Everyone knew “Glee” would be in the running for the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy, as well as for at least one of the writing nominations, but no one predicted the extent to which the show would score in terms of acting recognition for the 62nd Primetime Emmys.
Standouts Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele scored membership in the lead comedy acting nominee groups; Morrison joins previous nominees Steve Carell (“The Office”), Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”), Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”), Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) and Tony Shalhoub (“Monk”) in the lead actor mix, while Michele does battle with Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), Toni Collette (“The United States of Tara”), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”), Edie Falco (“Nurse Jackie”) and Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation”).
On the supporting front, Chris Colfer joins the competitive Supporting Actor category, while Jane Lynch predictably enters the Supporting Actress in a Comedy mix. Also nominated in that camp are Kristen Wiig (“SNL”), Jane Krakowski (“30 Rock”), Julie Bowen (“Modern Family”), Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”) and Holland Taylor (“Two and a Half Men”).
But the recognition did not stop there. Some of “Glee”‘s standout guest performers earned nominations–Mike O’Malley (Burt) and Neil Patrick Harris (Bryan Ryan) compete with Fred Willard (“Modern Family”), Eli Wallach (“Nurse Jackie”), Will Arnett (“30 Rock”) and Jon Hamm (“30 Rock”) on the actor side, while Kristin Chenoweth (April) contends with actresses Christine Baranski (“The Big Bang Theory”), Kathryn Joosten (“Desperate Housewives”), Tina Fey (“SNL”), Betty White (“SNL”), Elaine Stritch (“30 Rock”) and “Glee” actress Jane Lynch for her work on “Two and a Half Men.”