Emmy Awards show begins in LA

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The 61st annual Prime Time Emmy Awards ceremony is under way in Los Angeles, with actor Neil Patrick Harris serving as host.

Harris kicked off the show with a song and dance tribute to nominees.

The NBC comedy "30 Rock" has 22 nominations for the 2008-09 television series going into Sunday night's event. The series is competing with "Entourage," "Family Guy," "Flight of the Conchords," "How I Met Your Mother," "The Office" and "Weeds" for the prize for outstanding comedy series.

Nominated in the drama series category are "Big Love," "Breaking Bad," "Damages," "Dexter," "House," "Lost" and "Mad Men."

While "30 Rock" earned the highest number of nominations ever for a comedy show, HBO garnered the most nods -- 99 -- of any TV network for a ninth year in a row.