Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"

Nomination Status: Three-time winner returns to the field after a year away.

In His Favor: Three years of eligibility. Three Emmy wins for Bryan Cranston for his role as Walter White on AMC's "Breaking Bad." You don't quibble with that track record. Oh and much as I like to mock Emmy complacency, this isn't James Spader winning three Emmys in four years. This domination is deserved. Bryan Cranston continues to give one of TV's best performances, if not THE best. He was the one who knocks. He went nutty in the crawlspace. He did some very, very bad things. It was another great year for Cranston and "Breaking Bad."

Working Against Him: A year away? Absence breeds neglect? Or contempt? Or... something? Yeah. Probably nothing.