Camryn Manheim of "The Practice" and David Hyde Pierce of "Frasier" are joined by Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chief Executive Officer Meryl Marshall at the Emmy nominations Thursday morning.

July 22, 1999
Web posted at: 9:55 a.m. EDT (1355 GMT)

In this story: Drama, miniseries nominees Check the list of nominees RELATED STORIES, SITES

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- TV viewers saw old Emmy favorites -- including Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce of "Frasier" and "Chicago Hope" star Christine Lahti -- outweigh newcomers like "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" in nominations for the 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, announced Thursday morning at North Hollywood's Goldenson Theater.

Like last year, HBO nearly beat NBC for total nominations, with 74 nods to the peacock network's 82. HBO's most-nominated show was the mafia drama "The Sopranos," with 16, including taps for best drama series; for top Soprano James Gandolfini; and for his co-stars Lorraine Bracco and Edie Falco, both nominated for best lead actress in a drama series.

Raking in 13 nominations, the FOX show "Ally McBeal" tied with "The Practice" and "Joan of Arc" for the second most nominations. Calista Flockhart, who plays the legal comedy's title character, received a best actress nomination, and the show itself was nominated for best comedy series.

Both "Ally McBeal" and "The Practice," an ABC drama series, are David E. Kelley productions.

Flockhart's competition in the actress-comedy category includes Jenna Elfman ("Dharma and Greg," NBC); Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS); Helen Hunt of the long-running NBC comedy "Mad About You," which aired its final episode this season; and Sarah Jessica Parker of HBO's "Sex and the City."

Other comedy series nominees are "Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS), "Sex and the City" (HBO), and the NBC series "Friends" and "Frasier." With this nomination, "Frasier" has the chance to break its own record for most Emmy Awards for either a drama or comedy series, set with its fifth win at last year's Emmys.

Christine Lahti received her nomination for best actress in a dramatic series at the end of a season in which she made her departure from the long-running CBS hospital drama "Chicago Hope." In addition to her "Sopranos" competition, she will be up against Julianna Margulies ("ER," NBC) and Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files," FOX).

In addition to Gandolfini's "Sopranos" nomination for best dramatic series actor, Dylan McDermott of "The Practice" (ABC), Sam Waterston of "Law & Order" (NBC); and Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits of "NYPD Blue" (ABC) were nominated.

Nominees for best made-for-TV movie were Showtime's "The Baby Dance," A&E's "Dash and Lilly," HBO's "A Lesson Before Dying," TNT's "Pirates of Silicon Valley," and HBO's "The Rat Pack." Miniseries nominees were PBS's "Great Expectations," A&E's "Horatio Hornblower," CBS's "Joan of Arc," and two NBC miniseries, "The '60s" and "The Temptations."

Stockard Channing was nominated for best actress in a miniseries or made-for-TV movie for "The Baby Dance." Her competition includes Judy Davis for "Dash and Lilly," Leelee Sobieski for "Joan of Arc," Ann-Margret for "Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story" (Lifetime), and Helen Mirren for Showtime's "The Passion of Ayn Rand."

Nominees for best actor in a miniseries or made-for-TV movie were Sam Shepard for his role as author Dashiell Hammett in "Dash and Lilly," Jack Lemmon for "Inherit the Wind" (Showtime), Ian Holm for "King Lear" on PBS, Don Cheadle for "A Lesson Before Dying" (HBO) and Stanley Tucci for "Winchell" (HBO).