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The U.S. cable network HBO dominated the nominations for 2007 Emmy Awards, led by the made-in-Canada film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Shot in Alberta, the 212-minute epic about the subjugation of native Americans after the Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn earned 17 nominations, more than any other Emmy entrant. HBO topped all networks with 86 citations.

Canadians performers were also well-represented in the shortlist for U.S. TV-industry honours released yesterday. From Wounded Knee, Winnipeg-born Anna Paquin and Montrealer August Schellenberg were nominated for outstanding supporting actress and actor, respectively. For the second straight year, Nepean, Ont.-native Sandra Oh was nominated for outstanding supporting actress in Grey's Anatomy, and Montreal native William Shatner was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in Boston Legal.

Also up for Emmy consideration: semi-Canadians Kiefer Sutherland, a repeat outstanding actor nominee for the drama 24, and Matthew Perry, nominated for outstanding actor in a miniseries or movie for his role in the U.S. cable movie The Ron Clark Story. Both were born outside Canada, but Sutherland grew up in Toronto and Perry was raised in Ottawa.

As most TV-industry insiders had predicted, there was a flood of Emmy appreciation for The Sopranos. The crime series is nominated for best drama, and stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco are up for outstanding actor and actress. Also nominated from The Sopranos family: Michael Imperioli for supporting actor, and both Aida Turturro and Lorraine Bracco for supporting actress.

There was considerable range in the TV-movie categories.

The Canadian-made documentary Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire is contending in the best documentary category. But there are no shockers in the other notable categories, including best TV drama. The Sopranos' rivals are Boston Legal, House, Grey's Anatomy and the first-year series Heroes (Emmy voters always like to include a rookie in the group). And no one was surprised when The Closer's Kyra Sedgwick was a nominee for best actress in a drama.

There were bolder choices in the best comedy division. The contenders included two rookie shows, Ugly Betty and 30 Rock, along with Entourage, Two and a Half Men and The Office, last year's winner.

Upon closer examination, there were a few oddities among the nominations. Rescue Me's Denis Leary was an unlikely candidate for best actor in a drama, as was Sally Field for the low-rated series Brothers & Sisters. Fox's 24 was snubbed for best drama, even though the real-time action series won the award last year.

Also peculiar: the list of competitors for best reality program — The Amazing Race, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Project Runway and Top Chef.

You could almost hear Mark Burnett grinding his teeth over Survivor's glaring omission.

The biggest surprise for me was discovering that the nomination ceremony itself was such a listless event. The nominations are traditionally announced midway through the summer TV critics tour, and the press corps are always invited. I tended to skip the occasion in the past — the ceremony takes place in L.A. at 5:30 a.m. to accommodate viewers in the eastern United States. But this time I was determined to be there when the nominations were revealed.

It turns out I wasn't the only one passing on the opportunity all these years. A total of four sleepy-eyed critics showed up for the 4:30 a.m. shuttle transport to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in North Hollywood. After going through a check-in desk, we were ushered into a small theatre that featured several life-sized versions of Emmy statuettes. At least we knew we were in the right place.

The theatre was fairly crawling with publicists and agents, or at least people who looked like publicists and agents. Newspaper photographers fiddled with their cameras and a dozen or so TV reporters were there to provide live local coverage alongside the usual network representatives from Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.

The room was called to a hush when academy president Dick Askin took the stage. He informed us that the full list of nominees would be available after the broadcast, rinted on recycled paper. Askin then introduced the duo reading the nominations: Sedgwick and Two and a Half Men's Jon Cryer.

The room went white with camera flashes. Photographers snapped pictures the entire time as Sedgwick and Cryer raced through their prepared statements. There was no sound from the crowd, since each major category was full of rather obvious choices.

The nomination ceremony took roughly three minutes. When it was over, TV crews began making their move toward the stage, presumably to interview Sedgwick about her nomination. But in his closing comments, Askin came back to the podium to reveal that Cryer was in the best-supporting-actor running for Two and a Half Men — news that drew a hearty cheer from everyone in the room. The TV reporters pressed forward. You can debate whether Sedgwick and Cryer's nominations were coincidence or convenience, but the important thing is that the Hollywood press had a second person to interview.