Let's predict Emmy nominees for best drama series: 'Grey's Anatomy'? 'Dexter'? 'Boston Legal'?

To predict which shows will be nominated for best drama series on July 17, Gold Derby has gone to the Emmy mountaintop — to our lofty forum moderators and special Emmy seers: Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Robert "Rob L" Licuria (AwardsHeaven.net — read Hollywood Reporter's profile of Rob HERE).

Before we go any further, wait: If you need a primer on how Emmy voting works, CLICK HERE. OK, now let's consider how Boomer and Rob cooked up their predix. First, they guessed how the Top 10 series probably did in the popular vote of all TV academy members.

Rob ranked them this way: 1.) "House" 2.) "Mad Men" 3.) "Boston Legal" 4.) "Lost" 5.) "Damages" 6.) "Grey's Anatomy" 7.) "Dexter" 8.) "Friday Night Lights" 9.) "The Tudors" 10.) "The Wire"

Boomer's best guess: 1.) "Damages" 2.) "House" 3.) "Mad Men" 4.) "Grey's Anatomy" 5.) "Lost" 6.) "Boston Legal" 7.) "Dexter" 8.) "The Wire" 9.) "Friday Night Lights" 10.) "The Tudors"

My opinion: I think Rob's overestimating "House" and "Boston Legal" and underestimating "Grey's Anatomy." Boomer has "Damages" and "House" ranked way too high. Yes, they're in the high five, but not on top like that!

For scorekeeping purposes, remember those numbers above — they correspond exactly to the real Emmy voting method that gives top choices only one point, bottom choices 10 points. Now in order to determine Rob's and Boomer's nominee predix, combine the above numbers with their rankings that predict how judges scored sample episode submissions.

Rob thinks that this is how Emmy judges ranked the entries: 1.) "Mad Men" 2.) "Damages" 3.) "Boston Legal" 4.) "House" 5.) "Lost" 6.) "The Wire" 7.) "Grey's Anatomy" 8.) "Friday Night Lights" 9.) "Dexter" 10.) "The Tudors"

Boomer predicts this rundown: 1.) "Mad Men" 2.) "Damages" 3.) "Boston Legal" 4.) "The Wire" 5.) "House" 6.) "Grey's Anatomy" 7.) "Lost" 8.) "Friday Night Lights" 9. "Dexter" 10.) "The Tudors"

My opinion: Didn't we hear that "The Wire" bombed in the panel screenings? It certainly scored below "Lost," which Boomer ranks too low. I suspect he's going through denial that "The Constant" was a wise episode choice. (Boomer disagreed early on.) As far as I can tell, these five series had strong episode entries, however you rank them: "Mad Men," "Damages," "House," "Boston Legal" and "Lost." "Grey's Anatomy" eppy was so-so, probably falling around six on most ballots.

Notice how high we all rank "Boston Legal," which probably came in low in the popular vote. However, that's offset nicely by its episode selection, which is a blockbuster featuring James Spader yelling at the U.S. Supreme Court, telling members what corrupt idiots they are. (Can liberal Hollywood voters resist?). "The Tudors" submitted a courtroom drama too, but one pooh-poohed by voters: Sir Thomas More facing execution. Showtime gambled upon it striking voters like "A Man for All Seasons," which once swept the Oscars and Tony Awards. But final verdict: b-o-r-i-n-g.

On the two lists below, the points represent the combined rankings that Rob and Boomer gave these shows. For example, Boomer gave "Damages" a No. 1 on the popular vote and No. 2 on the list of judges' scores. Combining the numbers, total score is three. Remember: lowest score equals best score.

BEST DRAMA SERIES: ROB'S PREDIX
(Top five = nominees)
1.) "Mad Men" ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes) — 3 points
2.) "House" ("Frozen") — 5 points
3.) "Boston Legal" ("The Court Supreme") — 6 points
4.) "Damages" ("Pilot") — 7 points
5.) "Lost" ("The Constant") — 9 points
6.) "Grey's Anatomy" ("Freedom") —13 points
7.) "Dexter" ("The Dark Defender") — 16 points
7.) "Friday Night Lights" ("Leave No One Behind") — 16 points
7.) "The Wire" ("-30-") — 16 points
10.) "The Tudors" ("Episode 205") — 19 points

BEST DRAMA SERIES: BOOMER'S PREDIX
(Top five = nominees)
1.) "Damages" ("Pilot") — 3 points
2.) "Mad Men" ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes) — 4 points
3.) "House" ("Frozen") — 7 points
4.) "Boston Legal" ("The Court Supreme") — 9 points
5.) "Grey's Anatomy" ("Freedom") — 10 points
6.) "Lost" ("The Constant") — 12 points
6.) "The Wire" ("-30-") — 12 points
8.) "Dexter" ("The Dark Defender") — 16 points
9.) "Friday Night Lights" ("Leave No One Behind") — 17 points
10.) "The Tudors" ("Episode 205") — 20 points