The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to honor the best in U.S.

prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

television. The ceremony was hosted by Tom Bergeron (who was also hosting '' America's Funniest Home Videos'' and '' Dancing with the Stars'', both also on ABC, at the time), Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel,

Jeff Probst Jeffrey Lee Probst (; born November 4, 1961) is an American television presenter and producer and young adult fiction writer. He is best known as the Emmy Awards, Emmy Award–winning host of the American version of the reality television show ' ...

, and Ryan Seacrest (all were nominated in the debut category— Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program) and televised in the United States on ABC. The nominations were announced on July 17 by Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Patrick Harris. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards were held eight days earlier (September 13) at the same venue. The ceremony was hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke. The telecast was viewed by 12.20 million with a household rating of 8.86/12.79 making it the lowest rated and least viewed ceremony in its televised history. Many critics cited lackluster performances from the five hosts as a reason for the huge decline. Others pointed to the field of nominees which were dominated by low-rated and sparsely viewed programs, thus making the Emmys widely considered as a bust, which was panned by critics as "... the worst ever, laid a big, fat ratings egg as well ..." In 2011, when

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re-did their list of "25 Biggest TV Blunders", this ceremony was included. For the first time in a decade, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series was won by the defending champion. ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'' Outstanding Drama Series went to AMC freshmen series '' Mad Men''. This marked the first series award for a program on a

basic cable Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million American households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. A 2021 Pew Research Center survey found ...

station. ''Mad Men'' led all dramas with six major nominations. This would be the final ceremony to have five nominees per category, most major categories (acting and programs) were expanded to include at least six slots the following year.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:Emmys.com list of 2008 Nominees & Winners
/ref> Alec Baldwin by Gage Skidmore

Programs

Acting

Lead performances

Supporting performances

Individual performances

Hosting

Directing

Writing

Most major nominations

Most major awards

;Notes

Presenters

The awards were presented by the following:

In Memoriam

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercultur ...

(twice) * Bernie Brillstein *

Joey Bishop Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (February 3, 1918 – October 17, 2007), known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a Talk ...

* William F. Buckley Jr. *

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

* Les Crane * Alice Ghostley * Ivan Dixon * Cyd Charisse *

Mel Ferrer Melchor Gastón FerrerAncestry Library Edition (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer, active in film, theatre, and television. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ...

* Claudio Guzmán * Barry Morse * Deborah Kerr * Larry Harmon * Estelle Getty * Roger King * Sydney Pollack * Ron Leavitt * Bernie Mac * Eric Lieber * Suzanne Pleshette *

Abby Mann Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer. Life and career The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Mann was born as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia. He grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dou ...

* Dick Martin * Delbert Mann * Harvey Korman * Jim McKay * Lois Nettleton * Mel Tolkin * Richard Widmark * Stan Winston * Tim Russert * Isaac Hayes

References

External links

Emmys.com list of 2008 Nominees & Winners

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences website
* {{EmmyAwardsbyYear 060

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

2008 awards in the United States 2008 in Los Angeles September 2008 in the United States