AFT Awards: Best Ensemble in a Drama Series

This is the seventeenth category of the 3rd Annual AFT Television Awards, my personal choices for the best in television this past season. This year, semi-finalists are included to recognize more of the impressive work being done on television today. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.
Best Ensemble in a Drama Series

Last year’s nominees: Battlestar Galactica, Brotherhood, The Closer, Dirty Sexy Money, Mad Men

Emmy nominees: This isn’t an Emmy category. SAG nominees for the 2008 calendar year were Boston Legal, The Closer, Dexter, House, and Mad Men.

Semi-finalists: The cops on Dexter didn’t get much closer to catching the real killers, but they still did a fine job of working together as a cast.

Finalists: Everyone buckled down and gave humanity (and the Cylon race) their all in the final season of Battlestar Galactica. The humans and the vampires on True Blood all felt real despite the show’s obvious supernatural twist. The detectives transferred to the Major Crimes Unit on The Closer and were just as entertaining and intelligent as before. The firefighters occasionally traded immaturity for dramatic rethinking of 9/11 on Rescue Me, and the cast plays serious just as smartly as funny. With two series regulars out the door and three terrific new additions, the cast of Smallville came through and really helped a previously struggling show along its return to quality.

The nominees:

Everyone on The Shield seemed to know the end was inevitable, and they truly lit up the screen with their complex, emotional performances this year. Each cast member on Mad Men fits in perfectly in the 1960s and enhances an already tremendous period feel. On and off the island; in the past and in the future, every performance on Lost was incredibly dynamic and intriguing. The line between corrupt and honest became increasingly blurred on Brotherhood, and everyone was at the top of their game. The bikers on Sons of Anarchy were perfectly cast, and they were equally matched by the superb “old ladies” on the show.

Next up: Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series