Vacation Robo-Post: I Love the '00s Week, Best Actress

Glenn Close - The Shield.
Polly Walker - Rome.
Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds.
Mary McDonnell - BSG.
Tina Fey – 30 Rock.
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Honorable Mention: Frances Conroy - Six Feet Under

Sarah Jessica Parker - SATC
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Allison Janney - West Wing
Mariska Hargitay - LO: SVU
Mary-Louise Parker - Weeds
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(Usual disclaimer, I don't really watch the cable dramas that most people say have the best acting)

Summer Glau - for her turns in Firefly, and Terminator (and the 4400, or whatever, which I haven't seen, and her awesome appearance on Angel as the ballerina locked in time). She is fantastic and versatile.
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Kim D1ckens - for Deadwood, Lost, and Friday Night Lights. She's always a joy to watch.
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Mary McDonnell - BSG. Surely I don't need to justify this one at all...
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Katey Sagal - she's a primary reason to watch Sons of Anarchy, and has been awesome on Lost, Futurama, and plenty of other stuff.
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Katee Sackhoff - she's always a standout in whatever she's in.
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Honorable mentions - Kristen Bell, Patricia Arquette, Amy Acker, Connie Britton, and the lady who played Carmella Soprano.

Lauren Graham - Gilmore Girls
Katee Sackhoff - BSG (slightly over McDonnell, just because she had less to work with)
Edie Falco - Sopranos
Amy Acker - Angel
Anna Friel - Pushing Daisies

Ooh - forgot Connie Britton, who definitely ranks up there

Mary McDonnell - BSG
Elizabeth Mitchell - Lost
Robin Weigert - Deadwood
Edie Falco - Sopranos
Tina Fey - 30 Rock

Mary McDonnell - Hated the character but she's just so good
Alyson Hannigan - Her dramatic stuff is even better than her comedy
Edie Falco - Again hated the character but...
Allison Janney
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Too many to pick for 5, but those 4 are I think above and beyond.

Edie Falco - The Sopranos
Mary McDonnell - BSG
Connie Britton - FNL
Jenna Fischer - The Office

Drama:
Edie Falco - The Sopranos
Glenn Close - Damages
Frances Conroy - Six Feet Under
Chloe Sevigny - Big Love
Connie Britton - Friday Night Lights

Very Honorable Mention: Sally Field - Brothers & Sisters

Comedy:
Megan Mullaly - Will & Grace
Kim Catrall/Cynthia Nixon - Sex & The City
Marcia Cross - Desperate Housewives
Vanessa Williams - Ugly Betty
Tina Fey/Amy Poehler - Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock

Honorable Mention: Sarah Silverman - The Sarah Silverman Show

Robin Weigert-Deadwood
Allison Janney-The West Wing
Edie Falco-The Sopranos
Yunjin Kim-Lost
Paula Malcomson-Deadwood
Uneasy Honorable Mention: Kyra Sedgwick-The Closer

Wow, there are some INCREDIBLY confusing choices in these lists!!! This is BEST OF DECADE people! Well, I guess its time to realize that these lists only go as far as the shows that are favorites of the people who choose them...

Don't get HBO or Showtime so I can't say anything about those shows.
In no particular order:

Mary McDonnell-BSG
Sandra Oh - Grey's Anatomy first season when it was must watch TV
Connie Britton - FNL
Alyson Hannigan - for Buffy and HIMYM
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men

Oh I forgot Tina Fey

Allison Janney - The West Wing
Connie Britton - FNL
Edie Falco - The Sopranos
Maura Tierney - ER

I cannot think of any other actresses that helped carry a good show through this decade. There are other good ones but these are the cream of the crop

What? No one thinks Elisha Cuthbert from 24 is the best of the '00s? Haha, I think I just threw up a little when I wrote that.

@natego - "Well, I guess its time to realize that these lists only go as far as the shows that are favorites of the people who choose them"
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That seems kind of unfair - the choices listed so far seem pretty reasonable, and in questions like this we are all limited by what we watch and don't watch, and what characters from that mix have stuck with us or not. Where's your list?

@yogi - HA! Although she was a little more tolerable (i.e. less clothed...) in The Girl Next Door

@yogi- I totally forgot that when this category came up, I instantly thought of the two possible worst actresses of the decade: Elisha Cuthbert and Eliza Dushku who, if they gave out such things, would accept her TV version of a Razzie in a teddy.

Drama:
Glenn Close - Damages
Edie Falco - The Sopranos
Frances Conroy - Six Feet Under
Allison Janney - The West Wing
Mary McDonnell - Battlestar Galactica

Comedy:
Amy Sedaris - Strangers with Candy
Jessica Walter - Arrested Development
Megan Mullaly - Will & Grace
Jane Kaczmarek – Malcolm in the Middle
Sarah Silverman - The Sarah Silverman Program

For instance, I don't have HBO, but I know well that Edie Falco deserves a spot on everyones list. The Sopranos absolutely RULED Drama in the 00's and she is the much acclaimed female lead

It's a toughie...

Jennifer Carpenter on Dexter. (The way emotions play on her face is riveting).
Sandra Oh who remains the high spot on the increasingly unwatchable Grey's Anatomy.
Tina Fey for 30 Rock.
Allison Janney for The West Wing.
And of course Dania Ramirez on Heroes.

Heh. Kidding.
Anna Paquin on True Blood makes my five.