2009 Emmy nominations announced

The 2009 Emmy nominations were announced this morning, and for the first time in a long time, there were actually a few surprises.

Voters still omitted plenty of talented actors (we’ll get to specifics in a minute), but they seemed more willing to embrace new blood than they have in the past.

The comedy categories saw the biggest makeover, with an almost unprecedented seven nominees for Best Comedy, including first timers like CBS’s awesome “How I Met Your Mother,” Fox’s “Family Guy” and HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords.”

“The Big Bang Theory’s” Jim Parsons was nominated for Best Actor; Sarah Silverman for Best Actress for “The Sarah Silverman Program;” “30 Rock’s” Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer for Best Supporting Actor (yay!); and Kristin Wiig and Kristin Chenoweth for Best Supporting Actress for “Saturday Night Live” and “Pushing Daisies.“

As for the dramas, “The Mentalist” star Simon Baker made the cut for Best Actor, and “Mad Men’s” Elisabeth Moss joined the likes of Glenn Close, Kyra Sedgwick and Sally Field in the Best Actress category.

I was also glad to see Bravo’s “Top Chef,” one of my favorite reality shows, and its hosts, Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio, nominated.

Now, about those glaring omissions.

Anna Paquin deserved to join Moss, Close, et al for HBO’s vampire saga “True Blood,” as did Lynchburg’s own Connie Britton, a critics’ darling for her work on “Friday Night Lights.”

We know that Emmy voters are in tune with USA — see: Tony Shalhoub, star of “Monk” and a frequent Best Actor nominee — so why don’t they show its other, better series some love?

It would’ve been great to see leading men James Roday (“Psych”) and Jeffrey Donovan (“Burn Notice”) included, as well as their hilarious costars, Dule Hill and Bruce Campbell.

And where were my men Josh Holloway, who did some of the best work of his career during this season on “Lost;” Jason O’Mara, leading man of the late, great “Life on Mars;” Kevin McKidd, a smoking hot addition to the cast of “Grey’s Anatomy;” and Alexander Skarsgard, a supporting player on “True Blood” and one of the leads in HBO’s nominated miniseries “Generation Kill?”

Some repeat nominations, however, are just necessary, including this year’s Emmy host, Neil Patrick Harris, for “How I Met Your Mother,” the always creepy Michael Emerson for “Lost,” Christina Applegate for “Samantha Who?” and “Grey’s” stalwarts Chandra Wilson and Sandra Oh.

Here’s the complete list of nominees:

Comedy
Entourage (HBO)
Family Guy (Fox)
Flight of the Conchords (HBO)
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
The Office (NBC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Weeds (Showtime)

Drama
Big Love (HBO)
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Damages (FX)
Dexter (Showtime)
House (Fox)
Lost (ABC)
Mad Men (AMC)

Lead Actor in a Comedy
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Jemaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Steve Carell, The Office
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Lead Actress in a Comedy
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Sarah Silverman, The Sarah Silverman Program
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Lead Actor in a Drama
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Simon Baker, The Mentalist

Lead Actress in a Drama
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace

Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson, The Office
Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock
Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Kristin Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds

Supporting Actor in a Drama
William Shatner, Boston Legal
Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
William Hurt, Damages
Michael Emerson, Lost
John Slattery, Mad Men

Supporting Actress in a Drama
Rose Byrne, Damages
Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy
Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
Hope Davis, In Treatment
Cherry Jones, 24

Guest Actor in a Comedy
Beau Bridges, Desperate Housewives
Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live
Steve Martin, 30 Rock
Jon Hamm, 30 Rock
Alan Alda, 30 Rock

Guest Actress in a Comedy
Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory
Gena Rowlands, Monk
Betty White, My Name Is Earl
Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live
Jennifer Aniston, 30 Rock
Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock

Guest Actor in a Drama
Edward Asner,“CSI: NY
Ted Danson, Damages
Jimmy Smits, Dexter
Ernest Borgnine, ER
Michael J. Fox, Rescue Me

Guest Actress in a Drama
Sharon Lawrence, Grey’s Anatomy
Ellen Burstyn, Law & Order: SVU
Brenda Blethyn, Law & Order: SVU
Carol Burnett, Law & Order: SVU
CCH Pounder, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Series
Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race
Ryan Seacrest, “American Idol
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars
Heidi Klum, Project Runway
Jeff Probst, Survivor
Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio, Top Chef

Reality Competition Series
The Amazing Race (CBS)
American Idol (Fox)
Top Chef (Bravo)
Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
Project Runway (Bravo)