Two Globe nods for Anna Paquin

Kiwi golden girl Anna Paquin has scored two Golden Globe nominations - one of which is in the same category that she won earlier this year.

Paquin, who is engaged to her True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer, was this morning nominated in the category of best TV drama actress for her role as waitress Sookie Stackhouse in HBO's vampire thriller at a ceremony in Beverly Hills.

She will go up against Glenn Close (for Damages), January Jones (Mad Men), Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) and Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) in the hotly contested category.

Paquin won the same award for the same role in January, and at the time described it as a completely different experience to winning an Oscar for The Piano at age 11.

"This is quite blurry and crazy, too, but at least I'm old enough to drink and stay out past 10pm."

Paquin also scored a best actress nod for her role in made-for-TV movie The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, in which she plays a Polish social worker who smuggled around 2500 Jewish children to safety during World War II.

In other categories, quirky TV musical Glee struck a chord in its first season with a leading four nominations in a television field packed with fresh shows and new stars.

The Fox network show about high-school misfits in a struggling choir picked up nominations for best comedy or musical, best actor and actress for stars Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele, and a best supporting actress for the scheming cheerleader coach played by Jane Lynch.

Morrison put the success of Glee down to its joyful spirit. "I think people need optimism. It is an uplifting show. It is something new, and fresh and I think the music is infectious," he told Reuters.

Glee, one of the best reviewed new shows of the 2009-10 TV season with a regular audience of 8.7 million viewers, also helped Fox clinch a share of second place in the nomination count to cable network HBO, which again dominated the field with 17 nominations.

Fox had six nods overall, as did cable network Showtime. Ratings-challenged NBC followed with five - for comedies The Office and 30 Rock - CBS had four and ABC had three.

HBO's vampire show True Blood and the network's controversial polygamy drama Big Love will square off for the top honour - best TV drama - against double Emmy-winner Mad Men (AMC), Showtime's serial killer series Dexter and the Fox medical series House.

Joining Glee among best comedy contenders were old favourites 3O Rock, The Office and Entourage.

The Golden Globes are awarded annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and while they are closely-watched for their film honours during Oscar season, they are often the first to shine a spotlight on new TV shows and emerging stars.

This year they shone that light on two new ABC comedies, Cougar Town with former Friends star Courteney Cox, who earned a best actress nomination as a 40-something divorced woman, and Modern Family, which got a best comedy nod.

HBO show Hung, which aired in its first season and tells of a down-on-his-luck man who decides to market himself as a gigolo, brought nominations for its previously little-known stars Thomas Jane and Jane Adams.

Along with all the fresh faces, several well-known actors turned up in new shows, and Golden Globes voters took note.

Former ER star Julianna Margulies was nominated for best actress in a TV drama in The Good Wife (CBS), playing the spouse of a disgraced public official. Edie Falco, who won multiple awards for her role in "The Sopranos," was nominated for best actress in a TV comedy or musical playing hard-bitten Nurse Jackie on Showtime.

Lifetime, a TV channel aimed at women, picked up three nominations for its biopic Georgia O'Keeffe, including acting nods for its stars Joan Allen and British actor Jeremy Irons.

The 67th annual Golden Globes ceremony will be held on January 17 and hosted by Rickey Gervais.

Main list of TV nominees for the 67th Golden Globe Awards:

Best Television Series - Drama
Big Love
Dexter
House
Mad Men
True Blood

Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical
30 Rock
Entourage
Glee
Modern Family
The Office

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
Simon Baker - The Mentalist
Michael C Hall - Dexter
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Hugh Laurie - House
Bill Paxton - Big Love

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama
Glenn Close - Damages
January Jones - Mad Men
Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife
Anna Paquin - True Blood
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Steve Carell - The Office
David Duchovny - Californication
Thomas Jane - Hung
Matthew Morrison - Glee

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical
Toni Collette - United States of Tara
Courteney Cox - Cougar Town
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Lea Michele - Glee

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Michael Emerson - Lost
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother
William Hurt - Damages
John Lithgow - Dexter
Jeremy Piven - Entourage

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Jane Adams - Hung
Rose Byrne - Damages
Jane Lynch - Glee
Janet McTeer - Into the Storm
Chloe Sevigny - Big Love

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Georgia O’Keefe
Grey Gardens
Into the Storm
Little Dorrit
Taking Chance

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture
Kevin Bacon - Taking Chance
Kenneth Branagh - Wallander: One Step Behind
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Endgame
Brendan Gleeson - Into the Storm
Jeremy Irons - Georgia O’Keefe

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture
Joan Allen - Georgia O’Keefe
Drew Barrymore - Grey Gardens
Jessica Lange - Grey Gardens
Anna Paquin - The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
Sigourney Weaver - Prayers for Bobby

-With AP, Stuff.co.nz

- Reuters