Gemini Award Nominations Announced

TORONTO: The Academy of Canadian Cinema Television has announced the nominations for the 24th annual Gemini Awards, honoring the year’s best in Canadian English-language television, with Flashpoint leading with a record 19 nominations.

The Tudors garnered the second-most nominations, 11. Being Erica, Diamonds, Less Than Kind and The Border each received nine nominations.

Flashpoint faces off with Being Erica, The Border, The Tudors and ZOS: Zone of Separation in the drama category. Best dramatic mini-series contenders are Burn Up, Diamonds, The Last Templar and XIII. Meanwhile, best comedy nominees are Less Than Kind, Rick Mercer Report, Testees, This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Three Chords from the Truth.

The titles up for best animated program or series are Jibber Jabber, Life’s a Zoo.tv, Rich and Steve, The Happiest Gay Couple in all the World and Rollbots. For children’s or youth fiction, Instant Star 4, The Latest Buzz and Life With Derek will go head to head. For non-fiction, Aquateam, Mystery Hunters, Sci Q and TVO Kids: Mark’s Moments are all nominees. The contenders in the preschool category are Kids’ Canada, The Mighty Jungle, Get Ready for School (Gisele’s Big Backyard) and Are We There Yet?: World Adventure.

For best reality program or series, the nominees are disBAND: The Homecoming, Dragons’ Den, GoldMind, Project Runway Canada and The Week the Women Went. The Adventurers, Ancestors in the Attic, CBC News: The Lens, Survivorman and The View from Here are all up for best documentary series. Best biography documentary program will see The Bush Years battling it out with The Man Who Crossed the Sahara, Peace Warrior and The Pellatt Newsreel. History documentary programs up for the award are China’s Earthquake: The People in the Pictures, Dark Tourism, Death or Canada and Who Sank the Titanic?

Cross-platform projects getting a nod are Being Erica, CBC News: Ormiston Online, I Prophesy: The Future Revealed, One Million Acts of Green and Pop It! So You Think You Can Dance Canada is up for best music, variety program or series. The show is nominated alongside the 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards, the 2009 Juno Awards, the 23rd annual Gemini Awards and Best of the Fest. Up for best TV movie are Celine, Elijah, In a World Created by a Drunken God, Of Murder and Memory, The Secret of the Nutcracker and The Terrorist Next Door.

The 2009 broadcast gala will take place on Saturday, November 14, in Calgary, Alberta, and will be broadcast live on Global and Showcase.

"Our television industry is thriving and this year’s Gemini Awards nominations clearly demonstrate that," said Sara Morton, the CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema Television. "This year’s nominees have found success with both Canadian and international audiences. We are proud to celebrate the achievements of these shows and the talents behind them, and honored to be a part of such a flourishing community."