Damian Lewis, "Homeland"

Nomination Status: Here's the deal: There will be two nominees between Damian Lewis, Dustin Hoffman, Kelsey Grammer and Timothy Olyphant. Only two. That means two of those people are going to be snubbed. Brutal.

In His Favor: Lewis is a respected actor who has given Emmy-worthy performances in projects like "Life," "Band of Brothers" and "The Forsyte Saga." As good as he's been before, he's giving what's close to the performance of his career in "Homeland" [definitely his career highlight if you haven't seen "Keane," but I've seen "Keane"] a performance which, thanks to its "Manchurian Candidate" shadings, is tailor-made for award consideration. "Homeland" is sure to be a major Emmy player and Lewis' scenes with presumptive Emmy winner Claire Danes are pure dramatic dynamite [blurb me!!!]. Lewis already has a Golden Globe nomination for the role.

Working Against Him: Of the four actors up for the two spaces, Lewis is the least well-known. If it comes down to star-power, he can't compete. In addition, Lewis' snubbing by SAG Award voters is a bit of a concern.