AFT Awards: Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series

This is the tenth category of the 6th Annual AFT Television Awards, my personal choices for the best in television during the 2011-2012 season. This year, semi-finalists are included to recognize more of the impressive work being done on television today. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.

Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Last year’s nominees: Rebecca Creskoff, Kaitlyn Dever, Randee Heller, Julia Stiles, Ally Walker

Emmy nominees: Joan Cusack, Loretta Devine, Julia Ormond, Martha Plimpton, Jean Smart, Uma Thurman

Semi-finalists: None.

Finalists: Julianne Nicholson (Boardwalk Empire) proved a determined and competent opponent for the usually unshakable Nucky. Martha Plimpton (The Good Wife) partnered with Michael J. Fox’s equally manipulative attorney to make an appropriately-named dream team. Maura Tierney (Rescue Me) remained relevant as her character experienced a crisis of conscience. Elizabeth Reaser (The Good Wife) and Julianne Nicholson (The Good Wife) both returned to shake things up in the love department for an already multi-tasking Will Gardner.

The nominees:

Carla Gugino (Justified) came back to the world of Elmore Leonard and instantly clicked with Timothy Olyphant’s Raylan. Julia Ormond (Mad Men) proved showier than her TV daughter, stealing the spotlight and making her own fun during her visits to New York. Carrie Preston (The Good Wife) was odd and offbeat, yet she consistently managed to steer her clients in the right direction. Summer Glau (Alphas) found another fabulously nerdy role as yet another brilliant societal outcast.

The winner:

Maggie Lawson (Justified) seemed sweet at first but quickly revealed a mesmerizing dark side as a Kentucky baddie far removed from her by-the-books cop on “Psych.”

Next up: Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series