Emmy nomination 2009 award: nominees list

Nominees in major categories for the 61st annual Primetime Emmy Awards announced Thursday by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation is a non profit organisation that utilizes the resources and membership of the Television Academy to develop and sponsor educational and archival programs.

The primary focus of the organisation is to use the history and artistry of television to preserve our past for posterity, and guide those who will be our future.

Find a summary of the Emmy nomination list at :  list of primetime emmy awards nominations in major categories

Full list is available at www.emmys.com

The Emmy Award, also known as the ‘Emmy’, is a television production award, focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards (for film), Grammy Awards (for music) and Tony Awards (for stage).

They are presented in various sectors of the television industry, including entertainment programming, news and documentary shows, and sports programming. As such, the awards are presented in various area-specific ceremonies held annually throughout the year. The best known of these ceremonies are the Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring excellence in American primetime television programming (excluding sports), and the Daytime Emmy Awards, honoring excellence in American daytime television programming.

History of Emmy

The Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) established the Emmy Awards as part of an image-building and public relations opportunity.

The name “Emmy” was chosen as a feminization of “immy”, a nickname used for the image orthicon tubes that were common in early television cameras.

To complement the name, the statuette was designed to depict a winged woman holding an atom, which has since become the symbol of the TV Academy’s goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television: The wings represent the muse of art; the atom the electron of science.

The first Emmy Awards were presented on January 25, 1949 at the Hollywood Athletic Club, but solely to honor shows produced and aired locally in the Los Angeles area. Shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy, for Most Outstanding Television Personality, during that first awards ceremony.