'Breaking Bad' Expected To Get Emmy Nod For Final Season

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

In Hollywood this morning we find out who the nominees are for this year's Emmys. MORNING EDITION's David Greene talked to Kim Masters, editor-at-large at The Hollywood Reporter, about who in television might get that age-old honor of just being nominated.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Kim, welcome back to the program. Always good to talk to you.

KIM MASTERS: Thank you.

GREENE: So let's talk about the drama category because, not to sound silly, but that really does seem to be where the drama is this year, right?

MASTERS: Well, there are a lot of very fierce contenders. You know, you have "Game Of Thrones," "House Of Cards," "Mad Men," always. CBS has "Good Wife." Showtime has "Masters Of Sex." HBO has "True Detective," which is in the category, a very strong contender. There's also a big heavyweight from AMC, and that is "Breaking Bad," which has wrapped its run.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BREAKING BAD")

BRYAN CRANSTON: (As Walter White) I told you, Skyler. I warned you for a solid year, you cross me, there will be consequences. What part of that didn't you understand?

GREENE: Well, there's some drama, Kim.

MASTERS: Yes, indeed - scary.

GREENE: Isn't there a lot of buzz, too, this year, about the categories? I mean, "True Detective," you have Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey, playing these two detectives in the American South. They're going to go to a whole new cast next year. This is the end of the two of them. I mean, couldn't that have made "True Detective" eligible to be in the miniseries category instead of drama?

MASTERS: Yes. I mean, the people who submit in various categories make these choices for strategic reasons. They may not always be apparent to us on the outside. So they concluded that they would put "True Detective" in the drama category. But there's a lot of crazy category switching, you know. And earlier, "Orange Is The New Black" was submitted by Netflix as a drama in other awards competitions, and this year it's competing as a comedy. So go figure.

GREENE: Go figure. I want to ask you about Matthew McConaughey because, I mean, we remember he won the Oscar for "Dallas Buyers Club." If he is nominated as a male performance dramatic role and ends up winning in that category - historic, right?

MASTERS: Yeah, I would say that Matthew McConaughey has got a lot of appeal coming in as the Oscar-winner in this category. I mean, there are other very strong contenders. Jeff Daniels is back for "The Newsroom," Bryan Cranston from "Breaking Bad," but there's something about that Matthew McConaughey performance and that awards aura. He would be the first man to win an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year. And, you know, here is part of the performance that quickly became a part of the popular culture.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "TRUE DETECTIVE")

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: (As Rust Cohle) This is a world where nothing is solved. Someone once told me time is a flat circle. Everything we've ever done, or will do, we're going to do over and over and over again.

GREENE: All right, so if Matthew McConaughey gets nominated, wins the Emmy, here, the first man to win for dramatic role, both Oscar and Emmy in the same year. But women have pulled this off in the past.

MASTERS: Helen Mirren and Helen Hunt. So the women got there first.

GREENE: And Kim, when we think about women - I mean, really a substantial field when it comes to comedic roles, a lot of great performances.

MASTERS: Yes. Very much buzz for "Orange Is The New Black," which is a show that has allowed us to see a lot of women of different shapes and sizes and colors that you don't normally see on television. So there's a terrific amount of buzz there and a lot of great, juicy roles. We've also got Julia Luis-Dreyfus from "Veep." She's won before. Edie Falco from "Nurse Jackie," Lena Dunham from "Girls," and a critical favorite may be Amy Poehler for "Parks And Rec," which is winding down its broadcast network run.

GREENE: All right, the excitement building. The Emmy nominations come out later this morning. Kim, thanks a lot.

MASTERS: Thank you.

GREENE: Kim Masters is the host of KCRW's The Business. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.