The Broadcast TV Journalists Association, the recently launched offshoot of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, just announced nominations for its inaugural Critics’ Choice Television Awards. Fueled by Modern Family, which led the series field with 6 nominations, including best comedy series, ABC topped all networks with 16 nominations. (The network’s underrated comedy, The Middle, got its first major awards recognition with 2 noms, including best comedy series.) AMC and FX landed the most nominations on the cable side with 9 each. The nomination highlights include strong showing for genre series, with Fox’s Fringe, AMC’s The Walking Dead and HBO’s Game of Thrones all landing best drama series noms. AMC dominated the category with 3 entries, Mad Men, The Walking Dead and The Killing. (Its much lauded drama Breaking Bad was not eligible because its fourth season was delayed.) The best comedy series category features several off-beat shows often overlooked by bigger awards shows, NBC’s Community and Parks & Recreation and FX’s Archer and Louie. FX, which often does not get a lot of love by the TV Academy, did surprisingly well, landing 3 best series noms, for the 2 comedies and drama Justified, as well as noms in all drama acting categories and 2 in the best actor in a comedy series field for Louie‘s Louis CK and Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. No major snubs as Mad Men, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, Showtime’s Dexter, CBS’ The Good Wife, DirecTV’s Friday Night Lights, ABC’s Modern Family, Fox’s Glee, NBC’s The Office and 30 Rock and CBS’ The Big Bang Theory all received best drama/comedy series noms. There were surpises in the best talk show category where David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert were all overlooked in favor of Chelsea Lately, Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel who will square off against Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres. Also noteworthy: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was nominated as best reality series, RuPaul’s Drag Race as best competition reality series. The Critics’ Choice TV Awards, which are determined by journalists, are clearly intended to influence the nominations for the upcoming Primetime Emmy Awards as today’s noms are being announced the same day Emmy nominating ballots are being posted on TV Academy’s web site. And the winners of the Critics’ Choice TV Awards will be announced June 20, 4 days before the end of the Emmy nominations voting period. Here is the official release with the list of nominees:

LOS ANGELES (June 6, 2011) – The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), a new offshoot of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, today announced nominations for the inaugural Critics’ Choice Television Awards, hosted by Cat Deeley and scheduled to take place at a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel on June 20, 2011. ABC was the most nominated broadcast network with 16 nominations, followed closely by NBC with 12. AMC and FX led nominations for cable networks, with nine each. Modern Family was the most nominated series with six. Best Drama Series Boardwalk Empire – HBO Dexter – Showtime Friday Night Lights – DirecTV Fringe – FOX Game of Thrones – HBO The Good Wife – CBS Justified – FX The Killing – AMC Mad Men – AMC The Walking Dead – AMC Best Actor in a Drama Series Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire – HBO Kyle Chandler – Friday Night Lights – DirecTV Michael C. Hall – Dexter – Showtime Jon Hamm – Mad Men – AMC William H. Macy – Shameless – Showtime Timothy Olyphant – Justified – FX Best Actress in a Drama Series Connie Britton – Friday Night Lights – DirecTV Mireille Enos – The Killing – AMC Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife – CBS Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men – AMC Katey Sagal – Sons of Anarchy – FX Anna Torv – Fringe – FOX Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Alan Cumming – The Good Wife – CBS Walton Goggins – Justified – FX Shawn Hatosy – Southland – TNT John Noble – Fringe – FOX Michael Pitt – Boardwalk Empire – HBO John Slattery – Mad Men – AMC Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Michelle Forbes – The Killing – AMC Christina Hendricks – Mad Men – AMC Margo Martindale – Justified – FX Kelly Macdonald – Boardwalk Empire – HBO Archie Panjabi – The Good Wife – CBS Chloë Sevigny – Big Love – HBO Best Reality Series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – ABC Hoarders – A&E The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills – Bravo Sister Wives – TLC Undercover Boss – CBS Best Reality Series – Competition The Amazing Race – CBS American Idol – FOX Dancing with the Stars – ABC Project Runway – Lifetime RuPaul’s Drag Race – Logo Top Chef – Bravo Best Reality Show Host Tom Bergeron – Dancing with the Stars – ABC Cat Deeley – So You Think You Can Dance – FOX Ty Pennington – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – ABC Mike Rowe – Dirty Jobs – Discovery Ryan Seacrest – American Idol – FOX Best Talk Show Chelsea Lately – E! The Daily Show – Comedy Central The Ellen DeGeneres Show – Warner Bros. Jimmy Kimmel Live! – ABC The Oprah Winfrey Show – Harpo Best Comedy Series Archer – FX The Big Bang Theory – CBS Community – NBC Glee – FOX Louie – FX The Middle – ABC Modern Family – ABC The Office – NBC Parks and Recreation – NBC 30 Rock – NBC Best Actor in a Comedy Series Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock – NBC Steve Carell – The Office – NBC Louis C.K. – Louie – FX Charlie Day – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – FX Joel McHale – Community – NBC Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory – CBS Best Actress in a Comedy Series Courteney Cox – Cougar Town – ABC Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie – Showtime Tina Fey – 30 Rock – NBC Patricia Heaton – The Middle – ABC Martha Plimpton – Raising Hope – FOX Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation – NBC Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Ty Burrell – Modern Family – ABC Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother – CBS Nick Offerman – Parks and Recreation – NBC Ed O’Neill – Modern Family – ABC Danny Pudi – Community – NBC Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family – ABC Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Julie Bowen – Modern Family – ABC Jane Krakowski – 30 Rock – NBC Jane Lynch – Glee – FOX Busy Philipps – Cougar Town – ABC Eden Sher – The Middle – ABC Sofía Vergara – Modern Family – ABC Submissions are still being accepted for The Most Exciting New Series category. Cable and satellite network REELZCHANNEL will broadcast the Critics’ Choice Television Awards premiering on June 22 at 8 p.m. ET and repeating at 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET. The Awards will be rebroadcast throughout the week. VH1.com will exclusively live stream the awards show on June 20 and will make select footage available for on-demand viewing following the star-studded event. Bob Bain will executive produce the show for Bob Bain Productions. The Critics’ Choice Television Awards honors programs and performances that aired between June 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011.