'Mad Men,' '30 Rock' favorites for Emmys glory
2009-09-19

People Bryan Cranston Jon Hamm Sarah Palin Mariska Hargitay Sally Field Gabriel Byrne Kenneth Branagh Tina Fey Kiefer Sutherland Kevin Kline Ian McKellen Alec Baldwin Holly Hunter Kevin Bacon Event 2009 Emmy Awards TV Series Mad Men Source (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Stylish period drama "Mad Men" and network comedy "30 Rock" are favorites to scoop top honors at Sunday's 61st Emmy Awards, the US television industry's equivalent to the Oscars.

AMC television hit "Mad Men" -- set in the politically incorrect world of a New York advertising agency in the early 1960s -- is tipped to repeat its 2008 triumph by winning the outstanding drama series award.

The critically acclaimed series also has nominations in the top acting categories, with leading man Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss picking up nods for Sunday's 5:00 pm (0000 GMT) awards extravaganza at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.

Tom O'Neil, an awards season pundit with the Los Angeles Times's theenvelope.com blog, said "Mad Men" was likely to prove too strong for rival nominees, which include "Breaking Bad," "Damages" and "House."

"'Mad Men' definitely has the 'cool quotient' right now," O'Neil said. "It's classy, it's well-written and it has something which is very important -- snob appeal, an elitist appeal if you like."

It remains to be seen though whether the popularity of "Mad Men" will help deliver Emmys for Hamm and Moss in the acting categories.

The favorite for outstanding actor in a drama series is "Breaking Bad's" Bryan Cranston, tipped to triumph once more for his portrayal of a high school chemistry teacher who turns to crime.

But Cranston could be vulnerable to a challenge from Gabriel Byrne, the Irish actor who plays a neurotic psychotherapist in the HBO hit "In Treatment."

In the women's acting categories, veteran actress Glenn Close is expected to pick up the third Emmy of her career for her role as the ruthless New York lawyer Patty Hewes in "Damages."

Other nominees include Moss for "Mad Men," Sally Field for "Brothers & Sisters," Mariska Hargitay for "Law & Order," Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer" and Holly Hunter for "Saving Grace."

The comedy awards are expected to see yet another clean sweep for "30 Rock," which scooped a record-breaking 22 nominations across all categories, including nods for the show's two stars, Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey.

The show is the overwhelming favorite to take the outstanding comedy series award for a third year running, while both Baldwin and Fey are expected to repeat their success from the 2008 awards.

Baldwin won the first Emmy of his career last year for his role as a slippery television network executive.

Fey -- who shot to international fame during last year's US presidential election for her uncanny impersonations of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin -- plays a writer on a fictional television show.

"'30 Rock' is irresistible to a lot of the voters because it's a show about television -- the industry that the Emmys celebrate," O'Neil told AFP.

Elsewhere, HBO's Iraq invasion drama "Generation Kill" is favored to win the Emmy for outstanding mini-series, where it faces competition from the BBC's Charles Dickens adaptation "Little Dorrit."

Another Iraq-themed production, HBO's "Taking Chance," starring Kevin Bacon, is among the contenders in the made for television movie.

The film stars Bacon as a US military officer tasked with escorting the body of a fallen soldier back to his family.

Bacon is nominated for best actor in a mini-series, along with Brendan Gleeson ("Into the Storm"), Kenneth Branagh ("Wallander: One Step Behind"), Kevin Kline ("Cyrano de Bergerac"), Ian McKellen ("King Lear") and Kiefer Sutherland ("24: Redemption").