Cult ad agency drama “Mad Men” is pitching for a fourth straight triumph at the Emmy awards on Sunday, as the US television industry hands out its annual glittering prizes. “Mildred Pierce,” the mini-series starring British actress Kate Winslet, is also tipped for a clutch of gongs at the Primetime Emmy awards, the Oscars of the small screen. But pundits say this year's show, hosted at Los Angeles's Nokia Theatre, is among the most difficult to predict. “Some unexpected contenders are shaking up the odds, making this year's Emmys a refreshing break from business as usual,” commented the Hollywood Reporter after the nominations were announced in July. “Mad Men,” the brilliantly-stylized series set in a 1960s New York advertising agency, is up against new HBO series “Game of Thrones” and popular CBS drama “The Good Wife” for the prized best drama prize. But “Boardwalk Empire” is also among the hotly-tipped for the Outstanding Drama category — which “Mad Men” has dominated for the last three years — while “Friday Night Lights” and “Dexter” are the other contenders. While many pundits predict a fourth success for the ad drama, some eyebrows were raised when it only won a single award at last weekend's pre-Emmys Creative Arts Awards, against seven for “Boardwalk Empire.” “Personally, I think “Mad Men” will still win. It has class and Emmy voters are snobs,” said the Los Angeles Times in an eve-of-Emmys blog on its Awards Tracker web page.
