| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
'Six Feet,' 'Wing' lead Emmy nods'Sopranos' clocks in with 13
By Todd Leopold
(CNN) -- Despite early predictions that a "Sopranos" steamroller would overwhelm the Emmy nominations, HBO's "Six Feet Under" and NBC's "The West Wing" led the pack when the nods were announced Thursday morning. "Six Feet Under," about a family of funeral directors, received 16 nominations, including taps for best drama series, best actor in a drama (Peter Krause) and best actress in a drama (Frances Conroy). "The West Wing," the much-lauded drama about life in the White House, was right behind with 15 nominations, including best drama, best actor in a drama (Martin Sheen) and best actress in a drama (Allison Janney). "The Sopranos," which wasn't eligible for last year's awards because no new episodes aired during the qualifying period, was nominated for 13 Emmys. Among its selections were best drama, best actor in a drama (James Gandolfini) and best actress in a drama (Edie Falco). Prognosticators have given Falco the inside track for her tightly wound performance in the show's final episode of the season, in which her mob wife character stands up to Gandolfini's mob boss Tony Soprano in a furious argument and then walks out on him. Also nominated for best drama actress are Jennifer Garner for "Alias" and Marg Helgenberger for "CSI." Best drama actor nominees also include Kiefer Sutherland for "24" and last year's category winner, Michael Chiklis for FX's "The Shield." Other best drama nominees are CBS' "CSI," the Las Vegas-set show about forensic investigators, and Fox's "24," the program about a government agent told in real time. Chiklis, who was on hand to announce the nominees, was momentarily stunned by his nomination. "That's kind of like asking somebody to the prom in front of a pep rally," he said to co-presenter Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcolm in the Middle" and the assembled journalists. Soon after he called his family. "The phone is ringing off the hook, and my poor 9-year-old is like 'What do I do?' " Chiklis said. "This is surreal." Familiar namesMost of the drama nominees' names should be familiar to Emmy watchers, having received multiple nominations. The same was true of the comedy nominees.
The nominees for best comedy series include HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm"; CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond"; NBC's "Friends"; HBO's "Sex and the City" and NBC's "Will and Grace." Comedy series best actress nominees are Jennifer Aniston, "Friends"; Patricia Heaton, "Everybody Loves Raymond"; Debra Messing, "Will & Grace"; Sarah Jessica Parker, "Sex and the City"; and Kaczmarek. Best actor in a comedy series had six nominees: Larry David, "Curb Your Enthusiasm"; Matt LeBlanc, "Friends"; Bernie Mac, Fox's "The Bernie Mac Show"; Eric McCormack, "Will & Grace"; Ray Romano, "Everybody Loves Raymond" and Tony Shalhoub, USA Network's "Monk." Kaczmarek laughed when her name was announced and dropped to the floor in glee. Among the nominees, only Shalhoub -- whose performance as the obsessive-compulsive San Francisco detective Adrian Monk has been widely praised -- was an out-and-out surprise. The others have all been nominated before in one category or another. New talent?
In fact, any surprises this year had to do with how few new nominees there were -- and who was snubbed. After 11 straight years of nominations, "Law & Order" failed to get a nod for best drama series. Kelsey Grammer, who once owned the best comedy series actor award, was also overlooked. "ER," which remains one of the most popular shows on television, didn't get any major nominations. Moreover, a number of new or almost-new series that have earned critical plaudits and good ratings -- among them "Boomtown," "Without a Trace" and "Scrubs" -- were ignored. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which ended its critically lauded seven-year run in May, went out the way it came in, with zero major nominations. "What's not here are those shows on the WB, like 'The Gilmore Girls,' which the TV Critics Association of America tells us is the best show on television," Tom O'Neil -- who runs awards Web site goldderby.com -- told CNN. "Why didn't it get any Emmy nominations? And what about 'Scrubs'? ... It's holding its own, critics love it, viewers love it, but Emmy voters aren't watching it, because it's too young skewing, and the geezer Emmy voters have a demographic a little north of what 'Scrubs' viewers are." "The Sopranos," sometimes ranked with the best series television has ever produced, has never won an Emmy for best drama, having lost three years in a row to "The West Wing." With "Wing" coming off what many have viewed as a subpar year, the HBO show's primary competitor is thought to be "24," which built on its first-season critical success with ratings success in season No. 2. At least one bookmaking Web site, BetWWTS.com, has made "The Sopranos" its early favorite in the drama category. "Sex and the City" is the favorite among comedies. As for O'Neil, if he had to pick one winner, it would be Falco. "If you were betting right now on any race, you can say bet five ranches and bet them all on Edie Falco," he said. HBO, home of "Six Feet Under," "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City," earned the most nominations with 109. NBC was second with 77, followed by CBS with 59, Fox with 37 and ABC with 33. PBS earned 16. HBO is a division of AOL Time Warner, as is CNN. Other nomineesNominees for best supporting actor in a comedy were Peter Boyle and Brad Garrett, both of "Everybody Loves Raymond"; John Mahoney and David Hyde Pierce of "Frasier"; Bryan Cranston of "Malcolm in the Middle" and Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace."
Nominated for comedy supporting actress were Cheryl Hines of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"; Doris Roberts of "Everybody Loves Raymond"; Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall of "Sex and the City"; and Megan Mullally of "Will & Grace." Actors nominated for their supporting work in a drama series: Victor Garber of "Alias"; Michael Imperioli and Joe Pantoliano of "The Sopranos"; and Bradley Whitford and John Spencer of "The West Wing." Supporting dramatic actress nominations went to Lena Olin of "Alias"; Tyne Daly of "Judging Amy"; Lauren Ambrose and Rachel Griffiths of "Six Feet Under"; and Stockard Channing of "The West Wing." Three reality shows were given nominations in the best reality-competition show category: CBS' "The Amazing Race," Fox's "American Idol" and CBS' "Survivor." "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Passions: America's Greatest Love Stories" and "100 Years of Hope and Humor," a tribute to Bob Hope, also earned nominations in the category. In a separate category for alternative programming, nominees included "The Osbournes," "Da Ali G Show," "Trading Spaces," "Antiques Roadshow" and "Cirque du Soleil Fire Within." Only three miniseries made the Emmy nominations cut, "Hitler, The Rise of Evil" and "Napoleon," each with seven, and "Steven Spielberg Presents: Taken" with six. The made-for-TV nominees were "Door to Door," which received a leading 12 bids. Other nominees were "Live From Baghdad," "My House in Umbria," "Normal" and "Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story." The nominations for the 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced from the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, California. The Emmys will air September 21 on Fox. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
The phone is ringing off the hook, and my poor 9-year-old is like 'What do I do?' This is surreal.
