Glee Garners 19 Emmy Nominations, Including Nods for Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison

Glee amassed 19 nominations for the 62nd annual prime-time Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Broadway vets Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison received nominations in the lead actor categories as Rachel Berry and Will Schuester, with Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch cited for their supporting performances as Kurt Hummel and Sue Sylvester. Kristin Chenoweth received an Emmy nomination for her guest performance as April Rhodes, along with Mike O’Malley as Burt Hummel and Neil Patrick Harris as Bryan Ryan. The Emmy nominations were announced on July 8 and will be presented on August 29 in a ceremony hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

As usual, the list of Emmy nominees included many theater stars, including Jane Krakowski and Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), a second nomination for Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Tony Shalhoub (Monk), Glenn Close (Damages), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Al Pacino (You Don't Know Jack), Michael Emerson (Lost), Christine Baranski (The Good Wife), Patrick Stewart (Hamlet), Ian McKellen (The Prisoner) and Jonathan Pryce (Return to Cranford).

The guest actor categories were also a gold mine for stage vets. In addition to Chenoweth and Harris on Glee, nominees include John Lithgow (Dexter), Alan Cumming (The Good Wife), Dylan Baker (The Good Wife), Robert Morse (Mad Men), a second nomination for Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory), Elaine Stritch (30 Rock), a second nomination for Jane Lynch (Two and a Half Men) and Lily Tomlin (Damages).

Notably, every actress cited in the lead actress category for a miniseries or movie has a stage background: Maggie Smith (Capturing Mary), Joan Allen (Georgia O'Keeffe), Dame Judi Dench (Return to Cranford), Hope Davis (The Special Relationship) and Claire Danes (Temple Grandin).

The miniseries The Pacific led the total Emmy nomination count with 24, and Glee received the most nominations for a series, including two directing nominations and one writing nomination, plus nods for hairstyling, makeup, casting, costumes, art direction and sound mixing. Mad Men received 17 nominations, 30 Rock scored 15 and Modern Family received 14.

The 63rd Annual Tony Awards telecast received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Special Class Program and for Outstanding Writing (Dave Boone), and composer Marc Shaiman was nominated for Outstanding Music Direction for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.