Newcomer Flashpoint looks to command the stage at the 24th annual Gemini Awards after CTV’s hit cop series nabbed a record-setting 19 nominations on Tuesday, followed distantly by CBC copro The Tudors with 11.

The shows will battle it out in the key best dramatic series category against CBC’s Being Erica and The Border, each with a total nine nods, and the eight-part war drama ZOS: Zone of Separation, airing on The Movie Network and Movie Central.

Flashpoint dominates the performance categories with 10 nods overall, including kudos for leads Enrico Colantoni, Hugh Dillon and Amy Jo Johnson, while guest stars such as Nicholas Campbell and Henry Czerny also scored nominations.

Produced by Avamar Entertainment and Pink Sky Entertainment, Flashpoint was also noted in craft categories including writing, sound, editing and direction.

The 19 nods are the most ever for a series, just a step behind The Fifth Estate which drew 20 nominations in 1998, though it was spread out over two rounds of Gemini awards in one year.

In a statement to Playback Daily, Flashpoint exec producers Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos said it was ‘a great honor’ to be acknowledged by their peers.

The series recently wrapped production on its second season, and returns to CTV’s schedule on Friday, Sept. 25 with nine new episodes, though there’s no word of an airdate on U.S. caster CBS.

Time-traveling dramedy Being Erica, also new to the Geminis, received nods for lead Erin Karpluk, casting for Stephanie Gorin, and two nods in guest performance categories for Anna Silk and Damir Andrei.

‘I’m not sure [the nominations] will help in the ratings or to get a new season but certainly [the Geminis] are well recognized, and that is a moral boost,’ producer David Fortier of Temple Street Productions told Playback Daily after the nominations were announced. The cast and crew are currently half-way through production on the show’s second season.

The Citytv comedy Less Than Kind bagged nine nominations including best comedy series, up against CBC perennial favorites The Rick Mercer Report and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Showcase’s Testees, and newcomer Three Chords from the Truth, airing on CMT. Notably absent from the list is CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie.

Among the candidates in the best dramatic miniseries category are Global copros Burn Up and The Last Templar, CBC’s Canada/U.K./South Africa copro Diamonds, and the Canada/France mini XIII.

There are no surprises on the non-fiction side as CBC News continues to dominate all categories including reportage, special event coverage, and news magazine segments. CBC anchors Peter Mansbridge, Heather Hiscox, Janet Stewart and Diana Swain will vie for top honors in the news anchor category, up against a lone Kevin Newman from Global National. CBC News at Six Manitoba, CBC News: The National, and Global National are also contenders for best newscast. CTV continues to boycott the news categories.

On the reality front, CBC’s Dragon’s Den and The Week the Women Went are nom’d alongside MuchMusic’s disBAND — The Homecoming, and Global’s Project Runway Canada, and GoldMind.

The Geminis’ main gala will be held in Calgary on Nov. 14, while craft and other categories will be presented over two industry nights, instead of the usual three, in Toronto on Oct. 19 and 20. The awards will be broadcast on Global and Showcase.