Tina Fey's acclaimed NBC sitcom 30 Rock led all shows and made history with a record 22 nominations. But outside of that network triumph, cable TV once again dominated the prime-time Emmy award nominations in most major categories.
Premium cable channel HBO led the field with a total of 99 nominations, while NBC finished a distant second with 67. HBO ran away from the pack with its superiority in movies and miniseries.
Grey Gardens, a film starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange as two eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, earned 17 nominations alone. Taking Chance and Generation Kill, two socially conscious productions related to the conflict in Iraq, combined for another 21. One of the nominations for Generation Kill went to Baltimore writer-producer David Simon.
In an effort to widen the field, the Emmys increased the number of nominees in major categories this year; there were seven each for best drama and best comedy. Cable swamped the networks in the most prestigious category of outstanding drama.
Two of the top drama series nominations went to cable channel AMC for Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Mad Men, which made history in 2008 as the first basic cable channel to win as best drama, ran up 16 nominations Thursday - second only to 30 Rock in the number of Emmys for any series.
In addition to being nominated as best drama series, Mad Men also made the cut in the categories of best actor for Jon Hamm and best actress for Elisabeth Moss.
And in a case of network excellence meets cable greatness, Hamm also was nominated for a guest-starring role on 30 Rock.
Other cable nominees in the realm of best drama are HBO's Big Love, Showtime's Dexter and FX's Damages.
The lone network nominees for best drama are ABC's Lost and Fox's House.
All in all, it is a most impressive group, though some folks are sure to be arguing about the snub for the final seasons of FX's The Shield and the Syfy channel's Battlestar Galactica. HBO's True Blood, which is emerging as the channel's first Sunday hit since The Sopranos, also was overlooked.
Among the biggest surprises were those in the category of best comedy, where HBO's Flight of the Conchords and Fox's Family Guy were among those earning nominations.
Conchords is mainly thought of as an off-beat niche program, while Family Guy is only the second animated comedy to ever be nominated. The first was The Flintstones in 1961. Since it lost that year, Family Guy could be the first animated series to ever win the Emmy for best comedy.
