Friday Night Lights, Modern Family, Boardwalk Empire lead out Critics Choice Television Awards nominations

Nominations were announced this week for the 2011 Critics Choice Television Awards (not to be confused with Television Critics Association Awards), which is scheduled for June 20th in Beverly Hills and will stream live on VH1.com.

There were some big winners who tallied multiple nods (Boardwalk Empire, Parks and Rec, Friday Night Lights, Modern Family) as well as some notable shows (Treme) that were left off the list. The voting process for the CCTAs is a tad less formal than it would be for, say, the Emmys. Critics Choice drama nominating committee voter Tom Tangney told The Hollywood Reporter that voters “all got to nominate five best drama series and they just took the top 10 vote getters, so there was no real horsetrading." He goes on to say, "We never met in person. We opened a Facebook discussion page where each and any of us who wanted to contribute to the discussion could."

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Sounds like a pretty novel approach to me, but did they get the picks right? The answer is a resounding "sort of." Let’s take a look and break down each category.

Best Drama Series

I get it, AMC is the place to look for “prestige” dramas these days, but there is no way you are going to convince me that The Killing and The Walking Dead are two of the top ten dramas of the year. Sure, they both had great pilots, but went waaaay downhill afterward. Hell, The Killing isn’t even over yet. These voters are going to have some serious egg on their faces if the show is unable to wrap up in a satisfying way. Left off the list was HBO’s Treme, which some critics still seem to adore. "Too sluggish is a good way to put it," says Tangney. "I watched it dutifully but it felt like an obligation more often than not." Sounds like he agrees with our very own Eric.

 Best Actor in a Drama Series

I’m cool with all of these selections but one: William H. Macy. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED Shameless, it was my favorite new show of last season. But, it’s the kids that make the show great, not Frank. I felt and still feel that Macy is the show’s weak link. It isn’t his fault, necessarily; I think he was miscast in the role.

Best Actress in a Drama Series

I’ll be happy as long as either Katey Sagal or Mrs. Coach win.

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama

I’m rooting for the guy who played Dildo in Outside Providence.

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama

I’m convinced that these nominations were voted on at least two months ago, before all of the Mitch Larsen backlash started. There is absolutely no reason for Michelle Forbes to be on any list except Supporting Actress Most Likely To Make You Want To Put Your Head In An Oven.

Best Comedy Series

Glee is a comedy series? I guess that Becky chick is kind of funny. (I’m sorry, that was cruel.)

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

AOBJP. Anyone but Jim Parsons.

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

As much as Amy Poehler deserves this, I would be pretty psyched to see Courtney Cox win for Cougar Town. Although, I’ve heard the argument made (pretty convincingly, I might add) that Cougar Town would be just as funny without Cox, this is less a condemnation of her than praise for the excellent supporting cast.

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

RON EFFING SWANSON!!!!!! (Quick little fun thing to do at work: Go to Google Images and type in "Nick Offerman Deadwood". On second thought, don't. Or at least wait until you're at home).

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

I have had a weird thing for Busy Phillips since her Kim Kelly, so I’m rooting for my girl in this category.

Best Talk Show

Do the voters subtract points for Ellen’s awful stint on American Idol? I would.

Best Reality Series

I got into an argument with someone about the premise Sister Wives the other day, so I flipped on TLC to try to prove them wrong... Well, turns out the Sister Wives I was talking about was something tooootally different. Surprisingly, I wound up finding the TLC version just as sexy.

Best Reality Series — Competition

“Have you seen that show on CBS called 'The Amazing Race'? Is that show about white people?” – Zack Galifianakis

I think about this line every time I see commercials for that show.

Best Reality Show Host

We’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point. I’m tapping out.