Simon Baker is in. Anna Paquin is not.
In today's Emmy nominations, Baker scored a Lead Actor in a Drama Series nod for his freshman hit, The Mentalist. He'll face off a familiar field: In Treatment's Gabriel Byrne, Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, Dexter's Michael C. Hall, Mad Men's Jon Hamm and House's Hugh Laurie. All five of those gents were nominated last year; Cranston is the defending champ.
The corresponding Lead Actress race looks just as similar. Last year's winner, Damages' Glenn Close, is, like last year, up against Brothers & Sisters' Sally Field, Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay, Saving Grace's Holly Hunter and The Closer's Kyra Sedgwick.
The only fresh blood in that category belongs to Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss, who benefitted from the Emmys' growth initiative, which pushed the number of nominees in the top acting races from five to six.
The expansion did not help Paquin, shut out for True Blood, any actor from the dry-docked Battlestar Galactica or Kiefer Sutherland, who was nominated for the 24's TV-movie prequel, but not the show's seventh season.
________
Check out our shiniest TV stars off the set—and on the town.