"The Pacific," "Mad Men" among top contenders as Emmy nominations announced

The HBO miniseries "The Pacific " leads a strong field of mesos contenders for the 62nd annual Primetire Emmy Awards with 24 nods while AMC's "Mad Men" aims to defend its crown in outstanding drama series, as the 62nd Emmy Awards nominations were announced Thursday morning.

Actress Sofia Vergara (L) and actor Joel McHale (R) announce the nominations for lead actress in a comedy series for the 62nd Emmy Awards at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles July 8, 2010. The awards will be presented on August 29. (Reuters Photo)

Australian actress Toni Collette arrives at the 16th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles in this January 23, 2010 file photo. Colette was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for her role in 'United States of Tara' for the 62nd annual Primetime Emmy Awards, announced July 8, 2010. Picture wow gold taken January 23, 2010. (Reuters Photo)

Actress Sofia Vergara (L) reacts as Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Chairman John Shaffner (R) announces that she has been nominated for her work in "Modern Family" as the nominations for the 62nd Emmy Awards are announced at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles July 8, 2010.

"The Pacific" led all buy wow gold nominees with 24. The 10-part World War II drama whose executive producers include Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg was nominated for outstanding miniseries along with PBS' "Return to Cranford (Masterpiece)."

As a new comer, the Fox hit "Glee" which has landed 19 nominations overall, will face off with NBC's "30 Rock" for best comedy as the latter was trying to walk away with the title for fourth time. The contenders also include HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," ABC's "Modern Family," Showtime's "Nurse Jackie" and NBC's "The Office."

"Mad Men," which collected 17 overall nominations, will compete with fellow AMC drama "Breaking Bad," Showtime's "Dexter," CBS' "The Good Wife," ABC's "Lost" and HBO's "True Blood."

Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad" and Glenn Close of FX's " Damages" will both be looking for their third consecutive wins for acting in a drama series.

Alec Baldwin, who won the Emmy last year for best comedy actor for "30 Rock," and "Glee" songstress Lea Michele were nominated for best actor and actress in a comedy series respectively.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences also jumped on the Team Coco bandwagon, nominating the short-lived "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" in the category of outstanding variety, music or comedy series in a snub to Jay Leno who returned at the helm after a seven-month absence.

"Late Show with David Letterman" is missing from this race for the first time since it debuted in 1994, raising the most eyebrows. Letterman, who won four consecutive Emmys as part of the writing team on the original "Late Night" beginning in 1984, had been a perennial writing nominee for "Late Show" until this year.

Al Pacino and Hope Davis also got their nods for outstanding actor and actress in a miniseries or movie.

The 62nd annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be aired live coast to coast Aug. 29 at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles with late-night talk show cheap wow gold host Jimmy Fallon as the host.