60th Primetime Emmy Awards

The 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California.^[3] They were hosted by Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Ryan Seacrest^[1] (all were nominated in the debut category, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program) and televised in the United States on ABC.

The nominees were announced on July 17 by nominees Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Patrick Harris and Academy president John Schaffley.^[4] The Creative Arts Emmy Awards were held eight days earlier (September 13) at the same venue. They were hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke.

The telecast was viewed by 12.20 million^[5] with a household rating of 8.86/12.79^[6] making it the lowest rated and least viewed ceremony in its televised history. Many critics cited lackluster performances from the five hosts as a reason for the huge decline.^[7] Others pointed to the field of nominees which were dominated by low-rated and sparsely viewed programs,^[8] thus making the Emmys widely considered as a bust, which was panned by critics as "... the worst ever, laid a big, fat ratings egg as well ..."^[9]

When TV Guide Network re-did their "25 Biggest TV Blunders" list in 2011, the ceremony was included.

For the first time in a decade, the Outstanding Comedy Series award was won by the defending champion. 30 Rock was the top show of the night receiving five major awards, including the top prize. It also made history when it tied the record for most major nominations by a comedy series of 13 set by The Cosby Show in 1986, it would break this record the next year. It set another record when it received seven nominations in the guest acting categories, a mark that has not been matched since.

Outstanding Drama Series went to freshmen series Mad Men. This marked the first series award for a program on a basic cable station. Mad Men led all dramas with seven major nominations.

This would be the final ceremony to have five nominees per category, most major categories (acting, and programs) were expanded to include at least six slots the following year.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

Alec Baldwin, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series winner

Tina Fey, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series winner

Bryan Cranston, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series winner

Glenn Close, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series winner

Jeremy Piven, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series winner

Dianne Wiest, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winner

Programs

Acting

Lead performances

Supporting performances

Guest performances

Hosting

Directing

Writing

Most major nominations

By network ^{[note 1]}

• HBO – 44
• NBC – 30
• ABC – 29
• CBS – 11

By program

• 30 Rock (NBC) – 13
• John Adams (HBO) / Recount (HBO) – 8
• Mad Men (AMC) – 7
• Damages (FX) / The Office (NBC) – 6

Most major awards

By network ^{[note 1]}

• HBO – 11
• NBC – 6
• ABC – 4
• AMC – 3
• CBS / FX / Comedy Central – 2

By program

• 30 Rock (NBC) / John Adams (HBO) – 5

Notes

In Memoriam

References

External links

• Academy of Television Arts and Sciences website
• Emmys.com list of 2008 Nominees & Winners
• 2008 Emmy Awards at the Internet Movie Database