Boardwalk Empire', 'Breaking Bad', 'Modern Family' earn Sag nominations

MUMBAI: The nominations have been announced for the 19th edition of the Screen Actors Guild (Sag) awards. The awards recognise acting achievements in both film and in television. As far as television is concerned cable sitcoms and network dramas feature prominently. The nominees for best ensemble in a drama series are ?Boardwalk Empire?, Breaking Bad, ?Downton Abby?, ?Homeland? and ?Mad Men?.

On the comedy side the shows competing are ?30 Rock?, ?The Big Bang Theory?, ?Glee?, ?Modern Family?, ?Nurse Jackie? and ?The Office?.

The nominees for actor in a drama show are Steve Buscemi - ?Boardwalk Empire?, Bryan Cranston - ?Breaking Bad?, Jeff Daniels - The Newsroom, Jon Hamm - ?Mad Men?and Damian Lewis - ?Homeland?. The actresses competing in this category are Claire Danes - ?Homeland?, Michelle Dockery - ?Downton Abbey"?, Jessica Lange - ?American Horror Story: Asylum", Julianna Margulies - ?The Good Wife? and Maggie Smith -?Downton Abbey?.

The funny men nominated are Alec Baldwin -?30 Rock, Ty Burell * ?Modern Family?, Louis C.K. -?Louie?, Jim Parsons - ?The Big Bang Theory? and Eric Stonestreet - ?Modern Family?. The actresses in this category are Edie Falco - ?Nurse Jackie?, Tina Fey - ?30 Rock?, Amy Poehler - ?Parks and Recreation?, Sofia Vergara ?Modern Family? and Betty White for ?Hot in Cleveland?.

On the film side the nominations for best ensemble are ?Argo?, ?Lincoln?, ?Silver Linings Playbook?, ?The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel? which is set in Rajasthan and ?Les Miserables?. ?Lincoln?, ?Les Miserables? and ?Silver linings Playbook? each got four nominations.

In terms of surprises Javier Bardem got a supporting actor nomination as the villain in ?Skyfall. But Joaquin Phoenix did not get into lead actor for his role in ?The Master?. Daniel Day Lewis is the favourite to win there for Lincoln?. The other nominees were Bradley Cooper for Silver linings Playbook, Denzel Washington for ?Flight?, Hugh Jackman for ?Les Miserables? and John Hawkes for ?The Sessions?. Another surprise was ?Zero Dark Thirty? which has been getting a lot of critics awards not figuring in the best ensemble category.

However Jessica Chastain has been nominated for her role as a C.I.A. agent in the Kathryn Bigelow film. Her main competitor would be Jennifer Lawrence in ?Silver Linings Playbook?. Other nominees are Helen Mirren in ?Hitchcock?, Naomi Watts for ?The Impossible? and Marion Cotillard for ?Rust and Bone?.

Dick Van dyke will get the lifetime achievement award.