"30 Rock" leads fresher-looking Emmys
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Satire-heavy "30 Rock" and 1960s drama "Mad Men" will defend their 2007 Emmy awards against a broad field of contenders for television's highest honors -- including irreverent cartoon series "Family Guy".
NBC's "30 Rock" picked up a leading 22 primetime nominations season on Thursday, including best comedy, best actress for its star and creator Tina Fey, and best actor for Alec Baldwin who all took home Emmys last year.
But in a list that reflected the move of some of TV's best writers to cable channels, last year's winner "Mad Men" on AMC seized 16 nominations, including best drama, best actor and four of the five picks for writing. Another AMC show, "Breaking Bad," was also among the drama and best actor nods.
"Mad Men" creator Matt Weiner told Reuters that his writing staff worked hard to take the characters to deeper human levels each season. "We don't repeat ourselves, which every season gets a lot harder," he said. "You try to bring in new stuff and in a weird way, we're getting better at it all the time."
The number of nominations was expanded this year, allowing new contenders like the HBO polygamy series "Big Love", AMC's "Breaking Bad", CBS comedy "How I Met your Mother" and HBO's "Flight of the Conchords" to grab a piece of the Emmy action in a contest often criticized for getting stale.
Comedy "Family Guy" -- rescued by fans from cancellation in 2005 -- became the first animated series to be nominated for a primetime comedy Emmy since "The Flintstones" in 1961.
"There is so much good work, we have really recognized the diversity on television today," said John Shaffner, chairman and CEO of the Television Academy, which gives out the Emmys.
Among networks, cable channel HBO lead with 99 nominations, while Showtime had 29 and AMC 23. Broadcaster NBC earned 67 nominations, followed by ABC (55), CBS (49) and Fox (42).
OUT WITH OLD, IN WITH NEW
The Academy said 41 of the 83 nominations for comedy and drama programs for the June 2008-May 2009 season were different from the previous year. But the fresh faces meant some old favorites were snubbed.
Kiefer Sutherland of "24" got a single miniseries acting nomination for Fox's "24: Redemption" special, while Katherine Heigl of "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC) got nothing despite supporting actress recognition for co-stars Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson.
HBO's vampire series "True Blood" was also left out, despite a Golden Globe win for its young star Anna Paquin.
But Australian actor Simon Baker of the new CBS crime show "The Mentalist" got his first best actor Emmy nomination, while Jim Parsons of "The Big Bang Theory" and Toni Collette of Showtime's "United States of Tara" were other fresh faces.
HBO's made-for-TV movie "Grey Gardens", about two eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, got 17 nominations.
"American Idol" (Fox), "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC), "The Amazing Race" (CBS), "Project Runway' (Bravo) and "Top Chef" (Bravo) won nods in their reality TV category. Continued...
Reshaping the media
Nearly every piece of the media business is at a crossroads. Throw in the loss of billions of dollars in ad spending, and it is no wonder media insiders are keen to put 2009 behind them. Full Coverage
Honduras goes to polls.