Emmy awards: The nominations are in

Who will win at the Emmy’s?

LOS ANGELES: Cult ad agency drama “Mad Men” is pitching for a fourth straight triumph at the Emmy awards on Sunday, as the US television industry hands out its annual glittering prizes.

“Mildred Pierce”, the mini-series starring British actor Kate Winslet, is also tipped for a clutch of gongs at the Primetime Emmy awards, the Oscars of the small screen.

However, pundits say this year’s show, hosted at Los Angeles’s Nokia Theatre, is among the most difficult to predict. “Some unexpected contenders are shaking up the odds, making this year’s Emmys a refreshing break from business as usual,” commented the Hollywood Reporter after the nominations were announced in July.

“Mad Men,” the brilliantly-stylised series set in a 1960s New York advertising agency, is up against new Home Box Office (HBO) series “Game of Thrones” and popular CBS drama “The Good Wife” for the prized best drama prize. But “Boardwalk Empire” is also among the hotly-tipped for the Outstanding Drama category — which “Mad Men” has dominated for the last three years — while “Friday Night Lights” and “Dexter” are the other contenders.

While many pundits predict a fourth success for the ad drama, some eyebrows were raised when it only won a single award at last weekend’s pre-Emmys Creative Arts Awards, against seven for “Boardwalk Empire”.

“Personally, I think ‘Mad Men’ will still win. It has class and Emmy voters are snobs,” said the Los Angeles Times in an eve-of-Emmys blog on its Awards Tracker web page.

Overall the New York series, shown on US cable network AMC, had among the most nominations, with 19 against 18 for “Boardwalk Empire”. But both of them are behind “Mildred Pierce,” which started the race with 21 nods. It won three in last weekend’s pre-Emmys show.

The series, about a divorcee struggling during the Great Depression, is favourite for best mini-series, but is also nominated in categories including best director, supporting male and female actors.

The 35-year-old Winslet is in the battle for best female actor for the HBO drama. But she is up against a strong field also including Julianna Margulies from “The Good Wife”; Elisabeth Moss from “Mad Men”; Connie Britton for “Friday Night Lights”; Mariska Hargitay for “Law and Order: SVU”; and Kathy Bates, who stars in “Harry’s Law”.

In the comedy female actor race Tina Fey is the standout, but she faces Edie Falco for “Nurse Jackie”, Amy Poehler for “Parks and Recreation”; Martha Plimpton for “Raising Hope”; Melissa McCarthy for “Mike & Molly”; and Laura Linney for “The Big C”.

The male drama actor nominees are led by Jon Hamm of “Mad Men”; Steve Buscemi of “Boardwalk Empire”; Kyle Chandler of “Friday Night Lights” and Timothy Olyphant of “Justified”. British actor Hugh Laurie, who has won two Golden Globes but no Emmy despite his long-running performance as Dr Gregory House on the award-wining “House”, will be hoping to change that on Sunday.

Among male comedians, Steve Carell is nominated for “The Office”; Alec Baldwin for “30 Rock”; Matt LeBlanc for “Episodes”; Louis CK for “Louie”; and Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki, both stars of “The Big Bang Theory”.

In the comedy show category, Fey’s “30 Rock” will be battling to win back the top prize from “Modern Family”, which last year ended its three-year reign. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th,  2011.