Few things are more predictable in pop culture than Emmy nominations, but the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences decided to throw in a few surprises this time around.

First things first: neither the departed Boston Legal or its much-honored star James Spader got nominations (though the series was not totally ignored, and more on that later). Likewise, Kiefer Sutherland was left out for 24, though as was the case at the Golden Globes, he scored a nomination for the 24 movie that served as a prequel of sorts to the seventh 24 season. And let's say it together and let it sink in: "The Emmy-nominated Family Guy."

Another surprise was that seven series were nominated for both Best Drama and Best Comedy. One would think that the extra slots would make snubs much less likely, but the academy still managed to ignore a pair of great shows that left us this past season, The Shield and Battlestar Galactica, as well as Friday Night Lights. Primary blame has to go to House and Dexter for getting nominated after extremely frustrating seasons for both. The only network with two nominations in the category was, surprisingly, AMC, which placed both Mad Men (last year's winner and the likely favorite again) and Breaking Bad. The other best drama nominees: Damages, Big Love, and Lost.

It's not easy for actors on first-year series to get nominated for anything barring massive critical praise such as Mad Men received last season, but Simon Baker managed to break through in the loaded Best Actor in a Drama category and snag a nomination for The Mentalist. True, it was the biggest new series of 2008-09, but being a hit hasn't helped any of the CBS procedurals in the past -- in fact, Baker's was the only nomination for CBS in any of the major drama categories. He might as well not even show up for the ceremony, though, given the heavyweight competition: Hugh Laurie of House, defending champ Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad, Michael C. Hall of Dexter, Jon Hamm of Mad Men, and Gabriel Byrne from In Treatment. The big snubs here: Michael Chiklis (The Shield), Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), and Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica).

Best Actress in a Drama went mostly according to form, with automatic nominees Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters), Holly Hunter (Saving Grace), Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU), and Glenn Close (Damages) joined by Elisabeth Moss of Mad Men, who likely got noticed only because they expanded the nominations to six. Even dying couldn't get Mary McDonnell a nod for her stellar work on Battlestar Galactica.

This is not a golden era for comedy, so the amount of flux in the comedy nominations this year has to be considered highly unexpected. No one can be surprised to see 30 Rock and The Office getting nominations again, and both Weeds and Entourage, while highly uneven, have that cable pedigree Emmy loves. But How I Met Your Mother finally broke through after several seasons of urgings from critics, and the relatively low ratings for HBO's cult series Flight of the Conchords did not prevent it from getting a nomination. The shocker here, however, was the nomination for Family Guy, the once-canceled and multiple times tasteless Fox animated series -- a feat even The Simpsons has never achieved (if South Park ever gets nominated, better say your final prayers). The surprise here was the omission of Ugly Betty, a sign that the show's decline in quality has been noticed by the academy.

Tina Fey will again be a heavy favorite to win Best Actress in a Comedy, but she might get competition from newcomer Toni Collette, whose role in United States of Tara is a showcase that actors wait a lifetime for. The rest of the category is typically odd: hyphenated veterans Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine); Christina Applegate in the canceled Samantha Who?; and Sarah Silverman, who was nominated for playing herself on her Comedy Central show. The big news out of Best Actor in a Comedy was the snub of David Duchovny for Californication and the surprise nominations for Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords and Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory, both of whom managed to stand out over similiarly talented co-stars. Of course, both will lose to Alec Baldwin.

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama is always among the most crowded categories, so it was a nice surprise to see the academy noticing Aaron Paul, who was hilarious and heartbreaking as poor dumb Jesse on Breaking Bad. Still, the list of snubs here is long: John Mahoney for In Treatment, Walton Goggins for The Shield, Zach Gilford on Friday Night Lights, John Noble on Fringe, multiple actors on BSG, and Jon Voight for 24 (he seemed to be the first actor in the show's history who knew he was in an unintentional comedy). So why, oh WHY did two actors from Boston Legal, Christian Clemenson and (lord help us) William Shatner, get nominations?

A few more comments, briefly:

* More proof that Emmy cares way too much about pedigree came from the Supporting Actress in a Drama category, where Cherry Jones, a great stage actress, was nominated for the stock 24 role as dumbbell President. Even more glaring was the treatment of the women of In Treatment: nominations for ex-Oscar winner Dianne Wiest and for indie legend Hope Davis, but not for young Alison Pill, who merely gave the TV female performance of the year as a troubled cancer patient.

* Jeanne Tripplehorn has never been nominated for her fine work on Big Love, but scored a nomination for her virtual cameo as Jackie Onassis in Grey Gardens.

* An excellent call: nominating Justin Timberlake for Guest Actor on a Comedy, for his hosting job on Saturday Night Live in May. Fey also got a guest nomination for her epochal Sarah Palin work on SNL.

* Is Emmy host Neil Patrick Harris the favorite to win Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for How I Met Your Mother? He might be, given the surprising omission of last year's winner Jeremy Piven.

* 30 Rock has certainly not lacked for Emmy attention, but it was nice to see the two most overlooked members of the main cast, Jane Krakowski and Tracy Morgan, getting nominations this year. A Morgan acceptance speech would likely be the TV highlight of the season. Make it happen, academy.

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