Critics’ Choice TV Awards: Will ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Empire,’ or ‘The Good Wife’ win Best Drama Series?

Are we in the middle of a down year for TV drama? We’re not entirely sure that we would say that just yet, but we do think to a certain extent that the Best Drama Series category is one of the few that the Critics’ Choice TV Awards got somewhat wrong going into the May 31 ceremony. How do you not nominate “House of Cards,” “Mad Men” in its final season, the conclusion of “Boardwalk Empire,” “Sons of Anarchy,” or even to a certain extent “Better Call Saul”? There are some deserving nominees in the group below, but there are also two that we would most definitely change.

Below, take a look at our full assessment of the field, and at the very bottom of this article you will have a chance to vote on who you think is the most likely to come away with the trophy!

The nominees

The Americans (FX)

Empire (Fox)

Game of Thrones (HBO)

The Good Wife (CBS)

Homeland (Showtime)

Justified (FX)

Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)

Who should win – When you look at the nominees for the year, you can have a complaint with a few of them. Some of the buzz on “Orange Is the New Black” has quieted, “Game of Thrones” is still lacking a huge moment, “Homeland” had an extremely polarizing finale, and we feel like “The Good Wife” may not even be here if the truth about Archie Panjabi’s final scene with Julianna Margulies was known at the time. It taints much of how we feel; it may be petty, but true. Personally, it feels like the time is now to either pay “Justified” its due for being criminally underrated for years, or giving “The Americans” the love it never gets in the ratings.

Who will win – There is probably not a clear-cut favorite in this group, but we’re thinking that populism could win out with “Empire” with the lack of a clear frontrunner in the group. We do think that “Justified” and “The Americans” do have a shot, and really none of these shows are entirely out of the running.