Entertainment Weekly's Mike Ausiello and I mostly agree on who'll win Emmys in the top series races Aug. 29. However, there are significant differences in our rankings per category, and there is drastic disagreement over how we size up the contest for best comedy actor. I've got Tony Shalhoub ("Monk") in first place, Mike's got him in last!

Note: My predix are still a bit tentative. I haven't seen a few of the episodes submitted to Emmy judges by nominees as examples of their best work. When I finish up that viewing in a few days, I may make a few changes. Mike may want to make a few last-minute switcheroos too? Meantime, thank you, Mike, for piping in.

Photo: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

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As Emmy contenders slug it out to win fake gold statuettes, TV Guide just tattled on how much real gold they earn from their tube jobs. Poor Hugh Laurie has lost his four Emmy bouts in the past, but isn't indigent. His hefty consolation prize: $400,000 for starring in each episode of "House M.D." Here are the salaries of other Emmy nominees on the TV Guide list. Sums are per episode unless otherwise indicated.

BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Laurie, "House M.D." - $400,000
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men" - $100,000

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: SVU" -  $395,000
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer" - $350,000
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife" - $175,000

BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Steve Carell, "The Office" - $297,000
Matthew Morrison, "Glee" - $30,000
Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory" - $40,000

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie" - $175,000

BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Ty Burrell, "Modern Family" - $50,000
Jon Cryer, "Two and a Half Men" - $550,000

BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Jane Lynch, "Glee" - $50,000

VARIETY CATEGORIES
David Letterman, "The Late Show" - $28 million per year
Conan O'Brien, "The Conan O'Brien Show" - $10 million per year

BEST REALITY TV HOST
Ryan Seacrest, "American Idol" - $15 million per year

Photo: WireImage

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Never mind which TV shows and stars are favored by Emmy voters. Yahoo measured the lists of Emmy nominees according to which ones were searched most by their Web browsers during the eligibility period spanning June 1, 2009, to May 31, 2010.

TOP SEARCHED BEST SERIES, DRAMA

1. "Lost"

2. "True Blood"

3. "Dexter"

4. "Mad Men"

5. "Breaking Bad"

6. "The Good Wife"
 


TOP SEARCHED BEST SERIES, COMEDY
1. "Glee"

2. "The Office"

3. "Modern Family"

4. "30 Rock"

5. "Nurse Jackie"

6. "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
 

TOP SEARCHED BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
1. Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
2. Hugh Laurie, "House"

3. Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"

4. Matthew Fox, "Lost"

5. Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"

6. Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights"

If you don't receive the Los Angeles Times' print edition, you don't see The Envelope's print supplements covering the Emmy derby. Here's a bit of what you're missing — Gold Derby's rundown of the acting races among drama series.

Remember: The Emmy is different from the Oscar, Grammy and Tony, which are decided by popular ballot. It's a juried award. Teams of 50 to 200 actors choose the winner of each performance category after viewing DVDs of sample series episodes or full TV movies and miniseries. When trying to predict the winners, you must know the episodes, which are cited next to programs' titles on the lists below.

BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights" ("East of Dillon")
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad" ("Full Measure")
Matthew Fox, "Lost" ("The End")
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter" ("The Getaway")
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men" ("The Gypsy and the Hobo")
Hugh Laurie, "House" ("Broken")

SPOTLIGHT: Two-time winner Cranston faces serious challenges from Hall, who recently won the Golden Globe and SAG Award, and Chandler, who gives an explosive performance in his episode fuming at his football team, "If you don't want to be here, get out of my house!" Having the longest episodes may benefit Fox, who entered the "Lost" finale, and Laurie, who undergoes Vicodin detox in a two-hour "House" special.

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
January Jones, "Mad Men" ("The Gypsy and the Hobo")
Connie Britton, "Friday Night Lights" ("After the Fall")
Glenn Close, "Damages" ("Your Secrets Are Safe")
Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: SVU" ("Perverted")
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife" ("Threesome")
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer" ("Maternal Instincts")

SPOTLIGHT: Close has won for the last two years, but beware: Margulies is an awards darling. She won an Emmy for "ER" (1995) and recently romped at the Golden Globes and SAG for "The Good Wife." Her Emmy episode submission is strong, featuring a quiet crying scene when faced with rumors of her husband's infidelity.

Women rarely get nominated for Television Critics Assn. Awards, but two just won the performance categories for comedy and drama in the same year for the first time ever: Jane Lynch ("Glee") and Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife").

The Margulies win at the TCA Awards is especially surprising since she stars on a traditional legal show aired on broadcast TV. Hey, that's not hyper-cool, which usually matters a lot to gritty TV critics. Margulies beat such critically acclaimed hipsters as John Lithgow ("Dexter"), Katey Sagal ("Sons of Anarchy") and "Breaking Bad" stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.

An even bigger oddity: "Glee" beat "Modern Family" to win the trophies as program of the year and best new program, but "Modern Family" struck revenge by besting "Glee" to win best comedy. Huh? How can "Glee" be the program of the year but not best comedy? Because TV critics are crazy, illogical and indulge themselves exactly as they well please, thank you very much. These kinds of schizo outcomes happen all the time at the TCA Awards.

Is the "Mad Men" juggernaut derailed? After winning best drama series for the last two years at both the TCA Awards and the Emmys, it lost to two shows that tied at TCA: "Lost" and "Breaking Bad." Previously, "Lost" won best drama series at TCA in 2005 and 2006.

Program of the year: "Glee" (Fox)
Outstanding new program: "Glee" (Fox)
Individual achievement in comedy: Jane Lynch, "Glee" (Fox)
Outstanding achievement in comedy: "Modern Family" (ABC)
Outstanding achievement in drama: TIE – "Lost" (ABC) and "Breaking Bad" (AMC)
Individual achievement in drama: Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife" (CBS)
Outstanding achievement in news and information: "Life" (Discovery)
Outstanding achievement in youth programming: "Yo Gabba Gabba" (Nick Jr.)
Outstanding acheievement in movies, miniseries and specials: "The Pacific" (HBO)
Heritage Award: "MASH" (CBS)
Career achievement: James Garner

Photo: Fox TV

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The freshman hit "The Good Wife" is one of six nominees for drama series at this year's Emmy Awards. The show's star Julianna Margulies has already picked up the lead actress prize from both the Golden Globes and SAG this year. Though an early favorite, she is not a sure thing to take home the Emmy. However, her TV comeback vehicle could well win the series race.

In the first round of predictions, one of our Emmy experts, Chris "Boomer" Beachum, and I rank "The Good Wife" in the middle of the pack. However, Rob "Rob L" Licuria has the CBS smash in second place. At this stage, all three of us are predicting "Mad Men" to pull off a three-peat.

The prospects for "The Good Wife" has generated much discussion in our Emmys forum. For east/west, "As this goes for drama series, the show is totally in the race. These two episodes had everything going for it and it stands out from the pack. It's not a period piece, thriller, or sci-fi show. I would give the award to 'Breaking Bad,' but if 'Wife' gets enough votes in the top three it can upset and it would be deserved."

However, iskolar cautions, "they did good but I don't think they'll win. It's still 'Mad Men' in the end." And Benito Delicias says, "I think the show had buzz for being nominated, I don't think it has it for a win. 'Mad Men' submitted perfectly, 'Lost' ended and has the fantastic 'The End' as one whole tape, 'Dexter' had plenty of buzz too. I think it's too much for 'The Good Wife' to handle."

And adamunc admits, "I've been going back and trying to catch up; seen six episodes so far, and, save the pilot, they feel distressingly formulaic. And there seems to be a pattern of intriguing set-ups and seriously anti-climactic solutions. Saw 'Hi' most recently and the solution to the murder was so ho-hum and mundane (not to mention predictable) it was almost an after-thought."

RELATED POSTS:

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Jimmy Fallon can't wait to put the Emmys behind him?

Photo: "The Good Wife" promotional poster. Credit: CBS.

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You've already seen the Emmy predictions covering the top comedy races from me and our two experts Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Rob Licuria (AwardsHeaven). Now here's how we rank the major drama contests.

Photo: Jon Hamm in "Mad Men." Photo credit: AMC.

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Beware: Some Emmy-watchers are making a false assumption about the races for best lead actor and actress in the drama series. They believe Michael C. Hall ("Dexter") and Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife") are shoo-ins to win on Aug. 29 because they've already bagged the Golden Globe and SAG Award earlier this year. Not necessarily so!

Only rarely do the three awards line up, probably because their voting systems vary so much. Winners of Globes and SAG Awards are decided by a popular ballot, but the Emmy is a juried award chosen after a small group of judges views one sample episode submitted by every nominee in the category.

Occasionally, the three prizes do concur – as when James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") won best drama actor at the Emmys a few months after triumphing at the Globes and SAG in 2000. Ditto, Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files") in 1997 and Edie Falco ("The Sopranos") in 2003. However, all of the following actors failed to repeat at the Emmys soon after sweeping the Globes and SAG: Dennis Franz ("NYPD Blue") in 1995, Anthony Edwards ("ER") in 1998 and Hugh Laurie ("House M.D.") in 2007.

[For the record, 7:35 a.m. July 26: An earlier version of this post misspelled Julianna Margulies' first name as Juliana.]

RELATED POSTS

Can Larry David win the Emmy for best comedy actor?

Emmy prediction: "American Idol" will finally beat "Amazing Race"

Jimmy Fallon can't wait to put the Emmys behind him?

Photos: Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., Screen Actors Guild, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

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Before this year, the six women competing for lead actress in a drama series at the Emmy Awards had tallied up an impressive 26 nominations among them, with five wins. Returning nominees Glenn Close ("Damages") and Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: SVU") are two of the three most recent winners in this category; the other, Sally Field ("Brothers & Sisters"), was dropped from the race after three bids.

Reigning champ Close won this award for each of the first two seasons of the FX legal drama. She took home her first Emmy Award (out of eight performance nods) for headlining the 1995 telefilm "Serving in Silence." This year marks Hargitay's seventh consecutive nomination for "Law & Order: SVU," with her win coming in 2006.

Julianna Margulies -- who contends for the freshman hit "The Good Wife" -- was nominated for all six of the seasons she was on "ER." She won the supporting award for the first year of that ratings smash in 1994, then contended again in that category the following year before moving up, albeit unsuccessfully, to the lead race for four years.

All three of these women have won Golden Globes for their Emmy-nominated roles -- Hargitay and Close on the first of their two nods in 2004 and 2007, respectively, and Margulies at the most recent ceremony.

Although Kyra Sedgwick has yet to prevail at the Emmys despite four previous nominations for "The Closer," she did win on the second of her five consecutive Golden Globe nods in 2006. While this is the first Emmy recognition for January Jones ("Mad Men"), she did contend in the lead race at the last two Golden Globes. This is the first Emmy nomination for Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights").

The men in the lead actor drama series race have 17 previous performance nominations but only two wins. Both of those were for reigning champ Bryan Cranston for the first two seasons of "Breaking Bad." Before these victories, Cranston was a three-time also ran in the supporting actor comedy series race for "Malcolm in the Middle" (2002, 2003, 2006).

Here's who I predict will score bids when Emmy Awards nominations are unveiled Thursday morning:

BEST DRAMA SERIES
"Breaking Bad"
"Damages"
"Dexter"
"Mad Men"
"The Good Wife"
"Lost"

ALTERNATES: "Big Love," "Friday Night Lights," "House M.D.," "Sons of Anarchy," "Treme"

BEST COMEDY SERIES
"The Big Bang Theory"
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
"Family Guy"
"Glee"
"Modern Family"
"30 Rock"

ALTERNATES: "Community," "How I Met Your Mother," "Entourage," "Nurse Jackie," "The Office," "Parks and Recreation," "Weeds"

BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Simon Baker ("The Mentalist")
Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad")
Michael C. Hall ("Dexter")
Jon Hamm ("Mad Men")
Hugh Laurie ("House")
Timothy Olyphant ("Justified")

ALTERNATES: Matt Bomer ("White Collar"), Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"), Matthew Fox ("Lost"), Peter Krause ("Parenthood"), Denis Leary ("Rescue Me"), Bill Paxton ("Big Love"), Wendell Pierce ("Treme"), Kiefer Sutherland ("24")

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Glenn Close ("Damages")
Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: SVU")
January Jones ("Mad Men")
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife")
Katey Sagal ("Sons of Anarchy")
Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer")

ALTERNATES: Sally Field ("Brothers and Sisters"), Anna Gunn ("Breaking Bad"), Holly Hunter ("Saving Grace"), Melissa Leo ("Treme"), Anna Paquin ("True Blood")

BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Steve Carell ("The Office")
Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock")
Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm")
Matthew Morrison ("Glee")
Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory")
Tony Shalhoub ("Monk")

ALTERNATES: David Duchovny ("Californication"), Joel McHale ("Community"), Thomas Jane ("Hung"), Charlie Sheen ("Two and a Half Men")