Two of the five best shows on television (in my prestigious opinion) have snagged an incredibly high number of Emmy nominations. NBC’S 30 Rock and AMC’s Mad Men garnered 17 and 16 nominations, respectively. 30 Rock was no surprise – it’s one of only a handful of sitcoms left on the air – and one of less than a dozen that aren’t of the ABC/Disney Channel “family friendly” bland variety. The writing is consistently solid, and the jokes are starting to filter into the lexicon. I love 30 Rock so much I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.

Tina Fey’s 30 Rock is among the leaders at the 60th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, earning 17 nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress (Fey) and Outstanding Lead Actor (Alec Baldwin).

AMC’s buzzed-about drama Mad Men nabbed 16 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, while ABC newcomer Pushing Daisies earned 12 nominations. The HBO historical drama John Adams earned the most nominations (23).

Despite the hubbub made Katherine Heigl’s decision to withdraw her nomination, Grey’s Anatomy received just five nods (it is not up for Outstanding Drama Series). Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson each received nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series.

Desperate Housewives took home four nominations. Meanwhile, American Idol will face off against Project Runway, The Amazing Race, Top Chef and Dancing With The Stars for Outstanding Reality-competition Program.

[From Us Weekly]

The Emmys will air on September 21st. The relative snub towards Grey’s Anatomy is no surprise. Though I thought it was really ungracious of Katherine Heigl to say the things she said about the writers when she withdrew her name from the Emmy list, she was right. The show was horrible last season. It was pretty much unwatchable. And it wasn’t just due to the WGA strike. Anytime a show starts the season off with some lame storyline involving Heigl’s character trying to save a wounded deer – and ranting on in some unnatural, clichéd speech about why it’s important – it reeks of desperation and a complete lack of ideas.

Mad Men however, has got to be the absolute best drama on television (again in my less than humble opinion). I am constantly telling Celebitchy that she needs to stop taking care of her young child and family and prioritize by watching it. It’s a shame that it’s only on as a summer show. It’s nice to have something great to watch when the only new material is a bunch of reality crap, but the downside is that each season is only 13 episodes long. I’ve never been a fan of a single show put out by a cable network, but Mad Men is absolutely phenomenal. And needs better ratings. So this is essentially my plug to give it a shot so I don’t have to come up with something else to do on my Sunday nights.

Here’s a complete list of the 2008 Emmy nominees.