Robin Wright as Claire Underwood in HOUSE OF CARDS. Image courtesy of Netflix.

It’s Emmy season, and boy it’s going to be a tough one. There has been such good television this last year. I just recently finished FX’s FARGO, which deserves all the awards, and I’m fairly confident it will take Best Miniseries, but just look at the shows up for Best Drama Series; BREAKING BAD, DOWNTON ABBEY, GAME OF THRONES, HOUSE OF CARDS, MAD MEN, and TRUE DETECTIVE. How do you call that? Having shamefully not yet seen TRUE DETECTIVE, my vote goes to HOUSE OF CARDS.

In terms of nominations, GAME OF THRONES leads the pack with 19, closely followed by FARGO with 18, and also from FX, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN with 17 nominations. It’s undoubtedly a second golden age for television. Admittedly it’s a phrase thrown around quite a bit, but really it’s true, and HBO is leading the pack at the moment. With 99 nominations for shows like GAME OF THRONES, TRUE DETECTIVE, SILICON VALLEY, GIRLS, and VEEP, they’ve really set the standard. THE LEFTOVERS is the latest HBO offering from LOST-alum Damon Lindelof. It’s what I’ve been watching since finishing FARGO. It’s good, and getting better with each episode.

Billy Bob Thornton in FARGO. Image courtesy of FX.

My favorite show that has been overlooked this year is Sundance’s RECTIFY. But I guess it has to be taken as testament to there being so much good television, that inevitably some shows don’t make the cut.

Netflix has been the biggest game changer in the industry, making their mark these last few years with HOUSE OF CARDS and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, and now with Amazon producing original content it will be interesting to see how they fare, and if they become another serious contender in the television landscape this coming year.

The best perk of working in the industry is that I’ve seen many of the pilots that were picked up to series for this coming fall season. I can overstate how excited I am for ABC’s HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. I’ve watched the pilot three times already. I wasn’t a Viola Davis fan until now, but she knocks it out of the park. And it’s just written brilliantly, and made so well. It’s a law school legal thriller, and it almost feels like THE SOCIAL NETWORK but with murder. Considering it could have been awful, GOTHAM is surprisingly good, as is #SELFIE, RED BAND SOCIETY, and SECRETS & LIES.

Viola Davis in ABC’S upcoming HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. Image courtesy of ABC.

They’re my ones to watch this coming fall season, but in the meantime let’s see what happens later this month; the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards will be held Aug 25 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Seth Meyers will host, and the show will be broadcast on NBC. Full list of nominees here. Who’s your money on?