HBO Again Leads Emmy Noms With 104
'Mildred Pierce,' 'Mad Men,' 'Boardwalk Empire' lead series nominations; 'Big Bang' scores its first comedy nod
By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/14/2011 9:59:38 AM
B&C's Complete Emmy Coverage
Click here for reactions from the nominees
Updated at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Emmy nominations are out, and cable continues to dominate
Emmy's drama picks while broadcast shut out cable in comedy. Overall, HBO far
and away dominated the nominations, with 104 nods overall, more than double its
closest network competitor, CBS, which had 50.
The broadcast networks hoped this might be the year they
would see a comeback in Emmy's drama categories, but that was not to be.
Overall, the drama categories presented more surprises, while comedy
recognition remained largely static.
HBO nominations included 21 for overall leader Mildred
Pierce and 18 for outstanding drama series nominee, Boardwalk Empire. HBO also
grabbed 13 nominations for its new fantasy epic, Game of Thrones, although the
series only garnered one acting nom for Peter Dinklage in the best supporting
actor category.
CBS' 50 nominations declined from last year's 57. Last year,
ABC was the most nominated broadcast network with 63 nominations; this year,
that dropped to 40, the least of any broadcast network, including PBS.
NBC was the second-most nominated broadcast network with 46
nominations, the same number it received last year. PBS was third with 43, up
from last year's 32. Fox was close behind in fourth with 42 nominations, down
from last year's 48.
HBO was far and away the cable and overall leader. Basic
cable network AMC, in second place among cable networks, improved its 2010
tally to 29 nominations up from 26, even without Emmy-winning Breaking Bad.
Following AMC was Showtime in third place with 21 nominations, down a bit from
last year's 23. ReelzChannel, with surprise Emmy love for its controversial
Kennedys mini-series, received ten nominations, while Starz received nine,
mostly due to mini-series Pillars of the Earth, which earned seven nominations.
FX got six, down from last year's nine when Damages was in contention, with Justified's four and Louie's two.
AMC's Mad Men remains one of TV's most honored programs, and
was the most nominated series with 19 total nods. Only HBO's Mildred Pierce,
starring the also-nominated Kate Winslet, received more nominations.
Mad Men faces stiff competition from several newcomers with
strong support and critical acclaim behind them. HBO's Boardwalk Empire, at one
time considered the favorite and this year's Golden Globe winner, is the
second-most nominated series with 18 nominations. CBS' The Good Wife, with nine
total nominations, is in a position to upset either of those two, but
considering that Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire lead in total nominees, a Good
Wife win would be a big surprise.
The Good Wife is the only broadcast series to receive a
drama nod. Friday Night Lights -- with four total noms, including nods for both
leads, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton -- started on NBC but then moved to
DirecTV. The other two nominations come from premium cable: HBO's fantasy epic
Game of Thrones -- with 13 overall nominations, including a best supporting
acting nomination for the charismatic Peter Dinklage -- and Showtime's Dexter,
with five.
Boardwalk Empire's Steve Buscemi will face off against Mad
Men's Jon Hamm in the lead actor category. Buscemi won this year's Golden
Globe, while Hamm has been nominated in the three previous years but never won.
Joining Buscemi and Hamm are Dexter's Michael C. Hall and House's Hugh Laurie.
Two critical favorites also garnered nominations: FNL's Kyle Chandler and
Justified's Timothy Olyphant. Opening this field this year is the fact that
Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, who has won this award for the past three years,
is not in contention.
The lead actress field -- won last year by The Closer's Kyra
Sedwick, who is not nominated this year -- is wide open. The Good Wife's
Julianna Margulies should be considered the favorite. Previous winner and
constant nominee Mariska Hargitay was again nominated for her role in Law &
Order: Special Victims Unit, as was Mad Men's Moss. As noted, FNL's Connie
Britton grabbed a nomination. This categories' newcomers included The Killing's
Mireille Enos, considered a major breakout star this year, and Harry's Law's
Kathy Bates, although Bates is no stranger to awards.
Two of The Good Wife's actors were nominated in the
supporting actor category: Josh Charles and Alan Cumming. Mad Men's Slattery
received another nod for his role as the wise-cracking Roger Sterling. Andre
Braugher also received a repeat nod for his role in TNT's Men of a Certain Age.
Game of Thrones' Dinkalge and Justified's Walton Goggins are this category's
rookie entries.
The Good Wife's supporting women also were noted, with last
year's winner, Archie Panjabi, again nominated and considered the favorite
after a strong storyline this year. Christine Baranski also received a
nomination.
Mad Men's Christina Hendricks repeated, and rookie breakouts
filled the rest of the category: Kelly Macdonald for Boardwalk Empire, Michelle
Forbes for The Killing and Margo Martindale for Justified.
All six nominated series -- 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, The
Office, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Glee - air on broadcast
networks. Four of the series - NBC's 30 Rock, The Office and Parks and Rec and
CBS' Big Bang Theory - air on Thursday nights.
CBS' The Big Bang Theory - the top-rated comedy on
television after CBS' Two and a Half Men, which took itself out of contention
this year - scored its first-ever nomination this year and five nominations
overall. Two of its cast members - last year's winner Jim Parsons and Johnny
Galecki - each were nominated as well in the lead actor category.
Big Bang will face last year's winner, ABC's Modern Family.
Modern Family is the show to beat: it boasts the most nominations of any comedy
with 17 and its entire adult cast is nominated. Nearly all of NBC's Thursday
night returning comedy line-up - sans Community - was nominated, with
critically adored Parks and Rec the new entry.
Notably excluded here are Showtime's five comedies -- The
Big C, Nurse Jackie, United States of Tara, Episodes and Weeds, although
several actors from these shows were nominated, including last year's best
actress, Nurse Jackie's Edie Falco; The Big C's Laura Linney, who won this
year's Golden Globe; and Episodes' Matt LeBlanc for best lead actor in a
comedy.
Four of the six lead comedy actor nominees came from
nominated series: besides Parsons and Galecki, Steve Carell was nominated for
his work in his final season on The Office, and former winner Alec Baldwin was
again nominated for 30 Rock. Newcomers
to this category are LeBlanc and Louis C.K. for FX's Louie.
The lead actress nominees in comedy did not match up with
the series noms as closely as the men did. Good friends and former Saturday
Night Live co-stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler each were nominated for their
respective series, 30 Rock and Parks and Rec. Otherwise, the ladies come from
series that didn't receive nods. Melissa McCarthy, who is having a breakout
year with her role in the box-office hit Bridesmaids, was nominated for CBS'
Mike and Molly, and Martha Plimpton of Fox's Raising Hope both join Linney and
Falco.
The nominations for best supporting actor in a comedy almost
exactly mirrored last year's nominations, with the four male cast members from
Modern Family all nominated, including last year's winner, Eric Stonestreet,
and with the addition of Ed O'Neill, who replaces How I Met Your Mother's Neil
Patrick Harris. Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Ty Burrell also grabbed nods. Two
repeat nominations -- Glee's Chris Colfer and Two and a Half Men's Jon Cryer -
round out the field.
Modern Family's two female cast members - Sofia Vergara and
Julie Bowen - also again received supporting actress nominations. Last year's
winner and this year's Emmy host, Glee's Jane Lynch, is again nominated, as are
SNL's Kristen Wiig and 30 Rock's Jane Krakowsi.
Hot in Cleveland's Betty White - an Emmy vet - ironically is this
category's rookie.
Fox's So You Think You Can Dance is the newcomer to the
outstanding reality competition program category, with the rest of the category
filled by vets. Last year's winner, Bravo's Top Chef, is again nominated, as is
the previous long-time winner, CBS' Amazing Race. Other contenders: Fox's
top-rated American Idol, Lifetime's Project Runway and ABC's Dancing With the
Stars.
Nominated in the Outstanding Reality Program category are
PBS' Antiques Roadshow, Discovery's Deadliest Catch and Mythbusters, A&E's
Hoarders, Bravo's Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, and CBS' Undercover
Boss.
Mildred Pierce is the obvious favorite to be named
outstanding mini-series or movie in the newly combined category, with star Kate
Winslet nominated for lead actress in a mini-series. HBO's Cinema Verite,
starring the nominated Diane Lane, and HBO's Too Big to Fail are earned nods.
Other nominees in this category include ReelzChannel's controversial The
Kennedys, starring the nominated Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy; PBS' Downtown
Abbey, a production of Masterpiece Theatre; and Starz' The Pillars of the
Earth.
Click here to view the list of 2011 Emmy nominees.
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