FOX’s Family Guy may be the first animated series to be nominated for a primetime Emmy Award in the Comedy category. For the first time ever, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has released a list of the top ten comedy and drama shows favored to get Emmy nominations. Based on voting by Academy members thus far, the announcement of finalists is intended to prevent leaks that have hit the web in previous years.
Family Guy and fellow primetime comedies Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO), Entourage (HBO), Flight of the Concords (HBO), The Office (NBC), Pushing Daisies (ABC), 30 Rock (NBC), Two and a Half Men (CBS), Ugly Betty (ABC) and Weeds (Showtime) will now move on to two Blue Ribbon Panel screenings to be conducted throughout this weekend (June 28-29). The results of each panel will represent 50% percent of the vote and will be averaged together to determine the five nominees in each category.
Nominations for the 60th Annual Emmy Awards will be announced by the Television Academy at 5:40 a.m. on Thursday, July 17. Top contenders in the Drama category are Boston Legal (ABC), Damages (FX), Dexter (Showtime), Friday Night Lights (NBC), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), House (FOX), Lost (ABC), Mad Men (AMC), The Tudors (Showtime) and The Wire (HBO).
The producers of Family Guy have hedged their bets by also entering the hour-long Star Wars spoof Family Guy: Blue Harvest as an animated special. While that production vies for a spot in the separate Creative Arts competition, the half-hour series has a shot at competing with the top live-action shows.
