Award Central News

The nation's TV critics are giving ousted NBC Entertainment prexy Kevin Reilly a going-away present, awarding a leading 13 TV Critics Assn. noms to Peacock series.

A dozen of the net's noms went to three frosh series greenlit by Reilly: "Friday Night Lights," "30 Rock" and "Heroes." The other NBC nom went to the net's third-year hit "The Office," which was developed by Reilly and is exec produced by his replacement, Ben Silverman.

"Friday Night Lights" was the most nommed series overall, with five mentions. Skein's leads, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, were both nominated in the drama acting categories.

HBO was runner-up in overall mentions, tallying eight noms in regular categories (plus a mention for "The Sopranos" in the Heritage Award category, the TCA's equivalent to a lifetime achievement award).

ABC scored four noms, including three for newcomer "Ugly Betty." Comedy Central, Fox and Showtime each scored two noms, while CBS' current slate of shows -- despite attracting more viewers than any other network -- was shut out by crix. Eye classics "MASH" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" are nommed in the heritage category, however.

Also shut out was FX, which didn't score any noms for new skeins "The Riches" or "Dirt." TNT also didn't get any recognition for its critic-friendly drama "The Closer."

Overall, it was a good year for new shows. In addition to NBC's frosh trio and the three noms for ""Ugly Betty," Showtime's "Dexter" snagged two noms.

Crix also took the rare step of nominating two documentaries --Discovery's "Planet Earth" and HBO's "When the Levees Broke" -- in the program of the year category.

Winners will be announced July 21 at the TCA's annual gala at the Beverly Hilton.

And the nominees are...

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
"American Idol" (Fox")
"Friday Night Lights" (NBC")
"Heroes" (NBC")
"Planet Earth" (Discovery") "The Wire" (HBO")
"When the Levees Broke" (HBO")

COMEDY
"30 Rock" (NBC")
"The Daily Show" (Comedy Central")
"Entourage" (HBO")
"The Office" (NBC")
"Ugly Betty" (ABC")

DRAMA
"Friday Night Lights" (NBC")
"Heroes" (NBC")
"Lost" (ABC")
"The Sopranos" (HBO")
"The Wire" (HBO")

MOVIES, MINISERIES AND SPECIALS
"Broken Trail" (AMC")
"Planet Earth" (Discovery")
"Prime Suspect" (PBS")
"The State Within" (BBC America")
"When the Levees Broke" (HBO")

NEW PROGRAM
"30 Rock" (NBC")
"Dexter" (Showtime")
"Friday Night Lights" (NBC")
"Heroes" (NBC")
"Ugly Betty" (ABC")

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock")
Stephen Colbert ("The Colbert Report")
America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty")
Tina Fey ("30 Rock")
Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show")

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights")
Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights")
Michael C. Hall ("Dexter")
Hugh Laurie ("House")
Helen Mirren ("Prime Suspect")

CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING
"Dora the Explorer" (Nickelodeon")
"Johnny and the Sprites" (The Disney Channel")
"Kyle XY" (ABC Family")
"Lincoln Heights" (ABC Family")
"SpongeBob Squarepants" (Nickelodeon")

NEWS & INFORMATION
"Baghdad ER" (HBO")
"Bill Moyers Journal" (PBS")
"Galapagos" (National Geographic")
"Planet Earth" (Discovery")
"When the Levees Broke" (HBO")

HERITAGE AWARD
"MASH" (CBS")
"Roots" (ABC")
"Sesame Street" (PBS")
"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS")
"The Sopranos" (HBO")