House Crisis, HIMYM Funeral, Friday Night Lights Finale And Others Eye Humanitas Prize

The finalists for the 37th annual Humanitas Prize — which honors writers from both television and film whose work "explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way" — have been revealed, and several fan fave TV shows, buoyed by standout episodes, are vying for recognition.

In the 30-Minute category, How I Met Your Mother's Season 6 examination of death and grief will compete with Mitchell and Cameron's first Modern Family kiss plus two Showtime standouts, while the 60-Minute category includes House's Season 6 finale — the one from May of last year — and the Friday Night Lights series-ender (which aired on DirecTV last winter).

The eligibility period runs April to April. The 2010 winners on the TV front were The Good Wife and Glee (in a tie),  Modern Family and Nurse Jackie (tie), and Temple Grandin.

Below is a complete list of the 2011 Humanitas TV nominees:

30-MINUTE CATEGORY:

The Big C — "Taking the Plunge," written by Darlene Hunt

How I Met Your Mother — "Last Words," written by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas

Modern Family — "The Kiss," written by Abraham Higginbotham

Nurse Jackie — "Monkey Bits," written by Liz Brixius

60-MINUTE CATEGORY:

Drop Dead Diva — "Good Grief," written by Jeanette Collins and Mimi Friedman

Friday Night Lights — "Always," written by Jason Katims

House — "Help Me," written by Russel Friend, Garrett Lerner and Peter Blake

The Pacific — "Part 10," written by Bruce McKenna and Robert Schenkkan

90-MINUTE CATEGORY:

Lifetime's Reviving Ophelia, written by Teena Booth

Lifetime's Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story , written by Michael Bortman

HBO's Thurgood, written by George Stevens, Jr.

Winners of this year's Humanitas Prize will be announced Friday, Sept. 16 at the annual ceremony in Beverly Hills.