Mildred Pierce in race for TV's Emmy awards

Mildred Pierce starring Kate Winslet leads the way at this year's Emmy Awards with 21 nominations, proving TV is now pulling in A-list stars.Joining Winslet in the battle for best actress in a mini series is Downton Abbey's Elizabeth McGovern.Jean Marsh, the co-creator of Upstairs, Downstairs, is also nominated in the category for her performance as Rose Buck in the BBC revival of the show.Television used to be the place were careers went to die, but Winslet said appearing in Mildred Pierce was the most challenging thing she has done since Titanic."This was such a luxury because we had five hours to tell our story, we didn't have to cut anything out," she said."We could really get under the skin of all these people and really tell this woman's story. We had so much time, you don't get to do that on film."Even silver screen veteran Steven Spielberg cannot resist the allure of TV.He is producing the most expensive series ever, Terra Nova, which will air on Sky 1 this autumn and is said to have cost £2.5m an episode.Martin Scorsese also moved across to TV last year, making history when he directed the most expensive pilot ever for hit show Boardwalk Empire, which reportedly cost over £30m.Star of the show Steve Buscemi said it all started with the 90's series The Sopranos."I think there's things you can do on TV, especially now, that you couldn't do years ago," he said."Certainly The Sopranos changed how people look at TV, and with cable TV you don't have the restrictions that network TV has, and it's like doing a film each week."Television is also where the risks are being taken as Hollywood increasingly opts to play it safe, with a record 27 sequels released this year.Pippa Harris runs Neal Street Productions with Sam Mendes. She has made major TV series as well as films like Revolutionary Road."TV is now more appealing than ever. There are a lot of the big budget movies being made but they're popcorn movies aimed mostly at the teen audience," she said."I think people making serious or challenging work are finding that it's a lot easier to be made on television."After Mildred Pierce, Mad Men is the next most nominated show at this year's Emmy with 19 nods, followed by Boardwalk Empire with 18 and Modern Family with 17, while Downton Abbey is nominated 11 times.