Charlie Sheen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jim Parsons, Kyra Sedgwick, Simon Baker,
Jon Cryer, Kristin Chenoweth and Kevin Dillon Are Among the Acting Nominees
BURBANK, Calif. (16 July 2009) – Television programming distributed by Warner Bros. International Television (WBITV) received 31 nominations for the 61st Primetime Emmy® Awards, it was announced today by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at its Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood, Calif.
“Two and a Half Men” – the highest-rated comedy on U.S. television – earned three nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Charlie Sheen and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Jon Cryer, each of whom were nominated for the fourth year in a row.
Breakout hit comedy series “The Big Bang Theory” also scored three nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Jim Parsons and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Christine Baranski.
Kyra Sedgwick picked up her fourth Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series nomination in a row for “The Closer,” and Julia Louis-Dreyfus got her fourth consecutive Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” Both have been Emmy®-nominated for every season their respective shows have been on the air.
Simon Baker – the star of freshman drama “The Mentalist,” the #1 new television season of the 2008–2009 season in the U.S. among total viewers – was nominated as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
“ER” concluded its stellar 15-season run this year by nabbing two more nominations: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Ernest Borgnine and Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series. This brings the total number of “ER” Emmy® nods to 124, the most in the history of television.
Critical favorite “Pushing Daisies” received five nominations in its final season, including Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Kristin Chenoweth.
HBO’s acclaimed comedy “Entourage” earned four nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Kevin Dillon for the third year in a row, and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, for the fifth year in a row in that category.
Finally, HBO’s drama series “Big Love” was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series.
Following is a complete list of WBITV nominations by program:
“Two and a Half Men”
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – Jon Cryer as Alan Harper
- Outstanding Hairstyling for a Multi-Camera series or special
“The Big Bang Theory”
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – Christine Baranski as Beverly Hofstadter
- Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera series
“The New Adventure of Old Christine”
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine
- Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera series
“The Mentalist”
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series – Simon Baker as Patrick Jane
“The Closer”
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson
“ER”
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series – Ernest Borgnine as Paul Manning
- Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series – Rob Holcomb, “And in the End”
“Nip/Tuck”
- Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic)
- Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Single-Camera Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special
“Fringe”
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series
“Smallville”
- Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series
“Chuck”
- Outstanding Stunt Coordination
“Pushing Daisies”
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook
- Outstanding Art Direction for a Single Camera series
- Outstanding Costumes for a Series
- Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series
- Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic)
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”
- Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series
“Entourage”
- Outstanding Comedy Series
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – Kevin Dillon as Johnny Drama
- Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
- Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation
“Big Love”
- Outstanding Drama Series
“MADtv”
- Outstanding Hairstyling for a Multi-Camera series or special
- Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic)
“Destination Animation (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends)”
- Outstanding Animated Program