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.
