The 2009 Emmy nominees have been announced and the group has expanded from last year. Each series and acting category was made bigger this year allowing for some surprising contenders.Family Guy has been nominated for best comedy series. This is the first time an animated series has been nominated since The Flintstones 1961. Family Guy will be competing against six other programs for the win. The other shows competing in this category are Entourage, Flight of the Conchords, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, 30 Rock and Weeds.
30 Rock, last year's top comedy series, has largest number of nominations with an astounding 22 nominations. Last years top drama series has the most nominations in its field as well with 16 nominations. The top TV movie nominees include Grey Gardens with 17 nominations and Into The Storm with with 14.
A new category has been added this year to honor comedy, musical and variety series. Nominees in this category are The Colbert Report, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Late Show with David Letterman, Real Time with Bill Maher and Saturday Night Live.
Some shows that surprisingly did not make the nomination list include True Blood, Desperate Housewives and Jon & Kate Plus 8.
The Emmys will air live on CBS on Sept. 20, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles with Neil Patrick Harris as the host.
