NORTH HOLLYWOOD — NBC’s “30 Rock” received 22 Emmy nods this year, the most in a single year for a comedy, while Fox’s “Family Guy” became the first animated series to be nominated for best comedy series since “The Flintstones” in 1961.

As usual, HBO led the field with 99 nominations, including 17 for “Grey Gardens,” starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, tying with 1976’s “Eleanor and Franklin” and its 1977 sequel, “Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years” for the most nods among made-for-television movies.

“30 Rock” had the previous single-year record for nominations by a comedy — 17 — set a year ago.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced in February that its Board of Governors had voted overwhelmingly to increase the number of nominees for outstanding comedy and drama series, as well as lead and supporting actor and actress in comedy and drama series from five to six.

However, the academy’s “2 percent rule” caused the fields for the comedy and drama series categories to grow to seven. The rule calls for the next-highest vote-getter to receive a nomination if it is within 2 percent of what otherwise would be the final qualifier.

The comedy series field includes three other first-time nominees in addition to “Family Guy” — HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords”; CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother” and Showtime’s “Weeds.”

The other nominees are “30 Rock,” the winner in each of its first two years on the air; HBO’s “Entourage” and NBC’s “The Office,” the 2006 winner.

The outstanding drama nominees are AMC’s “Mad Men,” which made Emmy history last year by becoming the first basic cable series to win in the category; HBO’s “Big Love” and AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” both first-time contenders; FX’s “Damages”; Showtime’s “Dexter”; Fox’s “House”; and ABC’s “Lost,” the 2005 winner.

HBO and Lifetime were responsible for all five nominees for best made-for-television movies. In addition to “Grey Gardens,” HBO’s nominees are “Into The Storm” and “Taking Chances,” while Lifetime is represented by “Coco Chanel” and “Prayers for Bobby.”

There were just two nominees — out of seven entries — for outstanding miniseries — HBO’s “Generation Kill” and the Public Broadcasting Service’s “Little Dorit.” Academy rules forbid the number of nominations to exceed one-third of the submissions in the category.

Of the 83 nominees in the comedy and drama series categories and the lead, supporting and guest acting categories, 41 were not nominated last year, a 49 percent change.

However, the field for best lead actor in a drama is nearly identical to last year’s. The only difference is Simon Baker from CBS’ first-year series “The Mentalist.”

The other nominees are Bryan Cranston for “Breaking Bad,” who was last year’s winner; Gabriel Byrne for HBO’s “In Treatment”; Michael C. Hall of “Dexter”; Jon Hamm for “Mad Men”; and Hugh Laurie for “House.”

The nominees for outstanding lead actress include three performers who have won earlier for their current roles — Glenn Close of “Damages,” last year’s winner; Sally Field for “Brothers & Sisters”; and Mariska Hargitay for NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

Kyra Sedgwick is nominated for her portrayal of Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson on TNT’s “The Closer” for the fourth consecutive year. She has yet to win.

TNT’s “Saving Grace” star Holly Hunter netted her second consecutive nod, while Elisabeth Moss got her first nod for her work on “Mad Men.”

Four of the nominees for best lead actor in a comedy are repeaters from last year: “30 Rock’s” Alec Baldwin, last year’s winner; Steve Carell for “The Office”; Tony Shalhoub, USA’s “Monk”; and Charlie Sheen of CBS’ “Two and a Half Men.”

The newcomers are Jemaine Clement for “Flight of the Conchords” and Jim Parsons for CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory.”

Two actresses who didn’t receive nominations for lead actress in a comedy last year are among this year’s nominees: Toni Collette of Showtime’s “The United States of Tara” and Sarah Silverman for Comedy Central’s “The Sarah Silverman Program.”

The other nominees are all returnees from last year — Tina Fey from “30 Rock,” last year’s winner; Julie Louis-Dreyfus of CBS’ “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” the 2006 winner; Christina Applegate, for ABC’s canceled “Samantha Who?”; and Mary Louise-Parker for “Weeds.”

CBS’ “The Amazing Race” will have the opportunity to continue its dominance in the outstanding reality-competition program category, which it has won in all six years it has been awarded.

The other nominees in the category are television’s two most-watched programs, Fox Broadcasting’s “American Idol,” and ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” as well as Bravo’s “Project Runway” and “Top Chef.”

The nominees for best host for a reality or reality-competition program are Tom Bergeron from ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”; Phil Keoghan from CBS’ “The Amazing Race”; Heidi Klum from Bravo’s “Project Runway”; Jeff Probst from “Survivor”; Ryan Seacrest from “American Idol” and the co-hosts of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio, as a single entry.

Bergeron, Klum, Probst and Seacrest were all nominees last year, which was the first for the category, with Probst receiving the award.

Nominees in the various guest actor categories include such familiar names as Alan Alda, Jennifer Aniston, Edward Asner, Ernest Borgnine, Carol Burnett, Ted Danson, Michael J. Fox, Steve Martin, Justin Timberlake and Betty White.

After HBO’s 99 nominations, NBC was second with 67, followed by ABC with 55, CBS with 49, Fox with 42, Showtime with 29 and AMC with 23.
The nominations cover programs that initially aired between June 1, 2008, and May 31 of this year.

Chandra Wilson of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and Parsons joined John Shaffner, chairman and chief executive officer of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in reading the nominees in the top 12 categories in a 5:40 a.m. ceremony at the academy’s North Hollywood headquarters.

Wilson received two nominations — lead actress in a miniseries or movie for the Hallmark Channel’s “Accidental Friendship,” and a supporting actress nod for her work on “Grey’s Anatomy” for the fourth consecutive year.

The 61st annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Sept. 20 at the Nokia Theatre, with Neil Patrick Harris as the host. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be handed out on Sept. 12 at the same venue, with Kathy Griffin hosting.