2010 screen actors guild awards

This doesn't show much creativity on my part, but I may as well list the SAG award nominees while I'm at it. The SAGs are generally considered more prestigious among actors - for obvious reasons.

The cool thing about these awards - created solely for the recognition of the acting performances - is the ensemble cast awards. A complete show can deserve an award BECAUSE of a great ensemble cast, but the reverse is not always true. For example, I would argue that Dexter deserves recognition for a being a very high-quality show, but doesn't necessarily deserve the ensemble cast award. While there are great actors, it's essentially a one-man show. Meanwhile, Modern Family might not be an immediate pick for best all-around comedy, but the cast is nearly perfect working as an ensemble. Make sense?

The award ceremony will be broadcast on TBS and TNT on January 23rd. Here are the primetime television nominees with my favorites in bold. There are film categories as well, you can see the full list here.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Drama Series
Patricia Arquette, Medium
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two And A Half Men

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Toni Collette, United States Of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures Of Old Christine

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Drama Series
The Closer
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
True Blood

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Comedy Series
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glee
Modern Family
The Office

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Television Movie Or Miniseries
Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance
Cuba Gooding, Jr., Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
Jeremy Irons, Georgia O'keeffe
Kevin Kline, Great Performances: Cyrano De Bergerac
Tom Wilkinson, A Number

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Television Movie Or Miniseries
Joan Allen , Georgia O'keeffe
Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens
Ruby Dee, America
Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens
Sigourney Weaver, Prayers For Bobby

Fun fact: The great Betty White will be receiving a lifetime acheivement award.