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Cory Monteith, who plays Finn Hudson in Fox’s musical series, Glee, will be presenting at this year’s Gemini Awards Nov. 14 in Monteith’s hometown of Calgary.

Also presenting awards to honour the best in Canadian television will be Melrose Place star Jessica Lucas, Flashpoint’s Hugh Dillon, Erin Karpluck of Being Erica and The Hour host George Stroumboulopoulos. Comedian Ron James will host.

“Durham County” emerged as the big winner at Friday’s 23rd annual Gemini Awards, taking home three awards for its debut season.

The dark dramatic series won for best director (Holly Dale), best actor (Justin Louis) and best actress (Hélène Joy) at the Toronto gala honouring the best in Canadian television.

Rock ‘n’ roll mockumentary show “Cock’d Gunns,” which has already been cancelled, and historical miniseries “The Englishman’s Boy” were also multiple-award winners, taking home two each.

Another cancelled winner was “Intelligence,” which won for best drama series.

Best comedy series went to “This Hour has 22 Minutes,” which beat out sentimental favourite “Corner Gas,” currently in its last season.

The night’s festivities were hosted by Jason Priestley, who paid tribute to his Canadian roots.

“What a honour to host the Geminis,” said the former “90210″ actor and director. “And an even a bigger honour to be considered 100 per cent, unabashedly Canadian … it’s never been cooler to be Canadian in Hollywood. We are white-hot there.”

Here are some of the winners at the 2008 Gemini Awards:

Best Drama — “Intelligence”
Best Comedy — “This Hour Has 22 Minutes”
Best Miniseries — “The Englishman’s Boy”
Best Talk Show Host — George Stroumboulopoulos, “The Hour”
Best Host of a Sports Program — Ron MacLean, “Hockey Day in Canada”
Best Reality Program — “Project Runway Canada”
Best News Anchor — Ian Hanomansing “CBC News at Six – Vancouver”
Gemini Humanitarian Award — Gord Martineau
Viewers’ Choice Award — Leah Miller (Hottest Canadian Female Star); Brendan Fehr (Hottest Canadian Male Star)

Mystery is the name of the game at this year’s Gemini Awards.

Organizers of the 23rd annual event honouring the best in Canadian television announced the nominees Tuesday, with detective shows “Murdoch Mysteries” and “Durham County” leading the field.

“Murdoch Mysteries,” starring Yannick Bisson as an eccentric detective who solves crimes in 19th century Toronto, scored 14 nominations, including best dramatic series, writing and seven acting nods for supporting actors and guest performers.

Close behind with 13 nominations was present-day drama “Durham County,” which follows a homicide detective (Hugh Dillon) who moves to the suburbs and discovers his neighbour may be a serial killer.

It is competing in such categories as best dramatic series, direction and writing, with three of its stars — Dillon, Justin Louis and Helene Joy — up for best performance in their respective categories.

Other multiple nominees include the Henry VIII series “The Tudors” and the miniseries “The Englishman’s Boy” with 12 each, ensemble drama “The Border” with nine, the acclaimed but cancelled “Intelligence” with five and last year’s best comedy winner “Corner Gas” with four.

Gemini nominations are voted on by members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, which also oversees the Genie Awards for Canadian film.

Academy CEO Sara Morton called it “a banner year” for Canadian television.

“The nominees announced today truly exemplify the depth and breadth of our country’s talent, both in front of and behind the camera,” she said in a statement.

“Featuring newcomers and returning favourites, this year’s field of nominees has engaged and entertained audiences in Canada and beyond.”

The full list of nominees can be viewed at geminiawards.ca.

Awards in the news, lifestyle, documentary, sports and children’s programming categories will be given out at three industry galas in late October.

The high-profile categories — best drama, comedy, TV movie, miniseries and actor and actress — will be presented at a Nov. 28 gala in Toronto, which will air on E! Network and Showcase at 9 p.m. ET.

Miriam McDonald, the 20-year-old star of “Degrassi: The Next Generation” dropped the F-bomb at the Gemini Awards on Sunday.

While presenting an award with Kathleen Robertson and Andrea Roth, McDonald followed the script and said the word that was intended to be bleeped out.

But due to a technical problem, the bleep never happened on the live broadcast.

McDonald said she’s embarrassed about the incident. “Oh man, I can’t believe everyone heard it,” she said. “I saw it scripted as WTF and that it was going to get cut out. But it didn’t and I feel just awful.”

George Stroumboulopoulos launched the 22nd annual Gemini Awards Sunday with a sketch poking fun at host province Regina. The skit followed Stroumboulopoulos getting hounded by various TV personalities for calling Saskatchewan flat.

The cast of Little Mosque on the Prairie, Peter Mansbridge from The National and even Jeopardy’s Alex Trebek made appearances in the sketch but the funniest run-in goes to Corner Gas creator, writer, and star Brent Butt.

The funnyman’s hit comedy went on to take home awards for Best Comedy Series, Best Writing In A Comedy Program or Series, and Best Ensemble Cast In A Comedy Program or Series.

Slings & Arrows, a show revolving around a Shakespearean troupe, was also a big winner. The program picked up five awards including Best Drama for the second year in a row and series lead Paul Gross won his sixth Gemini. Costar Martha Burns nabbed the coveted award for best performance by an actress in a leading dramatic role.

In the evening’s highlight for dedicated online voters, Howie Mandel won the Viewers’ Choice Award for favourite Canadian-born TV performer in a program or series not eligible for a Gemini.

“This is so amazing,” Mandel joked in his acceptance speech. “Tonight has been about rewarding people for their artistry and for their skill. And I think it’s much more important to be popular.”

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Dramatic Series
Slings & Arrows (Movie Network)
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Paul Gross, Slings & Arrows
Best Actress in a Drama Series
Martha Burns, Slings & Arrows
Best Direction in a Drama Series
Chris Haddock, Intelligence (CBC)
Best Comedy Series
Corner Gas (CTV)
Best Ensemble in a Comedy
Brent Butt, Lorne Cardinal, Fred Ewanuick, Gabrielle Miller, Eric Peterson, Nancy Robertson, Tara Spencer-Nairn, Janet Wright, Corner Gas
Best Writing in a Comedy
Mark Farrell, Corner Gas
Best Writing in a Drama
Susan Coyne, Bob Martin, Mark McKinney, Slings & Arrows
Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program
Ron MacLean, Hockey Night in Canada (CBC)
Best News Anchor
Gord Martineau, CityNews at Six – Toronto
Best Music or Variety Program
2006 MuchMusic Video Awards
Best Social/Political Documentary
Fatherland

CBC’s golden boy George Stroumboulopoulos is bringing some Canadian star power to the 22nd Annual Gemini Awards. The first time host has enlisted the help of homegrown Hollywood celebs like Sarah Chalke (Scrubs), Men In Trees hottie James Tupper and Howie Mandel to liven up this year’s festivities.

Hoping to steer clear of its usual tag as an exclusive industry insider snoozefest, the live show will now be open to a public audience.

And, in another first for the show, viewers can vote online for their favourite Canadian TV star not up for a Gemini. The Viewers’ Choice Award nominees include Mandel, Keifer Sutherland, Evangeline Lilly, Sandra Oh, William Shatner and Kristine Kreuk.

Stroumboulopoulos hopes the changes will make this year’s event unique and exciting.

CBC producer Steve Sloan says viewers can look forward to “tons of star power, great comedy and definitely a few surprises.”

Tonight’s gala celebrating the best in Canadian English-language television will also feature appearances by former 90210 stars Jason Priestley and Kathleen Robertson.