‘Tis the season for award show nominations

Start planning those parties and office pools for the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Arguably the stepchild of the awards season - overshadowed by its glitzier siblings at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes - the SAG awards might be the only one worth watching this season because they'll actually have one or two striking writers scripting the ceremony.

The Actors Guild managed to strike a deal with the Writers Guild of America for the Jan. 27 show. Writers rejected a similar request from the Globes and there's no word on what the Oscars will do, yet.

Guess that just makes more time for rambling acceptance speeches and political statements about ending poverty from people with more money than some Third World countries.

Here are some of the SAG award nominations for television shows announced earlier today in Los Angeles. The entire list can be found here. ABC and HBO lead the pack with eleven nominations each. NBC followed with six while CBS was completely shutout. Multiple nominations were made for "30 Rock," "Ugly Betty" and "The Sopranos."

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
James Gandolfini, The Sopranos
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
James Spader, Boston Legal

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Glenn Close, Damages
Edie Falco, The Sopranos
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Ricky Gervais, Extras
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Tony Shalhoub, Monk

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Tiny Fey, 30 Rock
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Boston Legal
The Closer
Grey's Anatomy
Mad Men
The Sopranos

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
30 Rock
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
The Office
Ugly Betty

-- Malavika Jagannathan, mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com