Emmy contest could mark cable TV milestone

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES, July 16 (Reuters) - Chain-smoking advertising agents and ruthless trial lawyers are expected to break into this year's Emmy race, marking a cable network milestone, when nominations for U.S. television's highest honors are unsealed on Thursday.

"Mad Men," the AMC network's new 1960s period piece about Madison Avenue, and "Damages," the freshman legal hour on FX starring Glenn Close, are considered virtual shoo-ins to clinch two of the five nominations being doled out in the Emmy contest for best drama series.

If either makes the cut, it would mark the first time a series from a cable channel other than Emmy powerhouse HBO has been nominated in the top category.

In fact, half of the 10 shows selected by Emmy voters as finalists for best drama were cable shows, and only one, acclaimed cops-and-thugs series "The Wire," aired on HBO.

The two others, historical romp "The Tudors" and serial killer drama "Dexter," are carried by the Showtime network, but like "The Wire," they are seen as longshots by Emmy watchers.

Still, the heavy presence of Emmy finalists from a variety of cable outlets reflects the recent flourishing of cable as an incubator for high-quality drama. That phenomenon was made more pronounced by the shortened season on broadcast TV this year due to the Hollywood writers strike that ended in February.

"It's all about this new golden age of drama series on cable channels, and breaking the stranglehold that HBO has had as the cable darling of the Emmys," said Tom O'Neil, columnist for the Los Angeles Times' award website TheEnvelope.com.

If "The Wire" falls short, it would mark the first time since 1998 that HBO, home of such Emmy darlings as "The Sopranos" and "Deadwood," has been shut out of the drama series competition since 1998, O'Neil said.

BROADCASTERS STILL IN RACE

Broadcast TV still figures prominently this year. Three previous nominees from the major networks -- ABC courtroom drama "Boston Legal" and two hospital-themed hits, "Grey's Anatomy" from ABC and "House" from Fox -- are considered front-runners in the best-drama derby, according to O'Neil's poll of Emmy pundits.

ABC's castaway thriller, "Lost," which won the best-drama Emmy in 2005 for its first season but has been largely snubbed since, also has a chance for a comeback bid, he said.

The race for best comedy series has shaped up primarily as a two-way contest between NBC sitcoms set in the workplace -- last year's winner "30 Rock" and 2006 champ "The Office."

Pundits also gave favorable odds to two other past nominees -- the bawdy CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men" and HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" -- as well as the new supernatural fantasy from ABC, "Pushing Daisies."

But O'Neil gave a slight edge to "30 Rock" because of its appeal as a smart show within a show.

"It's a show about TV -- it's about the quirky dark side of television, and that's irresistible to people who work in the industry and vote for the Emmys," he told Reuters.

He said the two stars of "30 Rock," Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, also are favorites in win Emmy glory in the respective races for best actress and best actor in a comedy.

Other performers likely to compete on the comedy front include Steve Carell ("The Office"), America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty"), Julia Louise-Dreyfus ("The New Adventures of Old Christine") and Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm").

Among the front-runners for drama acting nominations are Jon Hamm ("Mad Men"), Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), Glenn Close ("Damages") and last year's best actress winner, Sally Field ("Brothers & Sisters").

But O'Neil and others did not rule out a place on the Emmy ballot for the Fox cartoon "Family Guy," which would become the first animated show nominated as best comedy series since "The Flintstones" in 1961.

The 60th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on Sept. 21 from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on ABC. (Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)