With the biggest night of the year for the TV industry set for this Sunday, the 61st annual Emmy Awards are sure to be entertaining -- especially with How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris hosting the event.
While last year's Emmys were hard to watch, mostly because of a cadre of reality series hosts at the helm of the show, this year promises to have some memorable moments, as always. With nominees including out lesbian Cherry Jones, the fierce Glenn Close, Weeds' "hasbian" Elizabeth Perkins and Tina Fey, Sunday's Primetime Emmy Awards are going to be chock full of lovely ladies.
Here's a closer look at five categories to look forward to Sunday.
The race for best actress in a comedy series sees 30 Rock's Tina Fey looking to repeat in the category against The New Adventures of Old Christine's Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Christina Applegate from the now-canceled Samantha Who? The Sarah Silverman Program's Sarah Silverman -- a winner last year for the viral hit song "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" from The Jimmy Kimmel Show - and a pair of leading ladies from Showtime: The United States of Tara's Toni Collette and Weeds' Mary-Louise Parker.
Considering Fey is coming into Sunday's ceremony having already collected a statuette for her guest role as Sarah Palin on NBC's Saturday Night Live at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 13, it's going to be hard to stop her Liz Lemon from repeating in the comedy actress category.
Last year's winner for best actress in a drama, Damages' Glenn Close, also returns this year where she faces off against Brothers & Sisters' Sally Field, The Closer's Kyra Sedgwick, Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay and Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss.
While AMC's Mad Men leads the way among the drama nominations with 16, a big part of that cast is Moss, and she is definitely the underdog in this category, which makes it hard not to root for the woman who plays new copywriter Peggy Olson with such understated brilliance.
In the supporting actress in a comedy category, last year's winner Samantha Who?'s Jean Smart, wasn't nominated and the field is wide open as Kristin Chenoweth is nominated for critical darling and gone-too-soon Pushing Daisies in a race that also includes two nominees from Saturday Night Live: Amy Poehler and Kristin Wiig, along with 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski, Ugly Betty's Vanessa Williams and Weeds' Elizabeth Perkins.
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Look for TV Academy voters to (hopefully) send Pushing Daisies out with a bang and reward Chenoweth for her lovely performance. Nominated in the same category last year, an Emmy would go nicely with Chenoweth's Tony Award for her role in the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
In the drama supporting actress category, Chandra Wilson and Sandra Oh from Grey's Anatomy lead the pack, vying for the Emmy against Damages' Rose Byrne, In Treatment's Dianne Wiest (who won for the same role last year) and Hope Davis, along with 24's president Cherry Jones.
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While we love Jones on 24, Wilson's Dr. Miranda Bailey continues to be the glue that holds Grey's Anatomy together and it's time the four-time nominee won in the category. Plus we love it every time she utters the term "vajayjay."
Lastly, the lead actress in a miniseries or movie also features Wilson looking to make it 2-for-2 as she's nominated for her role in Hallmark Channel's Accidental Friendship along with Coco Chanel's Shirley MacLaine, Grey Gardens' Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange and Sigourney Weaver in Lifetime's Prayers for Bobby.
In the category with the biggest heavy-hitters, it's hard to root against Weaver's role as a homophobic mother who comes around after her gay son commits suicide.
The 61st annual Primetime Emmys air Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS.
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