Emmy Nomination Preview 2010 - Outstanding Drama Series
'Mad Men' has won two in a row, but can 'Breaking Bad' or 'Lost' end the streak?
'Mad Men'
"Mad Men," AMC
Nomination Status: Two-time winner is sure to be back in the field.
In Its Favor: "Mad Men" is like the "30 Rock" of dramas. Two seasons. Two Emmy wins for Outstanding Drama series. Leaving aside the strange perception in some circles that "Mad Men" had a down season (this critic disagrees pretty strongly), there's no reason to think that "Mad Men," Matthew Weiner, Jon Hamm and the rest of the family shouldn't be major players this Emmy season, at least not at the nomination stage.
Working Against It: "Mad Men" hasn't declined, so much as other shows have improved and closed the gap. There's suddenly competition for the title of TV's Best Drama, though several of the shows we think are in the race probably won't even be nominated. Regardless of whether or not "Mad Men" is still the favorite, it's certain to be one of the Top 6.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login Signupkatie71483
June 29, 2010 at 8:10AM EST Reply to CommentI find your gallery to be quite realistic (poor FNL and SoA) but did you realize that you have Grey's listed twice? on slide 16 and slide 18.
dan katie71483 - Originally I had "Grey's Anatomy" just in the Other Mentions slide and then I decided it probably deserved its own break-out. Fixed! Thanks! -Daniel
June 29, 2010 at 11:13AM ESTPaul C
June 29, 2010 at 9:59AM EST Reply to CommentAs great as the première and Hugh Laurie was, I'll be irked if 'House' gets a nod as for the past few years it has been a tired formula of repetitiveness.
Would love to see 'Sons Of Anarchy' and 'Justified' get a nomination, but it'd be a minor miracle if you one of them got selected.
My list would be:
Breaking Bad (winner)
Mad Men
Sons Of Anarchy
Justified
The Good Wife
Lost
mrbilliam
June 29, 2010 at 11:18AM EST Reply to CommentAny theories on why FNL is so universally ignored? I can understand why a show like Battlestar Galactica or Veronica Mars might not be up the alley of Emmy voters, but I don't understand why FNL would not appeal to them.
katie71483 FNL is one of my all time favorite shows. I've often wondered the same thing. I think maybe the reason it hasn't done better when it comes to awards is that it is too realistic, too familiar, too much like people or places that you know. In other words, it isn't "dramatic" enough - no islands that are unstuck in time, no meth labs or drug dealers, no motorcycle gangs, no crazy doctors.
June 29, 2010 at 2:29PM ESTAnd, I think a lot of people dismiss it as that football show with out giving it a chance. My own brother refuses to watch it because he's already seen the movie. No matter what I say, I can't convince him that they're two separate things. I imagine there are others that feel the same.
On a personal note, I completely disagree with that view point. "The Son" episode of season four is maybe the finest hour of television I've seen all year and FNL as a whole is an amazing piece of work.
Donnybrook
June 29, 2010 at 12:19PM EST Reply to CommentHoly shit, what is the meth lab/RV from Breaking Bad doing in the backdrop of the House pic?
Paul Outlaw
June 29, 2010 at 2:13PM EST Reply to CommentBreaking Bad
Mad Men
Sons of Anarchy
Treme
Justified
Damages
NO CIGAR: Lost, The Vampire Diaries, 24, Men of a Certain Age, Dexter, Parenthood
reno
June 30, 2010 at 12:46AM EST Reply to CommentBreaking Bad is significantly better than Mad Men, which is significantly better than everything else. I loved this past season of Dexter, but there is nothing on the same level as AMC right now. I don't see how you can suggest the last season of Lost has nothing going against it. It created a fairly large and vocal former-fan base.
Boffle
June 30, 2010 at 2:23AM EST Reply to CommentStill love Laurie, House. Must-see tv for me. The season opening and closing episodes were indeed especially brilliant, innovative, compelling. I'm looking for Laurie to get his well-deserved Emmy this year. The show is certainly built around his iconic character, but it's not less excellent for that. The writing is topnotch, the supporting cast superb and, despite people saying it is tired and formulaic, it does often break the formula, usually with great results. It's a hybrid show, I suppose because it's built on the procedural structure (and I wouldn't lose that: they still do some interesting things with it) and it has this amazing character study at the center of it. When people call it tired and formulaic I wonder if they have actually watched it enough
Also,as a network show, House produces 22-24 shows a year, which is a schedule very few of its competitors have to match. The level of writing, acting and production on that show with that schedule is truly worthy of recognition. Cherry pick the top 12 House episodes and give them twice the production time and I think you'd see some even more amazing stuff. Of course, I'm not really suggesting that because I enjoy as many as I can get.I'm not going to criticize the other shows because very few of them have engaged my interest enough to watch a representative sample.
Paul C "it does often break the formula, usually with great results"
June 30, 2010 at 9:26AM ESTAnd that's the problem with House right there. The opener, Wilson & Cuddy-centrics & the clsoing 2 episodes were all different from the usual, and they turned out to be the best episodes this past season. Yet the writers and such didn't seem to notice as they just went back to the usual routine thereafter.
House has been coasting since the end of Season 3. There is nothing redeeming or remotely interesting about this particular bunch of lackeys and the show is pretty much Patient A gets treated with medicines X, Y & Z before finally getting better. Lather, rinse, repeat.
forg
July 3, 2010 at 2:49AM EST Reply to CommentMy predictions:
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Dexter
Lost
House
The Good Wife
froggytuff
July 3, 2010 at 9:36PM EST Reply to CommentThey like this
Jack My list would be
July 5, 2010 at 3:33AM ESTDexter
True Blood
Mad Men
Parenthood
Fringe
Breaking Bad