Emmy season is upon us once again. This time around the nods were given to some all around favorites, a few surprise newcomers and some rather puzzling choices. Of course, there were a fair share of snubs as well. A few shows were nominated for the best in their class or for best casting, but, somewhat counter-intuitively, none of the actual cast members, the actors and actresses who make the shows the big HD hits or critical darlings that they are, were nominated. Unsurprisingly, satellite TV programs made quite a big splash. While the major networks, regular broadcast television, were well represented, a more diverse and eclectic mix of programming from the cable and satellite TV channels came to the fore. Here's a look at some of this year's top nominees.
Mad Men: Mad Men is an elegant, super stylish (adore the clothes in all their shimmering, chic, HD grace) drama on AMC. The critiques absolutely love the show to pieces. Currently on schedule for a third season, the drama takes a look at advertising culture in 1960's New York. The fictional Sterling Cooper ad agency sets the backdrop for the series. The series stars Jon Hamm as Don Draper, the chief executive of Sterling. Besides the social commentary and the true to life depictions of life in the 1960's the show has received much acclaim for its exquisite visual style, to be appreciated in full on a large HD LCD.
Breaking Bad: This show, which you can catch on the satellite TV channel AMC is about a high school science teach played by the dad from Malcom in the Middle, Bryan Cranston, who gets into the meth trade after learning he has a fatal disease. Walter White, as he's called, is diagnosed with lung cancer and his sun as cerebral palsy; his wife is also expecting another child. Thus White starts to produce high quality meth to provide for his family. The show is at turns funny, poignant and dark.
Big Love: Big Love, on HBO, is a show about polygamy. A fundamentalist Mormon family, trying to live an under the radar, ‘normal' life is at the show's center. Bill Paxton plays Bill Henrickson, Bad's leading polygamist. Chloe Sevigny, Amanda Seyfried, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Ginnifer Goodwin play Henrickson's various wives. While juggling three wives, all of whom, aren't exactly comfortable in their positions, Bill has to run his own chain of hardware stores and he has some dicey family issues of his own.
Dexter: This Showtime series features a serial killer, named Dexter, who also happens to work with the police, sometimes on his own cases. Dexter, isn't your typical killer, however; he only kills the so called bad guys, otherwise he's pretty normal. The trick is not getting caught.
Damages: Damages, which airs on satellite TV channel FX, stars Glenn Close as a ruthless New York lawyer. The show isn't your typical lawyer drama. It's actually favored by the critics for its unusual plot twists, fractured narrative storyline and for the acting chops of the cast.

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