It was evident that cable television had finally come into its own as two basic cable shows, AMC's Mad Men , and FX's Damages, received Emmy nominations today (Thursday) for best series -- the first basic-cable shows to make the lists. Pay TV cable also made quite a showing, with HBO's John Adams capturing 23 nominations, the most for any series, including a best actor nomination for Paul Giamatti in the title role. Among sitcoms, NBC's 30 Rock led with 17 nods, while AMC's Mad Men was tops in the best-drama category with 16 nominations, the CM reported.