The nominations for the 60th Emmy Awards were announced today, and as usual the surprises were few and the repeat names were many. But there always seem to be a couple of freshman series that make big splashes, and in a twist, those series have come out of the world of basic cable this year, as formerly off-brand outlets like AMC and FX are succeeding where HBO has been falling down.

The big new kid on the block for 2008 was AMC's Mad Men, which nailed down 16 nominations including Best Drama and Best Actor for its star Jon Hamm. The FX legal thriller Damages, which almost didn't win a second season and needed a big day today, scored seven nominations including Best Drama and Best Actress for Glenn Close. In a major surprise, Bryan Cranston broke through the crowded pack of leading men and overcame his own reputation as a comedian to get a nomination as lead actor in AMC's Breaking Bad. Holly Hunter already has an Oscar, so it stood to reason her work on Saving Grace would win a nomination, and two other basic cable stalwarts, Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) and Tony Shalhoub (Monk) will have a date with Emmy in September.

The only pay cable series to get a drama nomination was Dexter, which also saw its star Michael C. Hall nominated. This could be seen as proof that the academy isn't afraid of the gritty, but once again, the group failed to give any significant attention to The Wire, which finished its run this winter (the final episode of the series did get a nomination for its teleplay). That the academy continues to lavish so much attention on the mediocre likes of Boston Legal (seven nominations this year) while ignoring The Wire is an oversight that ought to haunt all its members into the eternal night. The Wire could easily have swept the supporting actor nominations and got none, but we're expected to believe that William Shatner is deserving of an Emmy nomination? It's no less depressing for being completely expected.

The traditional networks still have reasons to show up at the Emmys. No series got more nominations than 30 Rock, which had 17, an incredible nine of which were for acting (seven guest stars, Tina Fey, and Alec Baldwin). Off years on Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy were noted and those series did not get nominations, but the comeback year for Lost was rewarded with a Best Drama nod. Michael Emerson got the one acting nomination for Lost, though he continues to be listed as a supporting character when it is no longer clear that's the case.

It wasn't a great year for HBO on the series front, but its spring miniseries John Adams topped everyone with 23 nominations. In both ambition and subject matter, John Adams was traditional Emmy bait. Two new HBO series that could use a leg up, Flight of the Conchords and In Treatment, each got four nominations. Gabriel Byrne's breakthrough in the crowded lead dramatic actor category had to be welcome news for the latter series.

What was left out, aside from The Wire? The academy's preference for Two and a Half Men over How I Met Your Mother is a puzzle. Friday Night Lights did not flicker again this year, although that is admittedly not the outrage it was after its peerless first season. Chuck had too low a profile to get any Emmy love, and possibly was seen as not really a true drama or a true comedy. And the academy still isn't willing to go so far as to give a major nomination to Battlestar Galactica, but the show did get six overall, including one nomination for its writing.

A few more quick notes:

* No nominations for any Desperate Housewives cast members, not even for Dana Delany, who was given so much credit for revitalizing the show.

* The first ever nominations for best host of a reality program featured several of the genre's top names: Jeff Probst, Heidi Klum, and Howie Mandel (though curiously not Phil Keoghan, whose The Amazing Race is a perennial Emmy winner). But the award ought to come down to Ryan Seacrest or Tom Bergeron, who have more difficult tasks running live shows.

* Amy Poehler was nominated for her work on Saturday Night Live, which is not unprecedented for a member of that show's permanent cast, but is rare.

* Regarding the guest star categories, typically dominated by major names crossing over from film (Robin Williams, Elaine Stritch, and Ellen Burstyn were among this year's nominees), I was pleased to see that the academy remembered the uncanniest guest spot of the year: Glynn Turman's work as a grieving father on In Treatment. But strangely, despite the nominations of four other 30 Rock male guest stars, they left out David Schwimmer's lunatic appearance as the pollution fighter "Greenzo."

* I've never really missed the absence of musical production numbers on the Emmys compared with the Academy Awards, but I would make an exception this year if they were to honor one of the nominees for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics: "I'm F---ing Matt Damon."

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