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Emmy nominations announced; North Carolinians make the list.

By DANNY HOOLEY, Staff Writer, News & Observer

When the Emmy nominations were announced Thursday morning, there were a few nominees with North Carolina connections on the list.

Raleigh native Michael C. Hall picked up his second Emmy nomination, for his intense portrayal of Dexter Morgan, a blood-spatter expert for the Miami Police by day, and a serial killer by night, in Showtime's "Dexter." The show, which also airs on CBS, was nominated for outstanding drama series.

Hall, 37, grew up in Raleigh, where he attended Ravenscroft School. Hall was nominated in 2002 for his lead role as mortician David Fisher in the acclaimed HBO series "Six Feet Under," which ran five seasons from 2001 to 2005.

Comedy writer Scott Jacobson, who grew up in Cameron, N.C., is nominated for outstanding writing for a variety, music or comedy program, as a member of the writing staff for Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."

Jacobson previously won four Emmys for his work on "The Daily Show." He attended the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, and UNC-Chapel Hill. "The Daily Show" also picked a nomination for best variety, music or comedy series.

Mary-Louise Parker, nominated for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for her portrayal of suburban pot dealer Nancy Botwin in Showtime's "Weeds, was born in South Carolina in 1964 and graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C., where she majored in drama.

Parker won a supporting actress Emmy in 2004 for playing valium addict Harper Pitt in "Angels in America," an HBO miniseries about the AIDS epidemic.

She was nominated in 2005 for her work in "Weeds," and in 2007 for her lead role as Zenia Arden in Oxygen Network's "The Robber Bride."

In 2002, she was nominated for outstanding supporting actress for her role activist Amy Gardner in NBC's "The West Wing."

The HBO miniseries "John Adams," which led all series with 23 nominations, featured Chapel Hill actress Madeline Taylor in its cast, as young Nabby Adams.

In a less direct connection to North Carolina, "Bernard and Doris," an HBO film about the relationship between Duke heiress Doris Duke and her butler Bernard Lafferty, picked up a few nominations, including best made-for-television movie, and nods to director Bob Balaban and lead actors Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes.