• by Ed Martin , June 20, 2013

As you read this, voting members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences are busy determining their choices for this year’s potential Emmy Award nominees. Here are my thoughts about which shows and actors should be nominated in the drama series categories, as well as my picks for the best in each category. One can only hope that said members of ATAS will see this column and be compelled to consider these suggestions.

While it’s always very satisfying to assemble such lists, if only to acknowledge the best of the best, it can also be quite challenging. This is such an extraordinary time for television content that it is often near-impossible to select only six nominees in each category, the maximum number allowed in the Emmy nomination process. My thoughts about the Comedy categories will appear next week.

Outstanding Drama Series: AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” PBS’ “Downton Abbey,” CBS’ “The Good Wife,” HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” FX’s “Justified,” AMC’s “Mad Men.”

Also worth consideration: Showtime’s “Homeland” and “Dexter”; FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” and “The Americans”; TNT’s “Southland”; AMC’s “The Walking Dead”; Netflix’s “House of Cards.”

This year, just like last, my personal choice in this category would be “Breaking Bad,” a series as dark and unsettling as any ever produced for American television and an extraordinary showcase for some of the finest acting in the medium. But the consistently entertaining “Downton Abbey” is also deserving of the top honor, in part because it continues to be a genuine television phenomenon that is introducing millions of new young viewers to the pleasures of well-made period drama. And then there’s HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” which came roaring back in its third season after a serious sophomore slump and galvanized its audience as never before.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, AMC’s “Breaking Bad”; Michael C. Hall, Showtime’s “Dexter”; Damian Lewis, Showtime’s “Homeland”; Andrew Lincoln, AMC’s “The Walking Dead”; Timothy Olyphant, FX’s “Justified”; Kevin Spacey, Netflix’s “House of Cards.”

Also worth consideration: Kevin Bacon, Fox’s “The Following”; Steve Buscemi, HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”; Hugh Dancy, NBC’s “Hannibal”; Jeff Daniels, HBO’s “The Newsroom”; Jon Hamm, AMC’s “Mad Men”; Matt Smith, BBC America’s “Doctor Who”; Aden Young, Sundance Channel’s “Rectify.”

After winning three consecutive Emmys for his fascinating portrayal of terminally ill chemistry teacher turned drug lord Walter White, the crazy-talented Bryan Cranston last year lost to Damian Lewis of Showtime’s “Homeland.” I think Cranston once again deserves the award, but Lewis (like all of his co-stars) remained riveting even as the overall quality of his show deteriorated around him, so he may enjoy a double play. My second choice here is Timothy Olyphant. Playing the coolest cat on prime-time television isn’t as easy as it looks.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Glenn Close, DirecTV’s “Damages”; Claire Danes, Showtime’s “Homeland”; Vera Farmiga, A&E’s “Bates Motel”; Julianna Margulies, CBS’ “The Good Wife”; Tatiana Maslany, BBC America’s “Orphan Black”; Robin Wright, Netflix’s “House of Cards.”

Also worth consideration: Michelle Dockery, PBS’ “Downton Abbey”; Elisabeth Moss, AMC’s “Mad Men”; Keri Russell, FX’s “The Americans”; Emmy Rossum, Showtime’s “Shameless”; Katey Sagal, FX’s “Sons of Anarchy.”

The most extraordinary performance of the year was actually a collective work in which one actress portrayed multiple characters. As if that weren’t challenging enough, at times some of those characters were pretending to be one of the others. But newcomer Tatiana Maslany kept what could have been a catastrophically confusing scenario in check, making “Orphan Black” the surprise television treat of the year and becoming the actress to beat in this category. Still, look at the other top contenders: Claire Danes, still a marvel in “Homeland”; Vera Farmiga, dazzling as the strangely vulnerable monster mother Norma Bates in “Bates Motel”; Robin Wright, a study in quiet but lethal intensity in Netflix’s “House of Cards”; Julianna Margulies, still delivering the best work by a lead actress in any broadcast drama in “The Good Wife,” and the incomparable Glenn Close, whose work in the last season of “Damages,” particularly in the final two episodes, offered some of the most powerful dramatic acting by anyone in any television series last season.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Jonathan Banks, AMC’s “Breaking Bad”; Michael Cudlitz, TNT’s “Southland”; Peter Dinklage, HBO’s “Game of Thrones”; Walton Goggins, FX’s “Justified”; Freddie Highmore, A&E’s “Bates Motel”; Aaron Paul, AMC’s “Breaking Bad.”

Also worth consideration: Noah Emmerich, FX’s “The Americans”; Vincent Kartheiser, AMC’s “Mad Men”; Mandy Patinkin, Showtime’s “Homeland”; John Slattery, AMC’s “Mad Men”; Corey Stoll, Netflix’s “House of Cards.”

Thanks to recent recognition from the Broadcast Television Journalists Association’s Critics’ Choice Awards, which named him this year’s Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, buzz is building for Michael Cudlitz, who has turned in award-worthy work through five seasons of “Southland” without ever being properly recognized. Still, last year the Emmy in this category went to Aaron Paul, even though the BTJA had honored his “Breaking Bad” co-star Giancarlo Esposito. But Paul has two Emmys, and “Southland” has been cancelled, so this is Cudlitz’s last shot here, and one can only hope the voting members of ATAS recognize that.

 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Morena Baccarin, Showtime’s “Homeland”; Christine Baranski, CBS’ “The Good Wife”; Jennifer Carpenter, Showtime’s “Dexter”; Anna Gunn, AMC’s “Breaking Bad”; Monica Potter, NBC’s “Parenthood”; Maggie Smith, PBS’ “Downton Abbey.”

Also worth consideration: Emilia Clarke, HBO’s “Game of Thrones”; Sharon Gless, USA Network’s “Burn Notice”; Linda Gray, TNT’s “Dallas”; Megan Hilty, NBC’s “Smash”; January Jones, AMC’s Mad Men”; Abigail Spencer, Sundance Channel’s “Rectify.”

Maggie Smith will probably receive a third consecutive Emmy for her priceless portrayal on “Downton Abbey” of the Dowager Countess, a character destined to be regarded as one of the most memorable in television history. I have no problem with that, but my preference would be Jennifer Carpenter, who met one titanic narrative challenge after another in her seventh season on “Dexter.” Her character declared her love for her foster brother only to learn that he is Miami’s most elusive serial killer and the man responsible for dozens of murders she had investigated throughout her career. I was also blown away by Monica Potter in her Critics’ Choice Award-winning performance of a valiant cancer patient on NBC’s all but overlooked “Parenthood.”