In Australia, television's night of nights is the TV Week Logies, but American television's night of nights is the Emmys, where grown men and women come in glittery frocks to duke it out for little more than 3kg of copper, nickel, silver and gold.

They're finely crafted - each takes five and a half hours to make by hand - and the design represents the muse of art upholding the electron of science, a bow to the voting body's full name: the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

But just who will win? And how many people, by virtue of some vague association, can Australia claim as their own?

First, we must assess what we know going in.

Last week's Creative Arts Emmy Awards gave out most of the awards. This is largely an act of humanitarian selflessness so that the rest of us don't have to sit through endless categories  and tearful speeches.

That said, there were a couple of clangers that seemed so much fun they really ought to have been in the main show.

First, the battle-scarred Nicole Kidman film Grace of Monaco, already put through the indignity of being denied a US cinema release and flogged off to Lifetime - remember The Simpsons? "Lifetime. Television for idiots." - had to go through the additional shame of not actually winning in its nominated category.

The Emmy for outstanding television movie instead went to HBO's Bessie, a biopic about legendary American blues singer Bessie Smith starring Queen Latifah.

Second, Alex Gibney's controversial HBO documentary about the Church of Scientology, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, emerged a clear winner in the documentary categories.

Not only did it win outstanding documentary or nonfiction special, it also took out Emmys for outstanding directing and outstanding writing for nonfiction programming.

But if we're looking for trends out of the Creative Arts Emmys, she tends to be a somewhat perfidious mistress in that regard.

Game of Thrones was the most honoured program, taking home eight Emmys, followed by American Horror Story (5), Bessie and the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special (4) and Deadliest Catch, Going Clear and Transparent (3).

But it's tough to pick a trend out of that. Although Game of Thrones was clearly a dominant player, it took wins largely in off-piste categories, such as production design, sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects and stunt co-ordination. It even lost in the costume and hairstyling categories. That's gotta hurt.

And none of that sends a clear signal in the outstanding drama category where, because of its genre, Game of Thrones, starts from a weaker position.

There is only one Australian in contention in a major category - now that Grace of Monaco has been consigned to Emmy's dustbin - and that is Ben Mendelsohn, who is nominated in the outstanding supporting actor in a drama category, for his work on the Netflix drama Bloodline.

It's a brilliant show and he's basically the best thing in it, which makes him a real contender in his category.

But he's up against some tough competition in Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Michael Kelly (House of Cards) and Alan Cumming (The Good Wife).

We could also - at a stretch - probably consider Banks an honorary Australian, as he was the stage manager for the Australian productions of Hair (1969), Grease and Jesus Christ Superstar (1972) which were produced by Harry M. Miller. Which is good news, as he's a frontrunner in the category. As is Dinklage.

Here are the six key categories on the night:

Outstanding Drama Series

Nominees Better Call Saul, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Homeland, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Mad Men

Last year's winner Breaking Bad

Sibling rivalry between sisters is highlighted at Highclere as Edith, left, and Mary, right, show not a moment of kindliness.

A jam-packed category, not helped by the fact that the Academy called shenanigans on Netflix's attempt to pretend Orange is the New Black is a sitcom by insisting they submit it as a drama.

That said, it's a rank outsider in company like this. Which means you're basically staring down two potential outcomes here, a highly-anticipated final season bow for Mad Men, or acknowledgement that the best show in the world, in narrative terms, is plainly Game of Thrones.

It all depends on whether the Emmy voters, a notoriously safe group of people, only marginally out-safed by the Oscars, get their head around giving the biggest award of the night to a show which lives in - hold your breath - genre.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Nominees Louie, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Silicon Valley, Transparent, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Veep

Last year's winner Modern Family

Jeffrey Tambor's Maura Pfefferman is a career-defining role.

The last rusted-on "free-to-air" television category stronghold at American television's night of nights, but is this the year that network TV is finally swept away? In truth, Modern Family goes into the night the favourite. It's got a bunch of wins under its belt and it's a solid show.

But both Transparent and Veep represent real threats. Transparent has already won the Golden Globe, although that award's voting body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, despite their quirks, tends to respond more quickly to new programs than its more arcane cousins, Emmy and Oscar. And Veep is simply the best writing in American TV comedy.

Outstanding Actress in Comedy

Nominees Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep), Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer), Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie)

Last year's winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Myers in Veep.

Where to begin with a field like this? Let's thank Edie, Lisa and Lily now and give them their bus tickets. This is a three-way race for several reasons. First, because Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the favourite. She is a great actress served by the best writing around.

But the two Amys, Poehler and Schumer, are legitimate contenders. Poehler because she's simply brilliant, and Schumer because, in that very nebulous way that tends to influence things such as the Emmys, this is "her year". She's surfing off the back of a meteoric rise in terms of her fame and a hit film in Trainwreck. Off the back of Inside Amy Schumer, though, it's not so clear. The smart money's on Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Outstanding Actor in Comedy

Nominees Anthony Anderson (Black-ish), Don Cheadle (House of Lies), Louis C.K. (Louie), Will Forte (Last Man on Earth), Matt LeBlanc (Episodes), William H. Macy (Shameless), Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)

Last year's winner Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)

Louis C.K. found a good solution when another comedian used his material.

There has been a fascinating shift in this category, as last year's winner, Jim Parsons, did not even make the cut for this year's nominee. And Will Forte makes a solid addition, for his performance in a great, and perhaps under-acknowledged, show in Last Man on Earth.

Broadly, there's a bunch of brilliant actors here, with a whole lot of great writing backing them up, but it's tough to go past Jeffrey Tambor, an actor who has parlayed an early career as a character actor into one of the most career-defining roles of our time, retired academic Maura Pfefferman in Transparent.

Tambor has already won the Golden Globe Award and the Critics' Choice Television Award for his performance, so it's hard to imagine a scenario in which he is gazumped for the Emmy.

Outstanding Actress in Drama

Nominees Claire Danes (Homeland), Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder), Taraji P. Henson (Empire), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Robin Wright (House of Cards)

Last year's winner Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)

Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey in House of Cards.

OK, so setting aside the first, staggering oversight - where in tarnation is Julianna Margulies this year? - this is a tight category with a lot of worthy contenders. Taraji P. Henson and Tatiana Maslany are easy to skip: Henson is on Empire which might find it tough to turn media noise into something more solid, and Maslany works in the least-loved of Emmy's children, genre. Which means in real terms we're talking Claire Danes, Viola Davis, Elisabeth Moss or Robin Wright. And they're all worthy winners.

(As, for the record, are Henson and Maslany.) Danes is coming off a strong year for Homeland, ditto Moss for Mad Men. Smart money is on either of them. Want to take a risk? Henson. It's a long shot but if she wins she might deliver the best acceptance speech in Emmy history.

Outstanding Actor in Drama

Nominees Kyle Chandler (Bloodline), Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan), Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)

Last year's winner Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)

Jon Hamm as Don Draper: this year is his last chance to win for Mad Men. Photo: Michael Yarish/AMC

With seven nominations and no wins to show for it, you could be forgiven for thinking that Jon Hamm was the Susan Lucci of the primetime Emmys. (Lucci, who starred in All My Children, was nominated for outstanding actress at the Daytime Emmys 18 times before she won, in 1999, on her 19th go around.)

Hamm may not have to wait that long. The Emmys have a long history of affectionate acknowledgement in the final season of a show, which means the smart money is on Hamm. ("It's his year," they will say.") But Schreiber and Odenkirk are also solid contenders.

The 67th Primetime Emmys Awards air on FOX8 at 10am, Monday, AEST.