Last year, Helen Mirren began her royal walkabout to the Oscars when "The Queen" world premiered at the Venice Film Festival while Forest Whitaker basked in the glow of good reviews after "The Last King of Scotland" unspooled at the Toronto fest. This year's confirmed lineups at these late summer movie marathons include a slew of possible Oscar contenders.

Opening Venice is the previously announced "Atonement," which reunites "Pride and Prejudice" director Joe Wright with his Oscar-nominated star Keira Knightley in another literary adaptation. Oscar winner Christopher Hampton ("Dangerous Liaisons") adapted Ian McEwan's prize-winning novel about a girl who accuses her older sister's boyfriend of a crime he did not commit. James McAvoy and Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave costar.

Beware, Emmywatchers: the rush of great reviews for "Mad Men" may not only prove that AMC exex are in their right minds, but they're suddenly and diabolically shrewd at playing this awards game.

Just a few weeks ago, AMC pulled off an Emmy jawdropper: 18 of them, in fact. Nominations, that is. Its tally was 6 times that of Emmy veteran FX network and 18 times the haul of a network it used to be compared to frequently: TCM.

AMC made a bold move this year with its first-ever miniseries that turned out to be a ratings blockbuster and Emmy bonanza: "Broken Train." Now it just unveiled a gutsy new drama series that could make the network a player in other categories.

Back in 1960, the year in which "Mad Men" is set, the three TV nets rolled out their new shows in September and ran them through May, replacing them in the summer with lighter fare. Nearly 50 years later, viewers expect quality shows all year round. According to the critics, this stylish new series set in the glamorous world of Madison Avenue advertising certainly delivers. And with a flexible programming schedule, this cablecaster, which usually airs movies, can certainly slot a repeat run of the series in the spring to remind Emmy voters that this show has both style and substance.

As Matt Roush of TV Guide says, "Wow. The period look is dazzling: the women's tight skirts, the men's slicked hair. If iconic director Douglas Sirk ('Written on the Wind') had made TV, it would have looked like this. But this sleek, sexy, smartly cynical drama about selling everything from cigarettes to Nixon also nails the era's attitudes of casual prejudice and sexual manipulation. 'Mad Men' is one of the sharpest, most entertaining new series of an incredibly crowded summer TV season."

TV critics' huzzahs for "Damages" plus strong Nielsen ratings ("a respectable 3.7 million total viewers tuned in" for Tuesday's premiere, reports Variety) means FX network probably has a hit on its hands. But what about its Emmy hopes?

Stylistically, "Damages" seems to be comprised of a pinch of "NYPD Blue," a dash of "Law & Order," a hint of "L.A. Law," and a soupcon of "The Practice." That mix could make for a strong Emmy brew.

Good shots for writing and directing bids next year, maybe even — egads — higher up. "Damages" has the pedigree to become the first non-HBO cable show to break through with a best-series bid.

One nom looks like a lock: best actress in a drama series for Glenn Close, an award for which she was nominated two years ago when she starred as a tough-talking police captain on FX's "The Shield."

At age 60, Close — like Emmy nominee Sally Field — has just found a career-defining role on the small screen. While Field plays Nora Walker, the loving matriarch on "Brothers & Sisters," Close is Patty Hewes, a ruthless attorney pursuing corrupt CEO Ted Danson. Reviews of her performance are stellar, which is not quite the case for another film actress attempting a TV crossover. Oscar champ Holly Hunter got mixed notices for her new TNT show "Saving Grace."

Two Tony-nominated musical actors return to Broadway this fall in straight dramatic roles. Raul Esparza (2007 nominee for "Company") tackles a supporting role in a revival of Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming" while Hank Azaria (2005 nominee for "Spamalot") has landed the lead in a new play, "The Farnsworth Invention."

Ted Koppel, the longtime anchor of ABC's "Nightline," is to be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 28th annual News & Documentary Emmy awardsfest on September 24 in Gotham. The veteran newsman left the Alphabet net in 2005 after four decades and is now working for Discovery Channel. Already the winner of 40 Emmys, Koppel is up for another two this year - outstanding informational program (long form) for "Iran: The Most Dangerous Nation" and outstanding interview for "Petra: A Quest for Hope."

Recently, the TV academy overhauled Emmy voting just to make sure "Lost" got nominated for best drama series. But it still got snubbed — just like last year, after having won the top prize in 2005. Last year's slap was actually self-administered: Its producers submitted a sample episode that didn't make sense to judges who weren't regular viewers of a serialized drama full of dangling plot lines and irritating ghosts who flit in and out of the series, befuddling even diehard fans.

But this year Emmy chiefs decided to reduce the input of judges by 50 percent after they viewed a sample episode. If judges still gave "Lost" a low score, ATAS chiefs figured it could be offset by being mixed on a 50/50 basis with the results of the original popular vote of academy members, which determined the Top 10 finalists. (Yes, just like you see on "Dancing with the Stars"!) "Lost" is such a Nielsen hit that, surely, Emmy chiefs figured, it probably scored high in the pop vote, right? Or no?

So what happened? Did another poor episode choice sink "Lost"? And, if so, was "Lost" just not ranked high enough in the pop vote to be saved? Or did "Lost" rank so low in the pop vote that there was no hope for a nomination, even if judges adored its episode sample?

Lorraine Bracco fans can come in off the window ledge. She really does have hope to win an Emmy in the final season of "The Sopranos"! Turns out she submitted "The Blue Comet" episode to Emmy judges, not "The Second Coming," as initially planned.

There's been a lot of confusion over Emmy episode selection. The reason: The TV academy had a series of deadlines for episode declaration — the first back in April, more than a whole month before the TV season was over and Emmy eligibility ended. Contenders could switch their episode later, but the academy wanted to get an early head start on record-keeping. However, sometimes networks or celeb reps forgot to update The Envelope about later switcheroos, like Bracco's.

Well, finally, hooray, ATAS gave us the official, final list of episode entries. These are the acting samples to be evaluated by voters screening DVDs at home while deciding who wins in each category. These submissions are crucial to know when trying to predict ultimate winners. Note: No changes were permitted after episode declarations were made at the end of May. Initially, ATAS said contenders could switch after nominations were announced, but the academy ended up having the change of heart. Too complicated, no doubt.

Our thanks to ATAS for providing The Envelope with this info:

LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
James Gandolfini, "The Sopranos" ("The Second Coming"), HBO
Hugh Laurie, "House M.D." ("Half-Wit"), FOX
Denis Leary, "Rescue Me" ("Retards"), FX
James Spader, "Boston Legal" ("Angel of Death"), ABC
Kiefer Sutherland, "24" ("Day 6: 5:00AM - 6:00AM"), FOX

LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Patricia Arquette, "Medium" ("Be Kind, Rewind"), NBC
Minnie Driver, "The Riches" ("Pilot"), FX
Edie Falco, "The Sopranos" ("The Second Coming"), HBO
Sally Field, "Brothers & Sisters" ("Mistakes Were Made, Part 2"), ABC
Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" ("Florida"), NBC
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer" ("Slippin'"), TNT

As soon as you click on the link ahead, duck! Two of the smartest Emmy gurus in our forums — Robert "Rob L" Licuria and "Atypical" — are going at it like mafia thugs battling over kick-back turf. They disagree over HBO's choice of the six "Sopranos" episodes being entered in the Emmy race for best drama series. CLICK HERE. (Hey, didn't I tell you to duck?!)

The episode of "Desperate Housewives" submitted by Felicity Huffman to Emmy judges airs this Sunday night. See "Bang," July 29, 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Steve Carell's episode of "The Office" — "Business School" — can be seen on Thursday, Aug. 2 at 9 p.m. ET/ PT on NBC.

The episode of "Two and a Half Men" submitted by both Jon Cryer and Conchata Ferrell — "Repeated Blows To His Unformed Head" — will air on Monday, Aug. 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Elizabeth Perkins' episode, "Pittsburgh," will be showcased in a double-airing on Monday, August 6th at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Showtime.

"An outrage!" That's how a cable TV network president denounced a comment made recently by TV academy CEO Dick Askin to Variety. Askin said that he was so pleased with the newest list of nominees that "he didn't expect another major overhaul of the voting process anytime soon," according to the tradepaper. Just a few "tweaks here and there."

I'm not going to tell you which network chief popped off to me on the phone today because I didn't ask his permission to quote him. He was so ferociously candid that I'm sure he wouldn't want me to blab. But let's suffice it to say that he produces what TV critics consider to be some of the best shows on the tube. And I'm outing his outrage here because all Emmywatchers need to know that a pioneering TV leader like this feels this way.

And he's not alone. At the TCA Awards this past weekend another TV network president, who's renowned for airing critically cheered programs, fumed privately to me about Emmy noms. Moments after those Emmy noms were announced last Thursday, one of America's most influential TV critics turned to me, blind with fury, while we huddled in the academy auditorium at 5:40 a.m. Through clenched teeth, he growled, "The Emmys are dead to me!"