2013 Critics’ Choice TV Awards: Can ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Breaking Bad’ upset ‘Homeland’?
It doesn’t really matter what awards show that you are talking about: The Outstanding Drama Series category is strongly considered to be the granddaddy of all trophies to receive. It’s always competitive, always stuffed with great nominees, and it fuels that whole discussion of “the best show on TV,” mostly since some snobby critics choose to look at comedy as the lesser of two genres.
What is interesting about this year’s nominees at the Critics’ Choice TV Awards is that there is probably a clear favorite, but still just enough wiggle room for something to change there depending on if the show (which takes place on June 10) really wants to surprise you and go with an unexpected pick.
Of course, we will want to hear your thoughts below on these choices! Be sure to vote in our poll, and you can read about the rest of our Critics’ Choice TV Awards picks over at the link here.
The nominees – “The Americans” (FX), “Breaking Bad” (AMC), “Downton Abbey” (PBS), “Game of Thrones” (HBO, “The Good Wife” (CBS), “Homeland” (Showtime)
The surprises – How about voters forgetting about how awful the first few weeks of “The Good Wife” season 4 were, just to have a network show on here? While most of these are expected, seeing “The Americans” find a way to sneak in here was a welcome surprise given what it beat out.
The snubs – With that, we must turn to the shows that didn’t make the cut, which includes “Mad Men”, “The Walking Dead” and “Boardwalk Empire,” which seem to be getting forgotten about now that they are a few years in. You could also say that “The Newsroom” and “Orphan Black” were worthy of discussion, but the right choices were probably made.
Who should win – For the rich story that they’ve had to cover, coupled with incredible performances and gorgeous set design, we’re going with “Game of Thrones.” It’s so hard to make good fantasy (that doesn’t look or feel cheeseball), which is probably what makes it stand out so much compared to the rest of the shows on the list. To us, the only series on the list that was not plagued at one point in the past year by a nagging problem would be “The Americans,” which thus makes it our #2. For those curious, here are our (minor) issues with the other shows that keeps them from being at the top: “The Good Wife” had Nick, “Breaking Bad” killed Mike off in a fairly unbelievable way, Brody killing the Vice-President had a couple of plot holes, and “Downton Abbey” veered too much into depression, even though it was not fully its fault that Dan Stevens or Jessica Brown Findlay wanted to leave.
Who will win – The pick here has to be “Homeland,” mostly because it’s won the lion’s share of awards so far. We don’t know for sure if anything will really be much of a challenge at all, based on what we have already said here. The biggest challenge is probably going to come from “Game of Thrones,” but even that may not be too much of a factor.
Photo: Critics’ Choice TV Awards