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MT. EMMY: To reach the pinnacle or, in this case, the golden Emmy, wrap yourself in raves and pack lots of buzz. Altitude readings are by Greg Braxton, Maria Elena Fernandez and Tom O’Neil.

PEAKING

THE DARK SIDE: Katey Sagal is best known for playing mothers on sitcoms such as “Married . . . With Children” and “8 Simple Rules.” But her dramatic turn as a potentially lethal matriarch of a motorcycle gang in FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” has us all shivery.

CLIMBING

FOR BETTER OR WORSE: Carlos Bernard of “24” has his best shot at a supporting actor Emmy this season. But it’s up in the air whether he’s got a better shot as “good” Tony, who helped agent Jack Bauer, or “bad” Tony, who majorly betrayed Bauer.

EMMY OR OSCAR? Shawn Ryan, creator of FX’s “The Shield,” is not ruling out the possibility of a movie version of the drama, which ended this year. He’s crossing his fingers that the series gets an Emmy nomination, which might boost those chances.

AT BASE CAMP

WAIT IT OUT: Will Conan O’Brien’s move to “The Tonight Show” earn him some Emmy love for next year? It took him and his writing team a decade before receiving a nomination for “Late Night.”

WAKE-UP CALL: Did NBC forget that it dumped “Medium”? At the end of the fifth season finale, a “To be continued” flashed on the screen. Well, yeah . . . continued on CBS. Good thing too: There would have been a fan riot if it ended with Alison in a coma.

LOOKING FOR A SHERPA

BASS MASTER: Chuck Bass loves Blair! He really does! Smart of the “Gossip Girl” writers to pay off the will-he-won’t-he story in such a satisfying way. Now if only we could figure out who “Gossip Girl” is so she can help to fill our summer texting void.

PASS THE CHEEZE: Did Izzie die? Did George die? Does anyone care? It’s shameful that, after months of teasing and leaking story lines, the producers of “Grey’s Anatomy” decided to leave this up in the air. Takes us back to when J.R. got shot.

LAST CHALLENGE: The “Survivor” finale saw one of the relatively good guys, James “J.T.” Thomas, winning over both the jury and the public. Now the question is: Can this kinder, gentler version of the competition show finally topple “The Amazing Race”?