Eye On Emmy: The Good Wife Courts A Multitude Of Guest Star Contenders
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Amy Sedaris
as 'Stacie Hall'
BACKGROUND | The shrewd lobbyist went toe-to-toe with Eli Gold (Alan Cumming) for clients. Even their flirtatious foreplay before jumping to the bedroom was a standoff involving whipped cream.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 3
WHY SHE WAS GREAT | Known for her unique comedic talent, Sedaris surprised, delighted and delivered unexpected laughs, especially during her unusual encounters with the seemingly unshakable Eli.
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Anika Noni Rose
as 'Wendy Scott-Carr'
BACKGROUND | Peter (Chris Noth) called upon Wendy, his former opponent in the State's Attorney race from Season 2, to oversee the investigation into Will Gardner (Josh Charles) on charges of bribery.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 4
WHY SHE WAS GREAT | Rose's confident and collected performance put the fear of indictment in Will, his colleagues and viewers.
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Anna Camp
as 'Caitlin D'Arcy'
BACKGROUND | The junior associate started out as Alicia's (Julianna Margulies) mentee, but quickly rose up the ranks, becoming the competition – until she decided she just wanted to be a wife and mother.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 8
WHY SHE WAS GREAT | Camp's combination of a pretty face, quick smarts, affable demeanor and workplace hunger left Alicia guessing until the very end about her true intentions. Turns out they were pretty solid.
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Carrie Preston
as 'Elsbeth Tascioni'
BACKGROUND | Don't let the bumbling, scatterbrained personality fool you. Elsbeth – first introduced in Season 1 – knows what she's doing as she proved when she saved Will from being indicted.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 4
WHY SHE WAS GREAT | Preston created a true curve-ball character: Amusing and clueless one minute and a secret shark the next.
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Dylan Baker
as 'Colin Sweeney'
BACKGROUND | The wife-murdering millionaire from Season 1 was released from jail only to be sued for sexual harassment by an employee (Morena Baccarin).
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 2
WHY HE WAS GREAT | Creepy and unnerving, Baker's performance – which was nominated for an Emmy in 2010– left no doubt that there was something deeply troubled inside of Sweeney's psyche. But he was so fascinating to watch, it didn't matter.
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Lisa Edelstein
as 'Celeste Serrano'
BACKGROUND | An old colleague – and ex-lover – of Will, Celeste got under his skin and even planted seeds of doubt in Alicia's head about her current bedfellow.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 3
WHY SHE WAS GREAT | What was Celeste's endgame? Edelstein kept things playful and mysterious as a third-party interloper during Will and Alicia's happy mating period.
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Mamie Gummer
as 'Nancy Crozier'
BACKGROUND | In a battle of the blondes, Nancy – who first appeared in Season 1 – faced off against Caitlin D'Arcy (Camp) in court, but her "Oh my!" performance failed to stand up to the competition.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 1
WHY SHE WAS GREAT | In a show full of deceptive courtroom antics, Gummer's innocent, overly empathetic act is a piece of beauty.
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Martha Plimpton
as 'Patti Nyholm'
BACKGROUND | First memorably introduced in Season 1, Patti returned to team with Louis Canning in a scheme to destroy Lockhart/Gardner.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 1
WHY SHE WAS GREAT | Even though she's usually trying to take down the drama's "heroes," Plimpton is so fun to watch, you almost root for her. As sharp as – if not sharper than – the Lockhart/Gardner team, quick with a biting remark, and with a baby in tow, Patti is the whole package.
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Matthew Perry
as 'Mike Kresteva'
BACKGROUND | Alicia challenged the blue ribbon panel chairman. He retaliated by announcing his candidacy for Governor of Illinois, effectively declaring war on her and Peter.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 2
WHY HE WAS GREAT | As a calculating and ethically murky lawyer, Perry easily shed his nice Friends image to become a formidable antagonist that you love to hate and hate to love.
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Michael J. Fox
as 'Louis Canning'
BACKGROUND | The corporate lawyer from Season 2 often serves as Alicia's rival in court. After offering her a high-paying job, which she turned down, he eventually settled on taking down Lockhart/Gardner.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 3
WHY HE WAS GREAT | Fox – who received an Emmy nomination in 2011 for the role – upturned expectations to create a character who's cunningly strategic, even using his physical twitches to his benefit.
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Parker Posey
as 'Vanessa Gold'
BACKGROUND | Eli's ambitious ex-wife Vanessa re-entered his life when he found out she was running for political office.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 3
WHY SHE WAS GREAT | The quirky indie film queen and frequent Christopher Guest comedy star showed off her dramatic chops, matching Cumming jab for jab and adding a dash of humor to the proceedings.
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Tim Guinee
as 'Andrew Wiley'
BACKGROUND | Will and Diane (Christine Baranski) have super-investigator Kalinda (Archie Panjabi). The State's Attorney office has stay-at-home dad/part-time snoop Andrew Wiley, first introduced in Season 2.
TOTAL SEASON 3 EPISODES | 2
WHY HE WAS GREAT | Guinee made quite the impression with his spin on the harried parent trying to balance work and family. Though he had a tot to take care of and only a fraction of her resources, he more than managed to keep up with the almost indestructible Kalinda. The talking lion speakerphone didn't hurt.