London native David Shore is “particularly thrilled” by one of the four Emmy Award nominations his TV series House drew yesterday.

“We’re up for best drama and that’s the big category,” said the 47-year-old creator and executive producer of the popular medical drama series.

House will also be competing in the best casting in a drama series, art direction and single-camera sound mixing categories at the 2006 Emmy Awards, to be presented Aug. 27 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

“Of course, it’s really exciting and wonderful to be nominated, but TV awards are really a bit silly. I mean, who can say whether our series is better than West Wing or any of the other shows?,” said Shore whose scripting of a House episode garnered a prime-time Emmy last year. “We’re not involved in a 100-metre race here. We’re supposed to be in a creative and artistic business.”

Shore has a more elevated view of the Humanitas Prize he received for a House script last week.

“That’s a different kind of award. It says you’ve not just done something well, you’ve also done something good,” he said of the screenwriting prizes honouring works that help “liberate, enrich and unify society.”

Winning awards remains an “unreal experience” for Shore, who in 1991 left his successful Toronto law practice to launch a TV career in L.A.

“I still shake my head whenever I look at the Emmy I won last year,” he said. “Growing up in London, I knew about these people working in television. But I never thought, for one minute, that I would ever be one of them.”

Shore, who was a writer for Due South, NYPD Blue, EZ Streets and The Practice, drew two Emmy nods as a producer on Law & Order. Prior to creating House, he was executive producer of Family Law and Hack.

The former Londoner is currently preparing the third season of the hospital drama which airs on Fox and Global TV.