60th Primetime Emmy Awards

The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California to honor the best in U.S. prime time television. The ceremony was hosted by Tom Bergeron (who was also hosting America's Funniest Home Videos and Dancing with the Stars, both on ABC, at the time), Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Ryan Seacrest (all were nominated in the debut category—Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program) and televised in the United States on ABC.

The nominations were announced on July 17 by Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Patrick Harris. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards were held eight days earlier (September 13) at the same venue. The ceremony was hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke.

The telecast was viewed by 12.20 million with a household rating of 8.86/12.79 making it the lowest rated and least viewed ceremony in its televised history. Many critics cited lackluster performances from the five hosts as a reason for the huge decline. Others pointed to the field of nominees which were dominated by low-rated and sparsely viewed programs, thus making the Emmys widely considered as a bust, which was panned by critics as "... the worst ever, laid a big, fat ratings egg as well ..."

In 2011, when TV Guide Network re-did their list of "25 Biggest TV Blunders", this ceremony was included.

For the first time in a decade, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series was won by the defending champion. 30 Rock

Outstanding Drama Series went to AMC freshmen series Mad Men. This marked the first series award for a program on a basic cable station. Mad Men led all dramas with six major nominations.

This would be the final ceremony to have five nominees per category, most major categories (acting and programs) were expanded to include at least six slots the following year.

Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:





Most major awards

 * Notes

Presenters
The awards were presented by the following:

In Memoriam

 * George Carlin (twice)
 * Bernie Brillstein
 * Joey Bishop
 * William F. Buckley Jr.
 * Charlton Heston
 * Les Crane
 * Alice Ghostley
 * Ivan Dixon
 * Cyd Charisse
 * Mel Ferrer
 * Claudio Guzmán
 * Barry Morse
 * Deborah Kerr
 * Larry Harmon
 * Estelle Getty
 * Roger King
 * Sydney Pollack
 * Ron Leavitt
 * Bernie Mac
 * Eric Lieber
 * Suzanne Pleshette
 * Abby Mann
 * Dick Martin
 * Delbert Mann
 * Harvey Korman
 * Jim McKay
 * Lois Nettleton
 * Mel Tolkin
 * Richard Widmark
 * Stan Winston
 * Tim Russert
 * Isaac Hayes