The nominees for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards were announced in Los Angeles today (14 July 2011), after a year of anticipation and speculation.
The annually increasing buzz surrounding the awards suggests that TV has officially taken over from cinema as
the place to be. The days of cinema being regarded as more important are over.
Premiere shows are proving to be more original and exciting than new movies, the special effects are on a par and performances are often far more sophisticated than the performances of many movie actors who dial it in for a huge pay check.
The announcement of the Primetime nominees follows hot on the heels of the
Daytime Emmys in mid-June.
For those who've been enquiring about the difference between the two ceremonies: the Daytime Emmys cover shows on Daytime TV in the US; and the Primetime Emmys are for the evening shows.
It can be confusing because many of the daytime series air in the evening in South Africa. Talk shows and soapies such as Oprah, Ellen and Bold and the Beautiful all air during the day in the US.
The two ceremonies used to be one when the awards were first introduced in the late 1940's. They spilt into two in the early seventies, with the Daytime ceremony predecing the Primetime one annually.
Glee's Jane Lynch hosts the awards this year, following her win last year for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role as Sue Sylvester. She's been nominated in the same category again this year.
Without further adieu, the nominees in the main categories are:
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
Connie Britton as Tami Taylor, Friday Night Lights
Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick, The Good Wife
Kathy Bates as Harriet "Harry" Korn, Harry's Law
Mireille Enos as Sarah Linden, The Killing
Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson, Mad Men
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson, Boardwalk Empire
Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, Dexter
Kyle Chandler as Coach Eric Taylor, Friday Night Lights
Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House, House
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, Justified
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Mad Men
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Kelly Macdonald as Margaret Schroeder, Boardwalk Empire
Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma, The Good Wife
Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, The Good Wife
Margo Martindale as Mags Bennett, Justified
Michelle Forbes as Mitch Larsen, The Killing
Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris, Mad Men
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones
Josh Charles as Will Gardner, The Good Wife
Alan Cumming as Eli Gold, The Good Wife
Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder, Justified
John Slattery as Roger Sterling, Mad Men
Andre Braugher as Owen, Men of a Certain Age
Outstanding Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Game Of Thrones
The Good Wife
Mad Men
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
Laura Linney as Cathy Jamison, The Big C
Melissa McCarthy as Molly Flynn, Mike & Molly
Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, Parks And Recreation
Martha Plimpton as Virginia Chance, Raising Hope
Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, 30 Rock
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory
Johnny Galecki as Leonard Hofstadter, The Big Bang Theory
Matt LeBlanc as Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Louis C.K. as Louie, Louie
Steve Carell as Michael Scott, The Office
Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester, Glee
Betty White as Elka Ostrosky, Hot in Cleveland
Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy, Modern Family
Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, Modern Family
Kristen Wiig as Various characters, Saturday Night Live
Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney, 30 Rock
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel, Glee
Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett, Modern Family
Ed O'Neill as Jay Pritchett, Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker, Modern Family
Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy, Modern Family
Jon Cryer as Alan Harper, Two and a Half Men
Outstanding Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
Modern Family
The Office
Parks And Recreation
30 Rock
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie
Diane Lane as Patricia Loud, Cinema Verite
Elizabeth McGovern as Cora, Countess of Grantham, Downton Abbey
Kate Winslet as Mildred Pierce, Mildred Pierce
Taraji P. Henson as Tiffany Rubin, Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story
Jean Marsh as Rose Buck, Upstairs Downstairs (Masterpiece)
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie
Edgar Ramirez as Carlos, Carlos
Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy, The Kennedys
Barry Pepper as Bobby Kennedy, The Kennedys
Idris Elba as John Luther, Luther
Laurence Fishburne as Thurgood Marshall, Thurgood
William Hurt as Henry 'Hank' Paulson, Too Big Too Fail
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie
Maggie Smith as Violet in Downton Abbey
Evan Rachel Wood as Veda Pierce in Mildred Pierce
Melissa Leo as Lucy Gessler in Mildred Pierce
Mare Winningham as Ida in Mildred Pierce
Eileen Atkins as Lady Maud Holland in Upstairs Downstairs
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie
Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy in The Kennedys
Guy Pearce as Monty Beragon in Mildred Pierce
Brian F. O'Byrne as Bert Pierce in Mildred Pierce
Paul Giamatti as Ben Bernanke in Too Big To Fail
James Woods as Richard Fuld in Too Big To Fail
Outstanding Miniseries Or Movie
Cinema Verite
Downton Abbey
The Kennedys
Mildred Pierce
The Pillars Of The Earth
Too Big To Fail
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program
Phil Keoghan for The Amazing Race
Ryan Seacrest for American Idol
Tom Bergeron for Dancing With The Stars
Cat Deeley for So You Think You Can Dance
Jeff Probst for Survivor
Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race - CBS
American Idol - FOX
Dancing With The Stars - ABC
Project Runway - Lifetime
So You Think You Can Dance - FOX
Top Chef - Bravo
Outstanding Reality Program
Antiques Roadshow - PBS
Deadliest Catch - Discovery Channel
Hoarders - A&E
Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List - Bravo
MythBusters - Discovery Channel
Undercover Boss - CBS
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
Any Human Heart (Masterpiece) - PBS. Music by Dan Jones.
The Borgias - Showtime. Music by Trevor Morris.
Camelot - Starz. Music by Jeff Danna and Mychael Danna
Episodes - Showtime. Music by Mark Thomas
The Kennedys - ReelzChannel. Music by Sean P. Callery.
Mildred Pierce - HBO. Music by Carter Burwell.
Outstanding Animated Program
The Cleveland Show
Futurama
Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III
The Simpsons
South Park