Here are Cranston’s picks, in chronological order, as told to Maria Elena Fernandez:

1) Pilot

I’m at my second job and my boss is giving me problems and I’ve just had had it, and I quit. And I say, “Fuck you and your eyebrows!!” And I walk away, smacking away all the air fresheners. And after he says, “You need to go wipe down the cars. I grab my crotch. And I say, “Wipe down this.” It showed a man who reached his limit. He’s not going to take it anymore. And I think it’s very relatable to a lot of people. You take it and you take it and you take it, and there’s just a point where you go, “I’m done! You can fire me. You can do whatever. But I’m done.”

But there is an aspect of the process that is not as publicized: As the only show business awards show that charges entry, the Emmy Awards are big business for the TV Academy itself. And the exorbitant costs of campaigning also include the fees associated with sending DVD mailers to academy members, making episodes available online on the Academy’s website, and screening shows at the Academy theater.

These charges are unique to the Emmys among the big awards, O’Neil said. “The TV Academy made a business out of it in the mid-90s, when they started charging for entering to offset the costs of the judging process. There’s just too much TV to expect all the voters to have seen it. So the Emmys have set up a system of blue ribbon panels that screen things, vote for things, decide who wins, and it’s a very costly judging system. The question is: are they charging too much?”

The answer is yes, according to those who shell out the big bucks to get their TV shows, stars, and behind-the-scenes players noticed. A dozen executives from broadcast, cable networks, and studios told The Daily Beast that they wonder every year whether it’s worthwhile to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars stumping for Emmys, but they continue to do so because everyone else does. Unlike the Motion Picture Academy, which allows for studios to mail screeners directly to their membership, the TV Academy keeps its list a secret. Networks and studios must pay the Academy $1,500 per episode they want to mail to members and they must also use a designated fulfillment house for shipping their entries.

“These are questions that have been kicking around for a long time,” said one basic cable executive who requested anonymity. “It’s frustrating and it’s troubling, especially when budgets are under great restraint and pressure. In any business, you want to look for efficiencies and ways to have the same type of service at the most efficient price point that you can. And, unfortunately, this doesn’t allow for that option.”