Television critic Diane Werts is predicting CSI: Crime Scene Investigation will win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series this Sunday.

Werts, a writer for Newsday and one of several Emmy pundits offering their takes on this year's awards at GoldDerby.com, said three-time winner The West Wing is likely to be voted out of office this year. "While The West Wing remains (self-) 'important', I think Emmy voters may finally have had enough predictable pontificating," she wrote.

What about FOX's real-time drama 24? "A bit too patience-testing last season," according to Werts, who was president of the Television Critics Association from 2001-2003. She added that while some think HBO series Six Feet Under and The Sopranos are "overdue" for the Outstanding Drama Emmy, "the industry likely isn't ready to have its (arguably) top award go to cable like so many others now do".

That leaves CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which is up for Best Drama for the second year in a row. "CSI deserves this award anyhow," Werts said. "The writing's clever, the acting's admirable, the characters are deepening, the technical prowess gets ever-more-dazzling, and those ratings — wow!"

Werts added that the release of CSI on DVD could also help the show's chances. "Take note: CSI has released two DVD season-sets since the spring, which means all those I'm-too-busy-to-watch-TV Emmy voters have had a chance to catch up in digital style to how great the show looks and sounds."

But this doesn't mean CSI has the Emmy in the bag just yet, as Werts is the only GoldDerby pundit predicting a win for the forensic series. The Sopranos currently has four votes from the web site's critics, while one pundit is predicting a win for Six Feet Under. It may not be Outstanding Drama Actress nominee Marg Helgenberger's (Catherine Willows) night either — all six GoldDerby critics are currently predicting Edie Falco (The Sopranos) will be crowned Emmy's drama queen.

The Emmy Awards will be telecast live on FOX from 8:00 p.m. on September 21, 2003. To read predictions from Diane Werts and other critics, head over to GoldDerby.com.

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