The smoking, drinking and sexism of Mad Men has made Emmy Award history after bagging 16 nominations and securing a shot at the prestigious Outstanding Drama Series gong.

The critically acclaimed show, set in a 1960s advertising agency, and Damages, an American legal drama, are the first basic-cable programmes ever to be nominated for the best series award.

The nods mark a turning point for the 60-year-old Primetime Emmys, which have only ever awarded the Outstanding Drama Series gong to free-to-air American shows and those from the fee-charging, premium cable network HBO.

HBO failed to secure a nomination for this year’s prize, with House, Dexter and Boston Legal making up the competition for Mad Men and Damages.

But HBO, which made the hit series The Sopranos, Sex And The City and Six Feet Under, still produced the most nominated show, with John Adams, a programme about the American founding fathers, collecting an impressive 23 nominations.

The network’s much-lauded, soon-to-finish show The Wire failed in its last attempt to secure a nomination. Despite critical acclaim in the six years since it launched, the programme, about police and drug dealers in Baltimore, has never made the Emmys cut.

The comedy nods were dominated by 30 Rock, which received 17 nominations. The show will compete for Outstanding Comedy Series with Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Two And A Half Men and the US remake of Ricky Gervais’s hit The Office.

British hopes rest on Ralph Fiennes and Gervais who both received nods for Best Actor in A Miniseries or A Movie. Fiennes’s nomination was earned for his turn in Bernard and Doris, while Gervais received his nod for Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale. Dame Judi Dench was nominated for Best Actress in a Miniseries or A Movie for the critical hit Cranford, but is up against Hollywood players Laura Linney and Susan Saradon for the prize.

Contenders for the Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series are Boston Legal’s James Spader, Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, Dexter’s Michael C. Hall, House’s Hugh Laurie, In Treatement’s Gabriel Byrne and Mad Men’s John Hamm.

Actresses plumping for the equivalent award are Sally Field for Brothers and Sisters, Glenn Close for Damages, Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer, Mariska Hargitay for Law & Order and Holly Hunter for Saving Grace.

The winners will be announced on September 21 in Los Angeles.

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