Alan Cumming, "The Good Wife"

Nomination Status: Guest Actor nominee last year moves into the main field as a probably nominee.

In His Favor: This was smart maneuvering on Cumming's part. Last year, when he could have gone for a nod in this category, he smartly placed himself in the Guest Actor field and earned a nomination (nobody was beating John Lithgow). He didn't have that choice this year, but he now gets to enter the Supporting Actor field with a nomination under his belt for his scene-stealing turn as Eli Gold. That gives him a clear advantage over co-stars Chris Noth and Josh Charles, who are also trying to sneak in. I'm biased here, because I've always found Cumming and Gold to be far more interesting that the weekly A-plots on "The Good Wife," but watching him in his scenes with Julianna Magulies and Dreama Walker and Mary Beth Peil, there's little doubt that Cumming and his character bring out the best in the show's top-notch cast.

Working Against Him: With so many slots open in this category and so many stars from new shows and even so many stars from his own show in the running, the only thing that can get in Cumming's way is somehow getting usurped by bigger names or more powerful cable properties.