Special Report: Four Things You Should Know About the 2010 Primetime Emmys

B&C’s cheat sheet of nominee trivia about the 62nd annual awards

By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/26/2010 12:01:00 AM

RELATED: Emmy Rules Tweaks Pay Off

With the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards telecast set for Aug. 29, now is the time to bone up on Emmy knowledge. Which series has been nominated the most times? Which actor? And which is the most nominated network? Here is all you need to dazzle (or bore) every guest at your Emmy party.

Which scripted series have received the most nominations?
This year’s Emmy darling is Fox freshman Glee, with 19 nods, but that still trails NBC’s 30 Rock’s single-season record; last year, the show was nominated for 22 Emmys and won five. This year, 30 Rock’s star has faded a bit, but the show still garnered a respectable 15 nominations.

Other shows that hauled in a raft of nods include AMC’s Mad Men, with 17, and ABC’s Modern Family, with 14. And HBO’s The Pacific, a miniseries, scored 24 nominations, making it this year’s most nominated program of any sort.

The scripted series on this year’s ballot with the most nominations over its run is Fox’s 24, with 68 nominations and 18 wins since it became eligible in 2002. This year, 24’s last season, it’s nominated for five Emmys. 30 Rock has racked up 64 nominations and 14 wins over its four years in contention.

NBC’s ER holds the record for most Emmy nominations for a scripted series, with 124, while NBC’s Frasier notched the most wins, with 37.

Which reality competition series earned the most nominations?
Besides managing to remain TV’s highest-rated show for eight years, Fox’s American Idol is also TV’s most-nominated reality competition, with 48 nominations and six wins under its belt. This year and last, however, ABC’s Dancing With the Stars was the most nominated non-fiction/ reality program, with nine nods this year and 10 last.

The winningest reality competition is CBS’ The Amazing Race, with 12 wins.

Who are the winningest actors on the ballot?
This year’s most-nominated performer is Curb funny ladies: Tina Fey and Betty White, each with 16 nominations. Fey, less than half White’s age, has already outpaced White, bringing home seven wins to White’s four.

Fey, like David, has the advantage of being a triple-threat. She has won Emmys for writing, executive-producing and starring on 30 Rock, and for producing and writing NBC’s Saturday Night Live, which, ironically, is the show that White is nominated for guesting on last spring. Fey also won for guesting on SNL in 2009.

What is the most nominated net?
ABC gets that distinction among the broadcast networks, with 63 nominations this year, up from last year’s 55. NBC declined the most year-to-year, dropping to 48 nominations this year from 67 last year. Per usual, Fox has the least number of nominees, with 47, but that’s up four from last year’s 43. About one-fifth of those nominations come from Glee.

The most nominated network is again premium cable network HBO, with 101 nominations, up two from last year. This year, nearly one-quarter of those nominations came from The Pacific. Two HBO made-for-TV movies, Temple Grandin and You Don’t Know Jack, scored 15 each; True Blood, nominated for best drama series, pulled in five.