comedies a shot, like GO ON and THE NEW NORMAL. And here is the best of TV in 2012 for me.

§  To accommodate some noteworthy performances, I have included guest acting categories this year.

§  For all acting categories, I have included the characters’ names, in case any of you are unfamiliar with the actors and actress’ names.

§  Somehow, I just couldn’t do justice to all the good shows by sticking to five or six nominees, especially in Series – Drama. 

Series – Drama

BREAKING BAD

DAMAGES

DEXTER

DOWNTON ABBEY

THE GOOD WIFE

GREY’S ANATOMY

HOMELAND

HOUSE MD

MAD MEN

THE NEWSROOM

Series – Comedy/Musical

THE BIG BANG THEORY

GLEE

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

MODERN FAMILY

WEB THERAPY

Performance by an Actress in A Leading Role – Drama

Marcia Cross as Bree Van De Kamp in DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

Glenn Close as Patty Hewes in DAMAGES

Rose Byrne as Ellen Parsons in DAMAGES

Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick in THE GOOD WIFE

Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey in GREY’S ANATOMY

Claire Danes as Carrie Matthison in HOMELAND

Performance by an Actor in A Leading Role – Drama

Bryan Cranston as Walter White in BREAKING BAD

Michael C Hall as Dexter Morgan in DEXTER

Johnny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes in ELEMENTARY

Damian Lewis as Nicolas Brody in HOMELAND

Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy in THE NEWSROOM

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in SHERLOCK

Performance by an Actress in A Leading Role – Comedy/Musical

Beth Behrs as Caroline Channing in 2 BROKE GIRLS

Kaley Cuoco as Penny in THE BIG BANG THEORY

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer in VEEP

Lisa Kudrow as Fiona Wallace in Web THERAPY

Performance by an Actor in A Leading Role – Comedy/Musical

Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper in THE BIG BANG THEORY

Johnny Galecki as Leonard Hofstadter in THE BIG BANG THEORY

Breckin Meyer as Jared Franklin in FRANKLIN & BASH

Matthew Perry as Ryan King in GO ON

Michael Urie as Louis in PARTNERS

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role – Drama

Anna Gunn as Skyler White in BREAKING BAD

Jennifer Carpenter as Debra Morgan in DEXTER

Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley in DOWNTON ABBEY

Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma in THE GOOD WIFE

Jessica Capshaw as Arizona Robins in GREY’S ANATOMY

Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris in MAD MEN

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role – Drama

Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in BREAKING BAD

Larry Hagman as JR Ewing in DALLAS

Rob James Collier as Thomas Barrow in DOWNTON ABBEY

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in GAME OF THRONES

John Slattery as Roger Sterling in MAD MEN

Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role – Comedy/Musical

Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler in THE BIG BANG THEORY

Melissa Rauch as Bernadette Rostenkowski in THE BIG BANG THEORY

Cobie Smulders as Robin Sherbatsky in HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy in MODERN FAMILY

Sofia Vergara as Gloria Pritchett in MODERN FAMILY

Ellen Barkin as Jane Forrest in THE NEW NORMAL

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role – Comedy/Musical

Kunal Nayar as Raj Koothrappalli in THE BIG BANG THEORY

Simon Helberg as Howard Walowitz in THE BIG BANG THEORY

Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson in HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker in MODERN FAMILY

Nolan Gould as Luke Dunphy in MODERN FAMILY

Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy in MODERN FAMILY

Performance by a Guest Actress in a TV Series – Drama

Martha Plimpton as Patti Nyholm in THE GOOD WIFE

Zuleikha Robinson as Roya Hammad in HOMELAND

Jane Fonda as Leona Lansing in THE NEWSROOM

Alfre Woodard as Dee Bennett in PRIVATE PRACTICE

Kate Burton as Sally Langston in SCANDAL

Performance by a Guest Actor in a TV Series – Drama

Andrew Leeds as Christopher Pelant in BONES

Jason Beghe as Det Voight in CHICAGO FIRE

Michael J Fox as Louis Canning in THE GOOD WIFE

Rupert Friend as Peter Quinn in HOMELAND

Jason Ritter as Mark Cyr in PARENTHOOD

Ray Romano as Hank Rizzoli in PARENTHOOD

Performance by a Guest Actress in a TV Series – Comedy/Musical

Sarah Jessica Parker as Isabelle Wright in GLEE

Kate Hudson as Cassandra July in GLEE

Meryl Streep as Camilla Bowner in WEB THERAPY

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Shevaun Haig in WEB THERAPY

Performance by a Guest Actor in a TV Series – Comedy/Musical

Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins in GLEE

Matthew Broderick as Dave in MODERN FAMILY

Reid Ewing as Dylan in MODERN FAMILY

Alan Cumming as Austen Clarke in WEB THERAPY

David Schwimmer as Newell L Miller in WEB THERAPY

Writing

DAMAGES

DEXTER

DOWNTON ABBEY

THE GOOD WIFE

HOMELAND

MODERN FAMILY

Character Development

DAMAGES

DEXTER

GREY’S ANATOMY

HOMELAND

PARENTHOOD

Art Direction

BREAKING BAD

CHICAGO FIRE

DOWNTON ABBEY

GAME OF THRONES

GREY’S ANATOMY

MAD MEN

Costume Design

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

DOWNTON ABBEY

GAME OF THRONES

GOSSIP GIRL

MAD MEN

Make-Up & Hair – Prosthetic/Non-Prosthetic

DEXTER

DOWNTON ABBEY

MAD MEN

GREY’S ANATOMY

GAME OF THRONES

HOUSE MD

Music – Background Score

CHICAGO FIRE

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

DEXTER

DOWNTON ABBEY

THE GOOD WIFE

HOMELAND

Music – Compilation

THE GOOD WIFE

GOSSIP GIRL

GREY’S ANATOMY

PRIVATE PRACTICE

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

Titles – Opening & Closing Credits

DOWNTON ABBEY

DEXTER

ELEMENTARY

GAME OF THRONES

THE NEWSROOM

PARENTHOOD

Fine Print

▪ The eligible series are those that I follow (2 BROKE GIRLS, 90210, AMERICAN IDOL, THE BIG BANG THEORY, BLUE BLOODS, BODY OF PROOF, BONES, BREAKING BAD, CASTLE, CHICAGO FIRE, DALLAS, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, DAMAGES, DEXTER, DOWNTON ABBEY, ELEMENTARY, FRANKLIN & BASH, GAME OF THRONES, GLEE, GO ON, THE GOOD WIFE, GOSSIP GIRL, GREY'S ANATOMY, HOMELAND, HOUSE MD, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, MAD MEN, MODERN FAMILY, THE NEW NORMAL, THE NEWSROOM, PARENTHOOD, PARTNERS, PRIVATE PRACTICE, REVENGE, SCANDAL, SHERLOCK, SUITS, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, VEEP, WEB THERAPY, WHITE COLLAR) ▪ The episodes being judged are those that have aired in the year 2012 ▪ The maximum number of nominees for Best Series (Drama and Comedy/Musical) is 10 ▪ The minimum number of nominees for Best Series (Drama and Comedy/Musical) is 5 ▪ The maximum number of nominees for all other categories is 6 ▪ The minimum number for all other categories is 4 ▪ The ‘Readers’ Choice’ is based on the polls alongside ▪ The other ‘Best of…’ are according to my judgment ▪ The ‘TV TALK Best Of 2012’ is only an expression of what I considered as excellence in television in the year 2012 ▪

While you should vote for your favorites in the polls, do share your views on the list here in the comments section below.