True, the 63rd Emmy Awards may not be the most gripping contest on our screens this week. Even with Glee's Coach Sylvester (Jane Lynch) fronting the American TV prize-giving it will still be three hours of thank-you speeches. But look closely enough and the major categories throw up some questions ripe for pop culture debate ...
* Can Mad Men win a fourth outstanding drama series gong in a row? It faces some new competition from the new HBO productions Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones.
* And can Mad Men lead actor John Hamm finally win the best actor prize after three previous nominations? His closest competition may come from Timothy Olyphant for Justified.
* Talking of Boardwalk Empire, can Martin Scorsese, long snubbed for a best director Oscar, win for directing an episode of the show? He's up against Jeremy Podeswa for another episode of Boardwalk, as well as Irish movie director Neil Jordan for The Borgias.
* Can Modern Family win a second outstanding comedy series Emmy this year - or will the departure of Steve Carell from The Office swing it?
