BOARDWALK EMPIRE & GLEE MAY SWEEP THE EMMY AWARDS TONIGHT!

With no real breakout hits on broadcast television this past year, Sunday night's Emmy Awards (Fox, 8 p.m.) could end up spreading the hardware over a wide range of winners.

On the other hand, the lack of a single big favorite could funnel many of the big awards to a single show or two.

If that's the case, put a few bucks on "Boardwalk Empire," the big-budget HBO show about 1920s Atlantic City that has a cable-size audience, but glowing notices and major industry respect.

Since the industry votes on the awards, that matters. "Boardwalk Empire" already picked up seven creative arts Emmys at last weekend's early ceremony.

In the most prestigious category, drama of the year, "Boardwalk Empire" will challenge AMC's three-time winner "Mad Men," as well as HBO's "Game of Thrones," Showtime's "Dexter," the NBC/DirecTV collaboration "Friday Night Lights" and CBS' "The Good Wife."

The comedy of the year category finally includes CBS' "The Big Bang Theory." It will face the defending champion, ABC's "Modern Family," along with Fox's "Glee" and three NBC shows, "30 Rock," "Parks and Recreation" and "The Office."

"Glee" has a fistful of nominations, and its trophy count could give some indication whether its buzz has died down.

One "Glee" nominee, Jane Lynch, is the show's host, but when she spoke to TV critics last month she said she will minimize any association with her "Glee" character, Sue Sylvester.

"A little bit of Sue goes a long way," said Lynch, who had established a reputation as a deadpan, absurdist comic well before Sue came along.

As for how she will approach the hosting slot, she mentions the legendary 1989 Rob Lowe "Snow White" sketch on the Oscarcast and says her main goal is that "very few people will cringe."

She adds that she has always loved Billy Crystal's hosting and that she liked Jimmy Kimmel's "relaxed" style on the Emmys last year.

She also said she enjoyed Ricky Gervais' barrage of celebrity barbs at the Golden Globes earlier this year, but Sunday's show won't take that path.

She said there will be a musical number, while producer Mark Burnett said the key to an entertaining Emmy show is "lots of short bits that keep it moving."

He also said the "in memoriam" section will be handled "differently" this year — "as a raise-up, not a bring-down."

And don't expect to notice a greater presence for reality shows on the Emmy Awards — even though Burnett created "Survivor" and "The Voice" and is arguably the most successful creator of unscripted shows.

"Reality television is seven out of the top 10 TV shows on television all the time, the most viewers by far," he says. "However, it's not full of stars. And therefore, it doesn't translate to an awards show because people are tuning in for glamour."

A couple of potential minidramas are built into the nominations this year, like whether Steve Carell will finally win a best-actor Emmy now that he's leaving "The Office," or whether the acclaimed-but-low-rated "Friday Night Lights" will pick up some awards in its final go-round.

I F**KS WITH NUCKY! THAT'S MY NICCA!

SOURCE