BREAKING NEWS: Kiwi comedy show Flight of the Conchords has been included in a shortlist of the top 10 comedy shows vying for television's highest honours at the Emmy Awards.
Flight of the Conchords - created by Kiwi folk-comedy duo Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement - is included in the shortlist for best comedy show, also featuring heavyweights Entourage, Weeds and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
For the first time ever, Emmy organisers unveiled a list of the top 10 comedies and dramas competing to be nominated for Emmy awards.
Traditionally, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences does not reveal its shortlist of the 20 shows under consideration for best drama and best comedy series nominations, which this year will be announced on July 17.
The list of 10 drama finalists includes one previous Emmy winner for best drama series, the castaway thriller Lost, and three other past nominees - ABC's courtroom saga Boston Legal and two medical shows, the Fox hit House and ABC favorite Grey's Anatomy.
The critically acclaimed but low-rated series Friday Night Lights also made the cut, as did the serial killer drama Dexter.
Rounding out the roster of drama finalists were four more cable shows - new period piece Mad Men, the legal drama Damages, historical romp The Tudors and the final season of The Wire.
The top 10 comedies feature six programs by broadcast networks, 30 Rock and The Office, as well as bawdy sitcom Two and a Half Men, animated series Family Guy and newcomer Pushing Daisies.
HBO dominated the four cable TV comedies on the short list with veteran programs Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage, as well as recent arrival Flight of the Conchords.
They are joined by Weeds, about a pot-dealing mum.
The top 10 shortlists were determined by votes from the entire television academy, and now go to "blue ribbon" panels of academy members who will judge the contenders.
Results from the academy voting and the panel voting are then averaged to determine the five nominees for each category.
The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on September 21, and will also include awards for TV actors, actresses, mini-series, made-for-TV movies and a host of other honours.
McKenzie and Clement are currently in America working on the second season of Flight of the Conchords.
-With Reuters
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