'The Office', 'Dexter' Get Broadband Emmy Nods

Internet videos showing volcanic eruptions of Diet Coke will compete along with Web shorts featuring the cast of NBC's "The Office" in newly created categories for the upcoming
Daytime Emmy Awards.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the nominations Thursday for outstanding drama, comedy, variety and children's original programming for broadband, specifically computers, cell phones and other handheld devices.

The New York-based organization teamed with the social networking Web site MySpace.com for the first time to solicit nominations from the public, resulting in the recognition of independent productions, as well as programs created by traditional TV networks.

This is only the second year the group has honored programs created for high-speed Internet, or broadband, connections. Last year, the first broadband Emmy was awarded to AOL for its 2005 Webcast of the worldwide "Live 8" concert.

The awards are the subject of a dispute between NATAS and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which awards the Primetime Emmy Awards. The latter has advocated for a more deliberate approach to honoring Web-based programming, and the disagreement is the subject of an ongoing court battle.

The awards for broadband programming will be given at a June 14 ceremony in Los Angeles. The Daytime Emmy Awards will be televised live on June 15.

Nominees include:

-- Drama: "Prom Queen," Vuguru; "Sam Has 7 Friends," Vuguru; "Satacracy 88," Itsallinyourhands.com; "Stranger Adventures," Riddle Productions Inc.; "Tim's Dates," Mandate Bros. productions.

-- Comedy: "Baxter & McGuire," Comedy Central; "Honesty," Comedy Central; "Mobijokes," DV3 Productions; "Pale Force," NBC; "Slob Evolution," Blink Productions; "The Office: Accountants," NBC.

-- Variety: "Dexter Blood Spatter 101," Showtime; "Guiding Light's 70th Anniversary Celebration," Procter & Gamble Productions; "Icons of Science--Quantum Theory," Discovery Education; "It's Jerrytime!" Ozone Inc.; "The Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiments," EepyBird.

-- Children's: "Cyberchase," PBS; Scooby-Doo: Haunts for the Holidays," Warnerbrothers.com; "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy," Cartoon Network.