AMC sends full season of 'Mad Men' to Emmy voters

AMC has always been the most generous TV network to Emmy voters. Its award campaigners believe strongly in giving TV academy members lots of episodes in order to get them hooked on the cable network's TV series. Last year, AMC not only sent six episodes of "Mad Men" via DVDs, but they streamed seven more online exclusively for voters.

This year, AMC is sending the whole "Mad Men" season via DVDs that just arrived in voters' mailboxes. While "Mad Men" won best drama series for the past three years in a row, it's facing serious competition from "Boardwalk Empire," which won the Golden Globe for best drama series and the Screen Actors Guild Award for best drama ensemble. Both series have the problem of not only needing to remind voters of their greatness, but of their very existence: They aired in late 2010. Clearly, the more aggressive AMC campaign mailer is a response to those challenges.

It also includes another, very curious reminder -– a section headlined "Consider This for 2012: 'Breaking Bad' Returns This Summer.'" The gritty AMC series, which usually gets nominated for best drama series and won lead actor for Bryan Cranston the past three years, isn't eligible now because it didn't air new episodes during the eligibility period.

Here's a breakdown of the episodes included on the DVDs.

INSIDE AMC'S "FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION" EMMY DVD MAILER

"MAD MEN" DISC 1: "401, Public Relations," "402, Christmas Comes But Once a Year," "403, The Good News," "404, The Rejected"
"MAD MEN" DISC 2: "405, The Chrysanthemum," "406, Waldorf Stories," "407, The Suitcase," "408, The Summer Man"
"MAD MEN" DISC 3: "409, The Beautiful Girls," "410, Hands and Knees," "411, Chinese Wall," "412, Blowing Smoke," "413, Tomorrowland"

"THE WALKING DEAD" DISC 1: "101, Days Gone By," "102, Guts," "103, Tell It to the Frogs"
"THE WALKING DEAD" DISC 2: "104, Vatos," "105, Wildfire," "106, TS-19"

"THE KILLING" DISC 1: "100, Pilot," "101, The Cage," "102, El Diablo"
"THE KILLING" DISC 2: "103, A Soundless Echo," "104, Super 8," "105, What You Have Left"

'RUBICON' DISC: "110, In Whom We Trust," "111, A Good Day's Work," "112, Wayward Sons"

Click each image below for expanded view.

Emmy inside track: The race for TV drama series

Our message board moderators agree that three TV shows are seriously in the Emmy running for outstanding drama series: "Mad Men," "Boardwalk Empire" and "The Good Wife."

Matthew Cormier and Marcus Dixon back "Boardwalk Empire," which won best drama series at the Golden Globes and best ensemble drama series at the SAG Awards earlier this year. Chris Beachum, Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria and Matt Noble pick "Mad Men" to win for a fourth year in a row.

Curiously, all six moderators rank "Boardwalk Empire" and "Mad Men" in their top two positions — and they all rank "The Good Wife" in third place.

"The Good Wife" has several strong pluses. For starters, it's a hit legal-eagle show in the tradition of past winners "The Practice" and "L.A. Law." It airs on a broadcast TV channel (CBS). Broadcast channels employ the vast majority of the 14,000 members of the TV academy, and they haven't won best drama series since 2006 ("24"). Futhermore, it's airing new episodes right now, so it's fresh in the minds of Emmy voters. "Mad Men" and "Boardwalk Empire" are old news, having aired in late 2010.

Nominations will be unveiled July 14, winners Sept. 18.

— Tom O'Neil

DRAMA SERIES	Beachum	Cormier	Dixon	Dortch	Licuria	Noble
‘Big Love’						6
‘Boardwalk Empire’	2	1	1	2	2	2
‘Dexter’	4	5	4	4	4	4
‘Friday Night Lights’			6	5		5
‘Game of Thrones’	6		5
‘The Good Wife’	3	3	3	3	3	3
‘In Treatment’		6
‘The Killing’	5	4			5
‘Mad Men’	1	2	2	1	1	1
‘Sons of Anarchy’				6
‘The Walking Dead’					6

RELATED

Emmy inside track: The comedy series race

Emmy inside track: The race for best comedy actor

Emmy inside track: The race for best comedy actress

Photos: "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO), "Mad Men" (AMC), "The Good Wife" (CBS)

'Breaking Bad' tragedy: Bryan Cranston can't make Emmy history

When Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") won his third consecutive Emmy for best actor in a TV drama series last year, he joined an exclusive club that included only one other man: Bill Cosby for "I Spy" (1966-1968). Cranston was on track to make Emmy history at this year's ceremony by winning four in a row. He's admired and liked in the industry, "Breaking Bad" was red hot, and his character, Walter White, continued to go deeper into the world of drugs and despair (prime Emmy bait).

Then, all that momentum halted when "Breaking Bad's" network, AMC, announced the show would be taking a hiatus of more than a year. The series' fourth season won't premiere until this summer, well after the Emmy eligibility period has ended for the 2010-11 television season. Cranston will be forced to watch another man claim the category he's dominated since 2008.

Also ineligible to repeat at this year's ceremony is Aaron Paul, last year's best supporting drama actor Paul's victory came as a welcome surprise to pundits, as the TV rookie beat out five veteran actors, including Andre Braugher ("Men of a Certain Age"), Michael Emerson ("Lost"), Terry O'Quinn ("Lost"), Martin Short ("Damages") and John Slattery ("Mad Men"). Oddly, only two of these six men are eligible at this year's ceremony -- Braugher and Slattery. "Lost" reached its natural conclusion last season, and Short is no longer a part of "Damages."

To be clear, Cranston and Cosby aren't the only lead actors who have won thrice at the Emmys. Also on that list are Peter Falk ("Columbo"), James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") and James Spader (once for "The Practice" and twice for "Boston Legal"). However, none of these men won their Emmys consecutively, like Cranston and Cosby.

Currently, the man at the top of the winner's list is Dennis Franz ("NYPD Blue"). Even though Franz is the only lead actor to win four times, he never managed to come away with more than two consecutive wins in a row. Franz prevailed in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1999.

Emmy poll: Will 'Walking Dead,' 'Dexter' or 'Mad Men' win best TV drama series?

When we asked our forum moderators to predict the Emmy race for best drama series, they cited 11 potential nominees (see list below) and two likely winners ("Mad Men," "Boardwalk Empire"). Now let's use that list of contenders and ask you -- the real experts -- which program will win.

"Mad Men" has reigned undefeated over this Emmy category for three years in a row. It continues to reap strong ratings from viewers and ace reviews from TV critics, but Emmy voters may be bored and want a change. That's what happened in the past when "The Defenders" (1962-1964) and "L.A. Law" (1989-1991) lost after three consecutive victories. However, two shows managed to continue their romps for a fourth year: "Hill Street Blues" (1981-1984) and "The West Wing" (2000-2003).

Our forum moderators believe "Mad Men's" most serious rival is "Boardwalk Empire," probably because Emmy voters are nuts for HBO programs and the pay channel's new series about Atlantic City bootleggers recently won best drama series at the Golden Globes. HBO also has "Big Love" (nominated once) and "Treme" and "In Treatment" (never nominated), but they're not considered to be serious threats now. Debuting April 17: "Game of Thrones." Yeah, yeah, fantasy fare usually doesn't do well at Hollywood peer-group industry awards, but that's what they said about "Lord of the Rings" before its historic Oscar sweep. Last year, HBO stunned Emmy watchers by nabbing a nom for "True Blood," which could rise again.

Don't give up on "Dexter" or "The Good Wife," which have lost in the past ("Dexter" three times; "Good Wife" once). When "Law & Order" won in 1997, the victory followed five previous defeats. Both shows will probably be nominated again.

If TV critics' darling "Friday Night Lights" finally gets its first nomination, it could garner widespread support from the industry. "Sons of Anarchy" is overdue -- and beloved -- too.

Among new shows, AMC's "The Walking Dead" is red-hot, and the network will soon debut "The Killing." Also to be unveiled during the tail end of the Emmy eligibility period will be Showtime's "The Borgias." The network's previous historical pageant, "The Tudors," failed to rule at the Emmys, but this time God is on its side.

Showtime will enter its new show, "Shameless," as a drama series, which is a bit of a surprise considering that it has recently been classifying its many dramadies as comedies because competition is less fierce in those slots.

RELATED:

It's Emmy war! Can "Boardwalk Empire" conquer "Mad Men"?

-- Tom O'Neil

Photo credit: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

It's Emmy war! Can 'Boardwalk Empire' conquer 'Mad Men'?

Looks like "Mad Men" finally has serious competition in the Emmy battle over best TV drama series. While the hit AMC series has gone undefeated for three consecutive years, our forums' moderators are divided over whether it can prevail again. Four of our six pundits believe it will. Two foresee it losing to recent Golden Globes champ "Boardwalk Empire."

The following gurus offer their predictions ranked by likelihood of winning: Chris Beachum, Matthew Cormier, Marcus Dixon, Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria, Matt Noble. All of them forecast nominations for "Boardwalk Empire," "Dexter," "The Good Wife" and "Mad Men." That's no surprise, considering one of those shows just won the Globe and the other three were nominated last year. However, our pundits are split over the following choices for the other two slots in the category: "The Borgias," "Friday Night Lights," "In Treatment," "The Killing," "Sons of Anarchy," "True Blood" and "The Walking Dead."

Last year, those two slots went to the now-canceled "Lost" and "Breaking Bad," which isn't eligible this year, but will be back in competition at next year's Emmy derby.

Missing from their predictions are past nominees "House, M.D." and "Big Love." Since "Treme" was snubbed last year, none of them is betting on it now. Nor are they backing "Harry's Law" from past Emmy magnet David E. Kelley or Showtime's new drama series about the ultimate dysfuntional family, "Shameless."

-- Tom O'Neil

	Beachum	Cormier	Dixon	Dortch	Licuria	Noble
“Boardwalk Empire”	2	1	1	2	2	2
“The Borgias”	6
“Dexter”	4	4	4	4	4	4
“Friday Night Lights”			6			6
“The Good Wife”	3	3	3	3	3	3
“In Treatment”		5		5	5	5
“The Killing”	5
“Mad Men”	1	2	2	1	1	1
“Sons of Anarchy”				6
“True Blood”		6
“The Walking Dead”			5		6

Photos: "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO), "Mad Men" (AMC)