Peter Dinklage was one of the nominees for the Television Critics Association Awards.

Credit: HBO

Last week, the Television Critics Association announced that this year's TCA Awards would be hosted by "Parks and Recreation" star Nick Offerman. Now there's a chance that Ron Effing Swanson may be accepting an award in addition to serving as emcee, as he was one of the nominees just announced.

"Parks and Rec" was one of three series to get four nominations apiece this year (the others were for Amy Poehler, for comedy series and for Program of the Year), along with "Game of Thrones" (Peter Dinklage, new series, drama series and Program of the Year) and "Justified (Margo Martindale, Timothy Olyphant, drama series and Program of the Year).

There are always going to be quirks in the voting system - "Louie," for instance, got nominations for Louis CK and for comedy series but somehow didn't make the new series category - but overall I'm pleased with most of what I see on the ballot. A few things of particular note:

1)A while back, the TCA introduced The Heritage Award, which was our version of a lifetime achievement award for a series, rather than a person. Most of the time since the category was created, the award has gone to a show just finishing out its final season. Keeping with the pattern, you'd have assumed "Friday Night Lights" would have gotten a nomination there. It didn't (though was represented elsewhere, including Program of the Year), and so we'll have to think a little harder. (My vote, unsurprisingly, is going to "Freaks and Geeks."

2)This is the first year the TCA has tried out a reality category, and the nominees are a solid bunch, though based on Fienberg's recent reaction to "The Voice," that might turn out to be the last of the five.

3)Because the TCA only has one individual award per genre, actors compete against actresses and leads compete against supporting players. So Olyphant competes against Martindale, Offerman against Poehler, etc.

Here's the full list of nominees, which will be presented on August 6 near the end of the summer press tour:

Individual Achievement in Drama
Steve Buscemi (“Boardwalk Empire,” HBO)
Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones,” HBO)
Jon Hamm (“Mad Men,” AMC)
Julianna Margulies (“The Good Wife,” CBS)
Margo Martindale (“Justified”, FX)
Timothy Olyphant (“Justified,” FX)
 
Individual Achievement in Comedy
Ty Burrell (“Modern Family,” ABC)
Louis C.K. (“Louis,” FX)
Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation,” NBC)
Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation,” NBC)
Danny Pudi (“Community,” NBC)
Jon Stewart (“The Daily Show,” Comedy Central)
 
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
“If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise” (HBO)
“Restrepo” (National Geographic Channel)
“60 Minutes” (CBS)
“The Rachel Maddow Show” (MSNBC)
“30 for 30” (ESPN)

Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming
“Amazing Race” (CBS)
“Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” (Travel Channel)
“Survivor” (CBS)
“The Voice” (NBC)
“Top Chef: All Stars” (Bravo)

Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming
“A Children’s Garden of Poetry” (HBO)
“iCarly” (Nickelodeon)
“Nick News with Linda Ellerbee” (Nickelodeon)
“R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour” (The Hub)
“Sesame Street” (PBS)
“Yo Gabba Gabba” (Nick Jr.)
 
Outstanding New Program
“Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
“Terriers” (FX)
“The Killing” (AMC)
“Walking Dead” (AMC)

Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials
“Cineme Verite” (HBO)
“Downton Abbey: Masterpiece” (PBS)
“Mildred Pierce” (HBO)
“Sherlock: Masterpiece” (PBS)
“Too Big to Fail” (HBO)
 
Outstanding Achievement in Drama
“Friday Night Lights” (DirecTV/NBC)
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
“Justified” (FX)
“Mad Men” (AMC) 
“The Good Wife” (CBS)
 
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
“Community” (NBC)
“Louie” (FX)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“Parks and Recreation” (NBC)
“Raising Hope” (FOX)
 
Career Achievement Award
Steven Bochco
Dick Ebersol
Cloris Leachman
David Letterman
William Shatner
Oprah Winfrey
 
Heritage Award
“All in the Family”
“Freaks and Geeks”
“The Dick Van Dyke Show”
“Twin Peaks”
 
Program of the Year
“Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
“Friday Night Lights” (DirecTV/NBC)
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
“Justified” (FX)
“Parks and Recreation” (NBC)

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

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Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com