Almost everyone got bragging rights to something in Thursday’s announcement by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences of the 2009 primetime Emmy nominations. With six nominees in the outstanding acting categories and seven in the outstanding series categories, chances are good your favorites are mentioned somewhere.
In recent years, the three-hour-plus Emmy Award extravaganzas have begun to feel like celebrations of the best of niche cable channels. Statuettes have been snapped up by “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Sopranos” . . . it’s been embarrassing for the broadcast network carrying the awards ceremony.
That’s why the nominations list is now longer than ever. Maybe, when CBS broadcasts the awards on Sept. 20, with Neil Patrick Harris as host, it won’t feel like network TV is giving over an entire night to plug smallish, artsy, indie fare on premium cable.
Last year’s winners, “30 Rock” and “Mad Men,” are again among the most nominated shows (with 22 and 16, respectively). HBO, with 99 nominations, again leads all networks.
The biggest surprises on the list: Sarah Silverman was nominated as lead actress in a comedy for her self-titled show on Comedy Central; “Family Guy” broke through the academy’s usual anti-animation stance to get a nomination for best comedy.
“Flight of the Conchords,” the offbeat HBO comedy, joins “Family Guy” up against more expected nominees “30 Rock,” “Entourage,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “The Office” and “Weeds.”
And “ER” was snubbed in the major categories.
Two more head-scratchers, missing from the list: “True Blood” and “The Shield.”
While the broadcast networks did manage to land two dramas on the list of nominees — Fox’s “House” and ABC’s “Lost” made the cut — the rest of the drama category belongs to cable: HBO’s “Big Love,” AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” FX’s “Damages,” Showtime’s “Dexter” and AMC’s “Mad Men.”
The made-for-TV movie category, once ruled by the broadcast networks, is now owned by cable, specifically Lifetime and HBO.
The nominees.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
