The cast of Glee fared pretty well with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences this year, but the musical comedy series surprisingly wasn’t nominated for “Original Music & Lyrics” despite this season’s addition of original tunes. Instead, Saturday Night Live dominated the category with four nominations, leaving room for only Family Guy’s “Christmastime Is Killing Us” and “An American Prayer—Hymn II?” from the HBO comedy special Robert Klein: Unfair & Unbalanced. (Another HBO special that went over well with the Emmys? Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball snagged five nods!) Watch the nominated clips below, then vote for the winner in our poll.

In addition to the nods for her Madison Square Garden show, Mother Monster also stars in the nominated “3 Way (The Golden Rule)” opposite Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake, both of whom are enjoying a nice moment in the spotlight. The Lonely Island is behind three of the six recognized songs, while Timberlake sang (and shares a lyrics credit on) the fourth nominated SNL track, “I’m Not Gonna Sing” from his opening monologue. JT also earned kudos for his guest-hosting stint on Saturday Night Live in the Guest Actor, Comedy category, an award he won in 2009 (also for hosting SNL).

View the complete list of Emmy nominees here.

And now, without further ado, the 2011 “Original Music & Lyrics” nominees are:

Family Guy, “Christmastime Is Killing Us”


Saturday Night Live , “I Just Had Sex”

Saturday Night Live, Justin Timberlake Monologue

“Saturday Night Live, “Jack Sparrow”

Saturday Night Live, “3-Way (The Golden Rule)”

Sorry, apparently not everything is on the internet these days. “An American Prayer—Hymn II?” is nowhere to be found on the net as of yet.

Clearly, the Emmys are favoring comedy over more straight-faced fare like the Glee tunes. Will the four SNL tracks cancel each other out and let Family Guy or Robert Klein emerge victorious? We hope not, since in our minds, any of the SNL tunes is a winner. What do you think?

What did she have in store after teasing us with a “GLORIOUS surprise”? Watch below.

Gaga delivered a boldly unadorned performance (well, as unadorned as she can do it while wearing that metallic headpiece) of “The Edge Of Glory” from the piano before cranking up the volume for a theatrical run-through of “Judas”. (The latter was fine, but definitely small-scale by Gaga standards, and certainly compared to her Graham Norton performance.

Lady Gaga – “The Edge Of Glory” / “Judas”

It turned out Gaga came bearing more than one surprise for the evening — but one of them was certainly the, uh, wardrobe addition in the middle of “Born This Way”. (Talk about taking her lyrics literally).

Lady Gaga – “Born This Way”

Gaga even appeared in three sketches. The first one featured the pop star dressed as a bottle of wine, which is maybe the most tame outfit we’ve ever seen her wear:

The second had Gaga playing herself against Justin Timberlake (also playing himself) on the game show What’s In A Name:

And the third had Gaga all 90s New Yawk’d out alongside “Dick In The Box” buddies JT and Andy Samberg for their third collaboration, “3 Way”:

Did you watch #TimberGagaSNLfinale? What did you make of it? Tell us here, or on Twitter or Facebook.

Sadly, no Lady Gaga appearance to speak of. We have a feeling she was a little too busy promoting her new album to have any time to film promos alongside JT.

How badly do you want to hang out with these two? As much as we crave new JT tunes, we’re growing more and more fond of Justin Timberlake, Actor.

The Lonely Island feat Snoop Dogg - Turtleneck & Chain

How much we like “Turtleneck & Chain” really depends solely on whether or not we get a video of Snoop Dogg dressed in same, sipping on a light beer and looking all badass about it. (We say the odds are pretty good — Lonely Island’s shtick has always played better with visual accompaniment.)

And despite the faux-macho posturing on “Turtlenek & Chain,” the track’s sound has us thinking it’d be perfect for Ke$ha — we’re getting a definite “Sleazy” vibe from this one. Lonely Island, Ke$ha, have you been introduced? Something tells us you’d get along like gangbusters.

As usual with this debaucherous trio, there is plenty of striking imagery and a few quotable lines we expect to hear referenced in daily conversation in the near future. We especially like the way these creeps put their parody spin on the way so many legit rappers brag about their sexual prowess — here, the boys take the opposite approach but with the same in-your-face cocky swagger. It’s pretty hilarious.

And while we don’t think “We’re Back!” is quite as memorable as some of the group’s other offerings — it’s not as easy to get stuck in your head as “Jizz In My Pants” (which might be a good thing) — it definitely has us looking forward to a full album of “Garfield sex music.”

For her first number as musical guest, the Marie Clare cover girl brought the house down wearing fire engine red to match her fierce scarlet locks. Rihanna’s live version of “Only Girl (In The World)” was similarly red hot, taking the single’s clubbiness down a notch for an edgier, rock-ier version that actually suits the song even better.

Next up, the photogenic diva delivered a sleek, Drake-less rendition of “What’s My Name,” clad in the bright colors (reminiscent of her island roots) that are the antithesis of last year’s dark, Rated R moodiness. Most importantly, RiRi seemed to be having a good time performing both songs, giving off an infectiously cheerful vibe that should prove once and for all her gloomy days are behind her.

But lest we think Rihanna’s bad girl has gone a little too good, her black-clad, tommy gun-toting appearance in the sequel to her first SNL Digital Short provided a little something for everyone. It’s not uncommon to hear a pop star request we “put our hands up” – but usually, it’s not because they’re robbing everybody. The pop star played Clyde to Shy Ronnie’s Bonnie in this hysterical retread of the gags from the first video, in which the unlikely pair holds up a bank and, just like in the original, Ronnie’s bashful nature ensures all does not go according to plan. Best of all, fans who have been waiting to hear Rihanna utter the words “boner alert!” can now die happy.

“Booty Call”

Now every time we answer the phone, we’ll secretly be hoping its Alicia Keys inviting us over on the other end. Oh yeah, Alicia also performed “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart” and “Empire State of Mind, Part II (Broken Down)” on the show. We almost forgot, since we were too distracted by her sultry voice and Andy’s ridiculous outfit.

“Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart”

“Empire State of Mind, Part II (Broken Down)”

In the clip, Samberg gets his Auto-Tune on by serenading a hermit crab (hot), using the I Am T-Pain iPhone application.  The “Buy U A Drank” rapper then calls Andy up, and they make several references to “I’m On A Boat.” And scones. Pain then fronts like he didn’t even know there was an I Am T-Pain app.

Not sure if this latest effort falls under the “funny” or “die” category—in fact, T-Pain’s “Take Your Shirt Off” music video is far more of a knee-slapper—but hop below and judge for yourself.

Give It On Up To Homelessville [Hulu]
Motherlover [Hulu]