{alltv} Emmys: TVGuide.com's Picks for Best Drama Series

Emmy ballots are due Friday! Voters have hours, really, to check off the names and shows they think are worthy of getting a nomination come July 14. We here at TVGuide.com have a few picks in mind ourselves. Next up: our final dream ballot — for Best Drama Series:

Friday Night Lights
It would be a crime if Lights was to go unsung without a series nomination after offering the most painstakingly authentic and heartening life lessons and growing pains — on and off the field — for the last five years. Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton snuck into the acting races last year, making us believe the show was thisclose to cracking the series race. That could bode well for it now. Clear eyes, full hearts ... you know the rest.

Game of Thrones
HBO will have most of its eggs in Boardwalk Empire's prestigious basket — which arguably has the best chance of dethroning Mad Men — but we'll back dark horse Thrones. Dazzling, lavish and overflowing with intriguing characters and complex story lines (which hopefully won't be to its detriment), the show has been nothing short of mesmerizing and addictive. The academy is not heavy on fantasy and sci-fi, but HBO did manage a nod for True Blood last year.

The Good Wife
Part procedural, part social commentary, part political drama, The Good Wife, which was nominated last year, kicked off Season 2 with a bang (remember that oral sex scene?) and got even better as the season progressed. Between its complicated cases, personal woes and some of the best political-based story lines since The West Wing, it's adding unpredictable and refreshing twists to the stale legal genre.

Justified
FX has a horrible track record at the Emmys, but Justified is the network's best shot at its first series nod. The antithesis of a sophomore slump, the modern Western served up a riveting season of moral conflicts, redemption, simmering feuds, all the while maintaining its wry humor. Let's just say if it's not nominated, voters should expect some of Mags' "apple pie."

Mad Men
Mad Men's a lock for a nomination and is poised to become the first drama to four-peat since The West Wing claimed four (2000-03). Should it win, it would join Wing, Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law as the only dramas to win four Emmys. While Season 4 wasn't the show's best, it was still pretty darn spectacular as it started from scratch on all angles (the new agency, Draper life post-divorce, new romances) and a fourth trophy would not be undeserved.

The Walking Dead
The breakout zombie hit — so fun, cool and engrossing — faces the same uphill battle as Thrones, being of the fantasy/sci-fi breed, even more so with its gruesome nature. But you can't deny that it has managed to give corpses, well, soul and even convert non-lovers of zombies into fans. Can this AMC show take the place of another one (Breaking Bad) on the ballot, or will that other AMC show (The Killing) snatch up a spot?

Which show would you like to see nominated?