Terry Morrow: Ex-Knoxville reporter's 'American Horror Story' earns 17 Emmy nods

Connie Britton in "American Horror Story."

A former News Sentinel reporter scared up a record number of Prime-time Emmy nominations Thursday.

Ryan Murphy, who covered lifestyle stories and wrote a front-page column for the paper in the mid-1980s, is the executive producer behind the cable hit "American Horror Story," which earned 17 nods, tying with "Mad Men" for the most nominations this year.

"Story," a gothic thriller, is positioned in the outstanding miniseries or movie category instead of outstanding series.

"Story" actresses Connie Britton and Jessica Lange also garnered nominations.

Murphy is no stranger to the Emmy boards, especially in recent years. He is the executive producer of "Glee," which has been embraced by Emmy in several categories in the past. This year "Glee" fell out of favor and only mustered a small fraction of nominations.

"Story" faces off against "Game Change," the HBO Sarah Palin film; "Hatfields & McCoys," the History miniseries; "Hemingway and Gellhorn," the HBO movie starring Nicole Kidman; "Luther," a British crime drama; and "Sherlock," a PBS adaptation of the classic literary hero.

The 64th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Sept. 23 on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel will be host.

Other major nominees:

Drama series. "Game of Thrones" (HBO), "Homeland" (Showtime), "Mad Men" (AMC), "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO), "Breaking Bad" (AMC) and "Downton Abbey" (PBS).

Comedy series. "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS), "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO), "Girls" (HBO), "Modern Family" (ABC), "30 Rock" (NBC) and "Veep"(HBO).

Terry Morrow may be reached at 865-342-6445 or morrowt@knoxville.com. Follow Tele-buddy on Twitter.

© 2012, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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