Is AMC Sandbagging Mad Men’s Emmy Chances?

AMC recently sent out its ‘For Your Consideration’ DVD box set for Emmy nomination voters and something strange happened; only the first three episodes of four-time Drama Series Emmy winner Mad Men were included. Now, to be fair, the set was sent sometime around May 15th, before the last two episodes of Mad Men‘s shortened, 7-episode season had aired and creator Matt Weiner is notoriously anti-spoiler so he might have wanted it that way. But why not send the first five? Conversely, the network sent all eight of Breaking Bad‘s final season for consideration. Breaking Bad won its first Best Drama Series Emmy last year and it looks like AMC wants a repeat of that.

Interestingly, they only sent four episodes of their biggest show, The Walking Dead. That show, despite its massive success and visibility, has never made it outside of the make-up, sound and visual effects categories and I’m sure AMC isn’t holding out hope for a random Best Drama Series nomination, especially in a year as competitive as this one. Same goes for their new series’ Turn (which has yet to air its season finale) and Low Winter Sun (four episodes, canceled), The Killing (which has been canceled, twice) and Hell On Wheels (four episodes). None of those stand a chance against the likes of Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, The Good Wife or House of Cards.

Full list of episodes submitted in the 10-DVD box set:

“Breaking Bad” –”Blood Money” (509), “Buried” (510), “Confessions” (511), “Rabid Dog” (512), “To’Hajiilee” (513), “Ozymandias” (514), “Granite State” (515), “Felina” (516)
“Mad Men” – “Time Zones” (701), “A Day’s Work” (702), “Field Trip” (703)
“Turn” – “Pilot” (101), “Who By Fire” (102), “Of Cabbages and Kings” (103), “Eternity How Long” (104)

“The Killing” – “Try” (308), “Reckoning” (309), “Six Minutes” (310), “The Road to Hamelin” (312)
“The Walking Dead” – “Too Far Gone” (408), “After” (409), “Still” (412), “The Grove” (414)
“Hell on Wheels” – “Big Bad Wolf” (301), “Eminent Domain” (302), “One Less Mule” (306), “Get Behind the Mule” (310)

“Low Winter Sun” – “Pilot” (101), “The Way Things Are” (106), “Revelations” (108), “Ann Arbor” (109)
“Comic Book Men” – “Uhura’s Uhura” (310)
“Game of Arms” – “The Battle Begins” (101)
“Freakshow” – “Creature’s Daughter” (208)
“Small Town Security” – “The Man Makes the Suit” (208)
“Talking Dead” – “Guests Greg Nicotero & Danai Guirira”
“Talking Dead” – “Guests Norman Reedus, Emily Kinney, J.B. Smoove”
“Talking Bad” – “Guests Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn”
“Talking Bad” – “Guests Jimmy Kimmel, Aaron Paul, Vince Gilligan, R.J. Mitte, Anna Gunn, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks”