Readers: ‘Mad Men’ will win best drama

Emmy forecasters say this may be the year that “Mad Men’s” best drama winning streak comes to an end, but media buyers and planners think the AMC show still has one more victory in it.

They predict that “Men” will come away with its fifth straight trophy in the category, though it will be close between “Men,” PBS’s “Downton Abbey” and Showtime’s “Homeland.”

That’s according to a Media Life survey posted earlier this week asking readers to weigh in on who will win at Sunday night’s Emmy awards.

Media Life asked which show will win the best drama award. In the closest of any categories, three shows received at least 18 percent of the vote.

“Men” prevailed by a slim margin, finishing first with 24.6 percent of readers’ votes. “Homeland” drew 23.2 percent of the vote, finishing second.

“Abbey” was third with 18.8 percent, followed by HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” at 14.5 percent.

The race for best actor in a drama is also tight, according to Media Life readers. Just over 34 percent predicted that “Bad’s” Bryan Cranston will pick up his fourth trophy.

“Men’s” Jon Hamm, who has never won for his portrayal of Don Draper, finished second with 24.3 percent. Steve Buscemi of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” was third with 17.1 percent.

But readers had little doubt who will win best actress in a drama. “Homeland's" Claire Danes received 62.9 percent of the vote, bettering the combined total of every other actress in the category.

“The Good Wife’s” Julianna Margulies was a very distant second at 11.4 percent. No other actress got more than 9 percent.

The only close race in the comedy category, according to readers, is best actress, where two women got significantly more votes than the rest. Both star in first-year shows.

With 37.1 percent of the vote, Julia Louis-Dreyfus from HBO’s “Veep” was readers’ choice to win. Zooey Deschanel, who headlines Fox’s “New Girl,” placed second with 24.3 percent of the vote.

Readers picked last year’s winner, Melissa McCarthy from “Mike & Molly” on CBS, in a distant third with 24.3 percent of the vote.

The other two comedy races were nowhere near as close. For best actor, 44.9 percent picked two-time winner Jim Parsons of CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” to pull the three-peat. Louis C.K. of FX’s “Louie” came in second at 20.3 percent, followed by previous winner Alec Baldwin from NBC’s “30 Rock” in third with 14.5 percent.

The biggest margin of victory in the poll went to ABC’s “Modern Family,” which 68.1 percent of readers picked to win best comedy for a third straight year.

No other show was remotely close. “The Big Bang Theory” finished second with 13 percent of the vote, and HBO’s “Veep” was third with 10.1 percent.

Asked whether this year’s Emmy viewership will increase over the 12.4 million who tuned in last year, 54.3 percent of readers said yes, while 45.7 percent said no.

Most readers, 81.4 percent, plan to watch this year’s ceremony, compared to 83.2 percent last year.

Finally, readers predict that first-time host Jimmy Kimmel will do a good job Sunday. Asked whether he’ll be a good fit for the Emmys, 78.6 percent of respondents said yes and 8.6 percent said no. Just under 13 percent said they weren’t sure.
 

Tags: 2012 emmys, amc, best actress, boardwalk empire, cbs, claire danes, comedy, emmy awards, emmy predictions, emmy winners, emmys, hbo, Jim Parsons, mad men, media life, media life surveys, modern family, time, yes