'Modern Family', ABC Lead Nominations For Inaugural Critics' Choice Television Awards

The Broadcast TV Journalists Association, the recently launched offshoot of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, just announced nominations for its inaugural Critics’ Choice Television Awards. Fueled by Modern Family, which led the series field with 6 nominations, including best comedy series, ABC topped all networks with 16 nominations. (The network’s underrated comedy, The Middle, got its first major awards recognition with 2 noms, including best comedy series.) AMC and FX landed the most nominations on the cable side with 9 each. The nomination highlights include strong showing for genre series, with Fox’s Fringe, AMC’s The Walking Dead and HBO’s Game of Thrones all landing best drama series noms. AMC dominated the category with 3 entries, Mad Men, The Walking Dead and The Killing. (Its much lauded drama Breaking Bad was not eligible because its fourth season was delayed.) The best comedy series category features several off-beat shows often overlooked by bigger awards shows, NBC’s Community and Parks & Recreation and FX’s Archer and Louie. FX, which often does not get a lot of love by the TV Academy, did surprisingly well, landing 3 best series noms, for the 2 comedies and drama Justified, as well as noms in all drama acting categories and 2 in the best actor in a comedy series field for Louie‘s Louis CK and Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. No major snubs as Mad Men, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, Showtime’s Dexter, CBS’ The Good Wife, DirecTV’s Friday Night Lights, ABC’s Modern Family, Fox’s Glee, NBC’s The Office and 30 Rock and CBS’ The Big Bang Theory all received best drama/comedy series noms. There were surpises in the best talk show category where David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert were all overlooked in favor of Chelsea Lately, Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel who will square off against Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres. Also noteworthy: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was nominated as best reality series, RuPaul’s Drag Race as best competition reality series. The Critics’ Choice TV Awards, which are determined by journalists, are clearly intended to influence the nominations for the upcoming Primetime Emmy Awards as today’s noms are being announced the same day Emmy nominating ballots are being posted on TV Academy’s web site. And the winners of the Critics’ Choice TV Awards will be announced June 20, 4 days before the end of the Emmy nominations voting period. Here is the official release with the list of nominees:

LOS ANGELES (June 6, 2011) – The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), a new offshoot of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, today announced nominations for the inaugural Critics’ Choice Television Awards, hosted by Cat Deeley and scheduled to take place at a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel on June 20, 2011. ABC was the most nominated broadcast network with 16 nominations, followed closely by NBC with 12.  AMC and FX led nominations for cable networks, with nine each.  Modern Family was the most nominated series with six.

Best Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire – HBO

Dexter – Showtime

Friday Night Lights – DirecTV

Fringe – FOX

Game of Thrones – HBO

The Good Wife – CBS

Justified – FX

The Killing – AMC

Mad Men – AMC

The Walking Dead – AMC

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire – HBO

Kyle Chandler – Friday Night Lights – DirecTV

Michael C. Hall – Dexter – Showtime

Jon Hamm – Mad Men – AMC

William H. Macy – Shameless – Showtime

Timothy Olyphant – Justified – FX

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Connie Britton – Friday Night Lights – DirecTV

Mireille Enos – The Killing – AMC

Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife – CBS

Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men – AMC

Katey Sagal – Sons of Anarchy – FX

Anna Torv – Fringe – FOX

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Alan Cumming – The Good Wife – CBS

Walton Goggins – Justified – FX

Shawn Hatosy – Southland – TNT

John Noble – Fringe – FOX

Michael Pitt – Boardwalk Empire – HBO

John Slattery – Mad Men – AMC

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Michelle Forbes – The Killing – AMC

Christina Hendricks – Mad Men – AMC

Margo Martindale – Justified – FX

Kelly Macdonald – Boardwalk Empire – HBO

Archie Panjabi – The Good Wife – CBS

Chloë Sevigny – Big Love – HBO

Best Reality Series

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – ABC

Hoarders – A&E

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills – Bravo

Sister Wives – TLC

Undercover Boss – CBS

Best Reality Series – Competition

The Amazing Race – CBS

American Idol – FOX

Dancing with the Stars – ABC

Project Runway – Lifetime

RuPaul’s Drag Race – Logo

Top Chef – Bravo

Best Reality Show Host

Tom Bergeron – Dancing with the Stars – ABC

Cat Deeley – So You Think You Can Dance – FOX

Ty Pennington – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – ABC

Mike Rowe – Dirty Jobs – Discovery

Ryan Seacrest – American Idol – FOX

Best Talk Show

Chelsea Lately – E!

The Daily Show – Comedy Central

The Ellen DeGeneres Show – Warner Bros.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! – ABC

The Oprah Winfrey Show – Harpo

Best Comedy Series

Archer – FX

The Big Bang Theory – CBS

Community – NBC

Glee – FOX

Louie – FX

The Middle – ABC

Modern Family – ABC

The Office – NBC

Parks and Recreation – NBC

30 Rock – NBC

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock – NBC

Steve Carell – The Office – NBC

Louis C.K. – Louie – FX

Charlie Day – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – FX

Joel McHale – Community – NBC

Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory – CBS

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Courteney Cox – Cougar Town – ABC

Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie – Showtime

Tina Fey – 30 Rock – NBC

Patricia Heaton – The Middle – ABC

Martha Plimpton – Raising Hope – FOX

Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation – NBC

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Ty Burrell – Modern Family – ABC

Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother – CBS

Nick Offerman – Parks and Recreation – NBC

Ed O’Neill – Modern Family – ABC

Danny Pudi – Community – NBC

Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family – ABC

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Julie Bowen – Modern Family – ABC

Jane Krakowski – 30 Rock – NBC

Jane Lynch – Glee – FOX

Busy Philipps – Cougar Town – ABC

Eden Sher – The Middle – ABC

Sofía Vergara – Modern Family – ABC

Submissions are still being accepted for The Most Exciting New Series category.

Cable and satellite network REELZCHANNEL will broadcast the Critics’ Choice Television Awards premiering on June 22 at 8 p.m. ET and repeating at 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET.  The Awards will be rebroadcast throughout the week.  VH1.com will exclusively live stream the awards show on June 20 and will make select footage available for on-demand viewing following the star-studded event. Bob Bain will executive produce the show for Bob Bain Productions. The Critics’ Choice Television Awards honors programs and performances that aired between June 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011.