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"We&amp;#039;re really getting into the meaty bit now with our Emmy picks! It&amp;#039;s time for our favourites in the &amp;#039;Outstanding Drama Series&amp;#039; category. The only problem is, it&amp;#039;s a very tough field. We&amp;#039;ve somehow managed to whittle it down to six, and then stuck in some honourable mentions as well. It&amp;#039;ll be very interesting to see what the voters have plumped for when the nominations are announced on July 14 because we could have had several different lists...  Boardwalk Empire HBO&amp;#039;s Atlantic City epic has a good chance of making the shortlist, and its place would be deserved. For one thing, the show was absolutely gorgeous to watch. The characters were also great - you didn&amp;#039;t know whether to root for Steve Buscemi&amp;#039;s Nucky or not, it was amazing to see Kelly Macdonald&amp;#039;s Margaret change, and any time we got to see Chalky White was time well spent. Some viewers lost patience with the show, which could put its chances in doubt, but it&amp;#039;s likely that some bootleg champagne will be doing the rounds in July.   Friday Night Lights Friday Night Lights is a real favourite among its fans, and now that it&amp;#039;s come to an end it would be great to see it get some long overdue recognition in the &amp;#039;Drama&amp;#039; category. We could throw out superlatives about this show all day long, but essentially it&amp;#039;s a classy, well-made, compelling drama. And what more do you need than that? Finishing everything up with a beautiful finale - don&amp;#039;t worry, we won&amp;#039;t give away any spoilers - was just the icing on an absolutely delicious cake.  Game of Thrones This show deserves to be nominated just because it managed the feat of being a fantasy drama that gained widespread appeal. Sure, we could talk about the sex, the violence and the swearing, but it would be doing a disservice to Game of Thrones to suggest that&amp;#039;s the only way in which it pushed the boundaries. Of course it had great source material to work with thanks to George R R Martin&amp;#039;s novel, but somehow it managed to please the book fans (who can often be the hardest to satisfy). Maybe it&amp;#039;s something to do with the cast (some of whom were truly revelatory), the astonishing cinematography, and the courage to do the best possible version of the story possible - shocking deaths and all. A superb series that we&amp;#039;re missing already.  The Good Wife It&amp;#039;s a tough field, but it wouldn&amp;#039;t be a surprise to see The Good Wife on the list - it got the nod last year, after all, and the second season was even better. Of course it has a procedural side, but The Good Wife delves into the characters&amp;#039; lives in very exciting ways. The Blake-Kalinda dynamic this year was super, and just when we thought we&amp;#039;d got over it we were hit with the Peter bombshell. And Julianna Margulies has really been fantastic throughout, right up to that heart-racing closing sequence in the hotel. The Good Wife is understated, even in its twists, but that&amp;#039;s most certainly to its credit.  Justified Justified has been consistently strong throughout its second season, with fans and critics alike swooning over it. Timothy Olyphant is great, but he&amp;#039;s also supported ably by wonderful people - Walton Goggins, Margo Martindale, and basically everyone else involved in this outstanding series. There&amp;#039;s not much more we can say - if you haven&amp;#039;t been watching Justified, you should be. It&amp;#039;s one of the best dramas on television and we&amp;#039;d be shocked if it didn&amp;#039;t get a nomination.  Mad Men It&amp;#039;s a lock, right? And if not, it really should be. For a drama to still be consistently good - and at times genuinely outstanding - in its fourth season is really something. Mad Men should be congratulated for keeping up the standard, and still doing something new (see that much-loved episode &amp;#039;The Suitcase&amp;#039;). Every person involved in this show is superb - yes, even January Jones, you naysayers - and the fact that the surprises it delivers are completely character-driven is something television should do more. Don&amp;#039;s engagement might have blindsided a few people, but watch back - the signs are there from very early on. Wonderful storytelling, wonderful style, and absolutely wonderful viewing.   Honourable Mentions The Closer is always popular, and could make it on to the list yet again. Dexter also has a history of being nominated, but will the voters have enjoyed the slightly uneven fifth season? We&amp;#039;d love to see Fringe get a nomination, but genre shows often struggle at awards ceremonies. It&amp;#039;s the same for The Walking Dead, which was fun, but which some people felt tailed off slightly. In Treatment and Treme, meanwhile, were both absolutely superb pieces of television, but will their low viewing figures count against them?  Other Contenders Big Love, with its last chance to win after it aired its final season. Grey&amp;#039;s Anatomy, for dealing with the trauma storylines remarkably well and focusing on characters before twists. House, Parenthood, Shameless, Sons of Anarchy and Southland might have a shot, but True Blood might not make it because of its uneven third run. Likewise, The Killing - which has been touted as a contender - appeared to lose critical favour the longer the season was on. And I&amp;#039;d love to see The Vampire Diaries get a nomination for its outstanding storytelling, but it will never happen. What do you think should be nominated for &amp;#039;Outstanding Drama Series&amp;#039;? Leave your comments below! &amp;gt; Emmy Picks 2011: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy &amp;gt; Emmy Picks 2011: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy &amp;gt; Emmy Picks 2011: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama &amp;gt; Emmy Picks 2011: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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