5 – Ray Wise, Reaper

Playing the Devil is both the easiest and hardest role for an actor. There's no need to think about motivation: it's always pure evil. But you could play it too cartoony, too dark, too dull. Wise hits every note perfectly, oozing charm and charisma, with just a dash of comic timing and an undercurrent of truly evil. It's a wickedly brilliant performance.



4 – Donald Sutherland, Dirty Sexy Money

The Dirty Sexy Money cast is full of talent, but as patriarch Tripp Darling, Sutherland upstages them all. He delivers the drama such as when he confronts his wife about her affair and the possibility that some of his children aren't his. He's hilarious such as when he's speaking Swedish to Brian Jr. And he's constantly elegant, exactly the way you like your billionaire's to be. At next year's Emmy Awards, it will be a criminal shame if both Sutherlands, father and son, aren't nominated.



3 – Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?

Who would've guessed little Kelly Bundy would grow up to be a brilliant comedic actress. Child stars don't often have a long shelf-life, and in Applegate's case, typecasting seemed inevitable. How could anyone ever see her as anything more than a blonde sexpot? After failing as a sitcom star in Jesse, she took a break from TV, scored a Tony nomination for her Broadway singing and hoofing in Sweet Charity, and now returns better than ever in the highest rated new show of the season. She can do a hilarious line reading or a pratfall, either way, Applegate has what it takes to be a shining star in the sitcom world.



2 – Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

I'm as surprised as you are. My loathing of Chuck Lorre-created sitcoms is deep, whether it's the trite Dharma and Greg or the abysmally awful Two and a Half Men. So was shocked when I enjoyed the pilot of his latest, The Big Bang Theory. Even more shocking is that it keeps getting better and is rapidly becoming one of my favorite new shows. All the nerds on the show are hilarious, but Parsons' Sheldon is one of those brilliant sitcom creations where the role and actor each add their own layers.

While his cohort Leonard (Johnny Galecki) is painfully aware of his social foibles, Sheldon's greatness comes from his total lack of shame. He's right, he's always right, and proper social skills are a non-issue. He has no problem sneaking into a neighbor's apartment in the middle of the night to clean up, because it needs to be cleaned and he can do it better than anyone else. Parsons' sharp, stilted delivery and quirky mannerisms add levels of believability to a character who would, in a lesser actor's hands, become pure caricature. Also, Sheldon has the most stylish plaid pants in all of TV.



1 – Chi McBride, Pushing Daisies

OK, the whole cast of this show is brilliant and absolutely any one of them deserve this spot. But in a show full of wonderful performances, beautiful color schemes and fantastical sets, it takes a truly gifted actor to steal every single scene he's in. As knitting aficionado/private investigator Emerson Cod, McBride understands 100 percent what this show's style is and how to play it. It's like a great noir farce, a comic Dashiell Hammett yarn. Every look of incredulity, every snappy comeback, every inflection is spot-on hilarious.

Fans of McBride knew he could pull off dramatic work, either in Boston Public or The Nine. They also know that he's capable of doing some of the worst comedy ever, assuming they haven't taken a mind-erasing drug to forget The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer. In Pushing Daisies, McBride finally becomes a breakout star with a role so perfect, t would be criminal for the Emmys and every other television awards group to ignore.


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-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Images courtesy of the CW, NBC, ABC and CBS)