Mad Men: Season Four (starts July 25)

erikdean · #1 06-22-2010, 01:17 AM

Here's the poster:

Artimus · #2 06-22-2010, 01:54 AM

This needs a good premiere if it wants the Emmy. Buzz has considerably waned.

Bean · #3 06-22-2010, 03:56 AM

Is there a reason they released the Season 3 DVDs months before they did for Seasons 1 & 2?

simplican · #4 06-22-2010, 04:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artimus

This needs a good premiere if it wants the Emmy. Buzz has considerably waned.

Buzz will naturally wane when your finale is in early November. You can't really expect buzz to stay strong when Season 3 ended over half a year ago with the Lost finale and Breaking Bad in between. Not to mention all the talk about Dexter after that finale and Michael C. Hall's health scare not long after Mad Men ended. The buzz for it will certainly be there as the premiere gets closer, so its scheduling is very advantageous for Emmys if it can keep up its quality (which there's no reason to believe it won't).

Artimus · #5 06-22-2010, 04:27 AM

Thus the need for a good premiere.

Andy Hall · #6 06-22-2010, 10:48 AM

I don't mind if Mad Men loses Best Drama to, say, Lost, but it's time for Jon Hamm to win this year.

Artimus · #7 06-22-2010, 11:15 AM

Lost winning was appealing in January, not so much now. Breaking Bad is clearly the best non-Mad Men choice (which, really, if anyone watches the tapes how can it lose?!). Its win would be awesome as I've preferred the show to MM for all three seasons.

erikdean · #8 06-22-2010, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artimus

Lost winning was appealing in January, not so much now. Breaking Bad is clearly the best non-Mad Men choice (which, really, if anyone watches the tapes how can it lose?!). Its win would be awesome as I've preferred the show to MM for all three seasons.

This would make me so, so happy.

Artimus · #9 06-22-2010, 11:42 AM

It's so watchable yet powerful. I just don't get how it doesn't win if people take tapes seriously.

Jonathan · #10 06-22-2010, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artimus

It's so watchable yet powerful. I just don't get how it doesn't win if people take tapes seriously.

So much of its power from the very gradual build-up throughout the episodes that standing alone they might not work quite as well. "Sunset" and "One Minute" would make an AMAZING tape, but a lot of the power from those two have a lot to do with the building up of Hank's arc from the beginning of season two, and plot-wise those episodes began being set up from the beginning of the season. Mad Men has a similar pace, but it also probably works a little better in stand-alone. "The Color Blue" and "The Gypsy and the Hobo" has a similar two-episode arc that had been built up to over a long period of time that's not as good as the BB episodes I mentioned, but I think that might work better standing alone.

A BB Drama Series win would make my night, though, especially if we could get at least one other win out of it (Paul? Directing? Hell even Cranston again would be acceptable if lazy).

Dent · #11 06-22-2010, 11:55 AM

I think Paul can take it this year if he submits well, but that's probably about as far as they're gonna get beyond Cranston in the big categories (unless it pulls off the Drama win). Lost probably has one of the Directing and Writing wins sewn up, and stands a very, very good chance of winning both of them. It really is going to come down to tapes versus buzz. Lost has the cultural phenomenon cachet, but BB is the clear underdog competitor (but, as Jonathan says, BB really does need the whole show to work as well as it does). Unless Mad Men comes storming back, it's out of the hunt.

hurricanesmith · #12 06-22-2010, 11:57 AM

Mad Men, like Sopranos, adopts the "collection of short stories" approach to a season, which usually makes its tapes work better for voters. (This is also the reason Lost was able to win in its first season and could, conceivably, win this season with the right tape selection.)

The problem with picking a winner other than Mad Men is that there's no immediate second choice. Lost's final season was perhaps too divisive (although, again, so was Sopranos). Dexter is probably not going to win, as it has the same problem with tapes. The Good Wife isn't going to appeal to people who like cutting-edge drama (which is why it's probably the most likely show to bump off mad Men or Lost). Any of the HBO three will have substantial things working against them. Damages will be lucky to be nominated. House doesn't have the tapes.

This leaves Breaking Bad, which has three pretty big strikes against it: 1.) It's in a genre Emmy typically doesn't love (dark stories about the perpetrators of crimes). 2.) It's not filmed in Los Angeles. 3.) It's put out by a production company that doesn't have a lot of sway within the Academy. The show could overcome one of these strikes. If it were a bigger hit, it could overcome two of them. But I'm not sure it can overcome all three, even with the critical buzz.

HS

erikdean · #13 06-22-2010, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hurricanesmith

This leaves Breaking Bad, which has three pretty big strikes against it: 1.) It's in a genre Emmy typically doesn't love (dark stories about the perpetrators of crimes). 2.) It's not filmed in Los Angeles. 3.) It's put out by a production company that doesn't have a lot of sway within the Academy. The show could overcome one of these strikes. If it were a bigger hit, it could overcome two of them. But I'm not sure it can overcome all three, even with the critical buzz.

HS

Although I agree with all of this it did increase its Academy capital a bit last year with the addition of Best Supporting Actor and Best Drama Series nominations. I think it stands to get a Directing nomination this year (which it lost out last year) and it's interesting that it's been nominated for, and won, both Best Actor and Best Single Camera Editing two years in a row. I would say "Fly" has a huge chance at taking that award again.

Moviefreak · #14 06-22-2010, 12:46 PM

I love Breaking Bad (although I still haven't finished watching season 3), Mad Men and Dexter and would be thrilled if any one of these shows takes the top prize, but I will be rooting for Lost for sentimental reasons.

Having said that, I really think that in the end, it will come down to Lost vs. Mad Men. I'd be pretty surprised if any other show won.

Artimus · #15 06-22-2010, 01:06 PM

I have zero faith in Lost winning. It just didn't have either the accessibility or the acclaim it needed to pull it off.