2015 Emmy Contenders: Best Drama Series

2015 Contenders
12 Monkeys
The Affair
The Americans
Bates Motel
Better Call Saul
The Blacklist
Black Sails
Bloodline
Boardwalk Empire
Bosch
Broadchurch
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Cyber
Daredevil
Da Vinci's Demons
Downton Abbey
Empire
The Fall
The Flash
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
Grey's Anatomy
Halt and Catch Fire
Homeland
House of Cards
How to Get Away With Murder
Justified
The Knick
The Leftovers
Mad Men
Madam Secretary
Manhattan
Marco Polo
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Masters of Sex
Mr. Selfridge
NCIS
NCIS: Los Angeles
NCIS: New Orleans
The Newsroom
Orange is the New Black
Orphan Black
Outlander
Penny Dreadful
Power
Ray Donovan
Rectify
The Returned
The Royals
Scandal
Scorpion
Sons of Anarchy
Vikings
The Walking Dead

Commentary - Like the Best Actor category, this one has a vacuum left by absence of Breaking Bad. Can Better Call Saul fit right in and fill its shoes? Do House of Cards, Game of Thrones, or Downton Abbey finally rise to the winners circle? Does Mad Men come back with the nostalgia factor? Does Orange is the New Black, which was clearly popular last year wit the Academy fare better on the Drama side? Do critical favorites The Americans, The Good Wife, Masters of Sex, The Walking Dead, and Bate's Motel have a shot? Does Homeland make a comeback? Does Bloodline join House of Cards under the Netflix umbrella? Does The Affair register with the Television Academy the way it did with the HFPA? Then there is the juggernaut that is Empire. Yes its soapy, which has never been the favorite of these voters, but it is so massive that it might be impossible to ignore. The Shonda Rhimes TGIT (Thank God It's Thursday) lineup is another popular set that might be hard to ignore: Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder. Ray Donovan, Sons of Anarchy, Vikings, and Justified are dark critical favorites that could get a lot of nods across the categories, but might not have enough push to cross the seven-slot threshold. Several political/crime/historical series are on the outside but are hoping to gain traction including: Madam Secretary, The Blacklist, The Royals, Mr. Selfridge, Boardwalk Empire, Broadchurch, The Newsroom, Manhattan, and Halt and Catch Fire. Finally, I am hoping that maybe some of the entertaining genre pieces can make a dent in the top categories including: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Gotham, Orphan Black, Penny Dreadful, Scorpion, Black Sails, The Flash, Da Vinci's Demons, The Leftovers, Outlander, 12 Monkeys, and Daredevil.