Kathy Bates, "Harry's Law"

Nomination Status: Nominated last year, so I'm underrating her.

In Her Favor: We all made fun of Kathy Bates earning an Emmy nomination last year for "Harry's Law," but then she followed it up this winter with a SAG Award nomination, so Emmy voters don't look like ridiculous outliers anymore. Bates has nine career Emmy nominations, so there's no question that she has a better chance at picking up a 10th than I'm giving her based on her placement in this gallery.

Working Against Her: Emmy voters don't really care about ratings for "Harry's Law" -- especially since they were probably pretty good in the core Emmy-voting demos -- and Emmy voters don't really care if critics and pundits mock them. So really, the only thing working against Bates is the influx of fresh or returning talent to the category.