The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced Thursday what may be its most promising list of Emmy nominations in several years. As always, a plethora of eye rolls can come from reading the list of nominees — Jon Cryer, anyone? — but one can hope the Emmys will get it right when Aug. 29 rolls around. If not, at least we have host Jimmy Fallon. COMEDY There’s a whole lot of glee abounding the comedy categories this year. Pun intended.  Huge props to the Emmys for nominating “Modern Family” for just about everything worthwhile — except poor Ed O’Neill, who was the only significant supporting star to be shut out of the acting categories. While it would be nice to see “Family” take home Outstanding Comedy Series, we can probably expect to see the ubiquitous “Glee” steal the honor instead, if the Emmys can sacrifice giving it to “30 Rock” or “The Office” for a year. The lead acting categories don’t offer much in terms of surprise, and we see yet another overdone nomination for “Monk’s” Tony Shalhoub, who will apparently be nominated for every season in which he breathes.
 The supporting categories are entirely more appealing, however. Five of the 12 Best Supporting Actor and Actress nominees comes from “Modern Family,” and it would be especially nice to see Ty Burrell and Sofia Vergara take home some Emmy gold, but comedy fans can expect Vergara to receive a tough run for her money.
 The Emmys have probably     already etched viewer favorite Jane Lynch’s name on the Supporting Actress statuette for her “Glee” work, although perhaps “Saturday Night Live” favorite Kristen Wiig has offered enough laughs to make her a winner next month. But curses to the Emmys for honoring Holland Taylor and Jon Cryer — both of the atrocious “Two and a Half Men” — who stole spots from O’Neill and all the supporting players of “30 Rock” and “The Office.” Also notably missing from the comedy categories are Mary-Louise Parker — and all of “Weeds,” for that matter — and Courteney Cox, who has finally redeemed her name with “Cougar Town.” DRAMA Long live “Lost,” and the Emmys followed suit, albeit not as much as they should have. The mysterious drama’s final season received all the major accolades it was expected to, including a much-overdue nomination for lead actor Matthew Fox, who we can only hope will win in order to assail his many previous snubs in the category. Repeat nominees Michael Emerson, Terry O’Quinn and Elizabeth Mitchell all scored well, but unfortunately Yunjin Kim — easily the show’s best actress — and Jorge Garcia are lost from the ballot. Both exit the series with a disheartening zero nominations.
 But Emmy voters can expect critical darlings “Mad Men” and “Dexter” to give the ABC drama and its players a run for their mystery.
With the exception of entries from Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton — who finally receive attention for their “Friday Night Lights” work — the lead acting categories are plastered with favorites like Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”), Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”) and Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”) on the male side and Glenn Close (“Damages”) and Julianna Margulies (“The Good Wife”) on the female side. Expect Chandler, Britton and “Lost’s” Fox to be shut out in favor of Hamm and Margulies. Emmy notably didn’t express any love for “Big Love” in its fourth season, however. The HBO drama received no major acting nominations. Even critical darling Chloë Sevigny — who won the Golden Globe in January for her performance — was left off the ballot.VARIETY It’s a mad, mad world in the arena of late-night talk shows. The Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien battle wages on, and O’Brien can add a few duly noted points to his name. The booted-out talk show host earned several nominations — including Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for his version of “The Tonight Show” — while Leno and his “Tonight Show” were shut out of the Emmy list entirely. It probably wouldn’t be too much of a shock to see O’Brien walk away with some of those deserved nominations, either, if for no other reason than a well-played “told you so” directed straight at NBC’s idiocy. Good job at sticking it to the man, Emmy voters. Now keep up the good work by awarding “Modern Family” and “Lost” with everything possible. Thanks.–Contact Matthew Jacobs at [email protected]