The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Emmy Magazine is apparently madly in love with AMC. Mad Men's Jon Hamm appears on the cover of this month's issue for a feature praising his ability to portray a "deceptively unflappable executive whose flawless exterior shrouds a tormented inner life." The eight-page cover story profiles Hamm's ascent to stardom as well as the genesis of Matthew Weiner's brainchild. According to Emmy's Juan Morales, the show "has enchanted fans and critics and reshaped a network brand...[It] gives TV makers -- and risk takers -- reason to believe."

As if the magazine's praise for Mad Men weren't enough, the magazine hailed AMC in two other features this month as well. One story titled "Brave New World" spotlighted the network as an exemplar of the emergence of high quality dramas on cable television: "'It's not HBO. It's AMC,'" writes Emmy's Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, "That, at least, has been the talk among TV critics, columnists and bloggers. With its Golden Globe-winning Mad Men and its acclaimed black comedy, Breaking Bad, the network that got its start as American Movie Classics has been making a lot of noise lately with its new original series."

In a final story titled "Hate to Love 'Em, Love to Hate 'Em," frequent Time magazine contributor Jeanne McDowell highlights Hamm's Don Draper as leading the pack of a new generation of antiheroes. Draper's popularity, writes McDowell, "may have something to do with the times we live in. A sense of powerlessness in the country, a national malaise...Ironically, the sentiment in the country was also shifting in 1960...The image of the perfect family was starting to change, housewives were discontent and guys like Draper were playing by their own set of rules. It was a scenario that may not have worked for the country in 1960 -- but it does for cable television in 2008."

Emmy's AMC fever bodes extremely well for Mad Men's chances at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards this September. Writes Tom O'Neil of the LA Times, "With such early kudos promise, Mad Men may become the first cable program not aired by HBO to break into the race for best drama series."