Dear Emmy voters:

Yesterday, I told you suggested which actors and actresses on the comedy side most deserved your Emmy love. Today, things get more serious, with my picks in the dramatic acting categories. Please, I beg of you, study this list before filling out your ballot (which should be arriving in your mailboxes any day now). Otherwise, all the wrong people will get nominated again and, well, that’ll suck for everyone.

Sincerely, Michael Ausiello (with strong input from Matt Roush and Bruce Fretts)

Lead Drama Actress
Connie Britton (Tami, Friday Night Lights)
Glenn Close, Patty (Damages)
Ginnifer Goodwin (Margene. Big Love)
Chloë Sevigny (Nikki, Big Love)
Jeanne Tripplehorn (Barb, Big Love)

FNL threw everything but the kitchen sink at Britton this season (new baby, hellion daughter, marital problems), and she cleaned up; Close was scary as hell, and we still rooted for her Damages counterpart; and the three wives at the center of Big Love, riding the show’s quality wave, turned in the best work of their careers. You try picking a favorite from the batch. (OK, we may be the teensiest bit partial to Goodwin, who impressed us as the not-as-naive-as-we-thought Margene.)

Lead Drama Actor
Kyle Chandler (Eric, Friday Night Lights)
Bryan Cranston (Walter, Breaking Bad)
Matthew Fox (Jack, Lost)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter, Dexter)
Jon Hamm (Don, Mad Men)