NBC, 'The Shield' lead Television Critics Association nominations

Michael Chiklis of 'The Shield'

The Television Critics Association has announced the nominees for the 2009 TCA Awards, with the final season of FX's "The Shield" leading the way with four nods.

"The Shield" snagged nominations for Program of the Year, Outstanding Drama, the TCA Heritage Award and for Walton Goggins for Individual Achievement in Drama. Although "The Shield" has never won a series TCA Award, star Michael Chiklis won for Individual Achievement in Drama in 2001-02.

While critics may take pleasure in maligning various NBC programming decisions, no network earned more than NBC's 11 nominations, with "30 Rock," "The Office" and "Saturday Night Live" all earning recognition in multiple categories.

As usual, it was a fine year for HBO, which earned three of the five nominations in the Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Mini-Series and Specials category for "Generation Kill," "Grey Gardens" and "Taking Chance" and two of the five for Outstanding New Program of the Year for "True Blood" and "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." That being said, HBO failed to earn a series nomination in the drama or comedy categories, nor for Program of the Year or the Heritage Award, which is either a first or else a decided rarity.

AMC also has reasons to be pleased, with "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" both earning nominations for Outstanding Achievement in Drama, with stars Bryan Cranston and Jon Hamm taking nominations for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Drama. "Mad Men" also has a chance to repeat last year's TCA Awards win for Program of the Year, where it will battle "The Shield," "Saturday Night Live," "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica."

Other past winners up for honors this year include Steve Carell ("The Office"), Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock"), Tina Fey ("30 Rock"), Hugh Laurie ("House"), Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," PBS's "Frontline" and Nickelodeon's "Nick News." 

Though the nominees are not listed, the TCA will also present a Career Achievement Award at the ceremony.

Voting for the 25th annual TCA Awards, honoring the finest work of the 2008-09 TV season, will be conducted by the group's 200-plus member critics and journalists (including this writer). The winners will be announced August 1st at The Langham, Huntington Hotel and Spa in Pasadena, California.

Your complete list of TCA Awards nominees:


PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
"Battlestar Galactica" (SciFi)
"Lost" (ABC)
"Mad Men" (AMC)
"Saturday Night Live" (NBC)
"The Shield" (FX)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
"30 Rock" (NBC)
"The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
"The Daily Show" (Comedy Central)
"How I Met Your Mother" (CBS)
"The Office" (NBC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
"Breaking Bad" (AMC)
"Friday Night Lights" (NBC)
"Lost" (ABC)
"Mad Men" (AMC)
"The Shield" (FX)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT MOVIES, MINI-SERIES AND SPECIALS
2008 Summer Olympic Coverage (NBC)
"24: Redemption" (FX)
"Generation Kill" (HBO)
"Grey Gardens" (HBO)
"Taking Chance" (HBO)

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
"Fringe" (Fox)
"The Mentalist" (CBS)
"No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency" (HBO)
"True Blood" (HBO)
"United States of Tara" (Showtime)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock")
Steve Carell ("The Office")
Tina Fey ("30 Rock")
Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother")
Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory")

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Glenn Close ("Damages")
Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad")
Walton Goggins ("The Shield")
Jon Hamm ("Mad Men")
Hugh Laurie ("House")

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING
"Camp Rock" (The Disney Channel)
"The Electric Company" (PBS)
"Nick News" (Nickelodeon)
"Sid the Science Kid" (PBS)
"Yo Gabba Gabba" (Nickelodeon)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION
"60 Minutes" (CBS)
"The Alzheimer’s Project" (HBO)
"Frontline" (PBS)
"The Rachel Maddow Show" (MSNBC)
"We Shall Remain" (PBS)

HERITAGE AWARD
"ER" (NBC)
"M*A*S*H" (CBS)
"Saturday Night Live" (NBC)
"The Shield" (FX)
"Star Trek" (NBC)

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.