TV critics awards noms spotlight 'Friday Night Lights'

When nominations for the TV Critics Association Awards were announced today, it was no surprise that "Friday Night Lights" pulled off five big bids, including shots at program of the year, best new program, best drama series plus best actor (Kyle Chandler) and actress (Connie Britton). Journos have been cheering and shaking their pom-pons over the new series about high-school football in Texas strenuously all year and now it's likely to win at least two or three of those top slots when prizes are bestowed on July 21.

However, "Friday Night Lights" probably won't do so well when Emmy noms are announced two days earlier, which will cause the critics to boo and jeer. But a poor showing will be largely due to TV critics' fury at the Emmy chiefs last year when "Lost" failed to be nominated for best drama series. That snub was really the fault of "Lost's" producers submitting a poor episode sample to the Emmy judging panels, but nearly all TV critics placed the blame on Emmy leaders, who panicked and responded with a cover-your-butt vote change. This year the chiefs are guaranteeing that high-rated fave shows like "Lost" get in by increasing the influence of the popular vote of TV academy members. That can only hurt "Friday Night Lights" considering its low ratings - it came in at 95th for the season.

But I digress . . . Let's get back to the other top TCA noms unveiled today.

Viewers may be tuning out the once proud-as-a-Peacock network by the millions, but TV critics like what they are seeing on NBC and rewarded the net with 13 nominations, including those five for "Friday Night Lights." Two other freshmen series given the green light by just ousted NBC programming chief Kevin Reilly picked up multiple noms - "30 Rock" got four including acting nods for Alec Baldwin and show creator Tina Fey and there were a pair for "Heroes." While these three newcomers accounted for a dozen of the NBC noms, the 13th one, for "The Office," could be lucky for us fans of awkward moments. You see, that laffer, long championed by Reilly, is exec produced by Ben Silverman, his replacement as head honcho at the network.

The critics still adore "The Sopranos" — twice a winner of the top TCA prize, Program of the Year, and a three-time winner of best drama. For its farewell season, the show is up for best drama again but is also nominated for the Heritage Award. That category combines the best of current and past programming. This year, it includes '70s Emmy darlings "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Roots" as well as "M*A*S*H" and the still-running "Sesame Street."

However, just like the Emmys did last year, the critics snubbed "The Sopranos" stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco. While the journos like Falco (one win out of three nods) they had shown Galdolfini lots of love in the past — nominating him all six seasons and giving him the top prize three times.

CLICK HERE to See the Full List of Nominees!