"The Sopranos" captured a leading 16 Emmy nominations for the 1998-99 television season

July 22, 1999
Web posted at: 4:31 p.m. EDT (2031 GMT)

In this story: Three 'Frasier' stars nominated Drama, miniseries nominees Davis, Shepard tapped for 'Dash and Lilly' List of major 1999 Emmy nominations RELATED STORIES, SITES

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Following the stunning success of its "From the Earth to the Moon" miniseries last year, HBO's "The Sopranos" came out of the Emmy nominations Thursday at the front of this year's pack, taking 16 nominations at the early-morning announcement at North Hollywood's Goldenson Theater. The drama about a mafia boss in therapy was one of the season's most critically acclaimed shows, and had widely been expected to win Emmy notice.

DISCUSSION:

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LIST:

Major 1999 Emmy nominations

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Among the show's nominations: Best drama series; best actor in a drama series, for top Soprano James Gandolfini; and two best actress in a drama series nominees in Lorraine Bracco, who plays therapist Dr. Jennifer Melfi, and Edie Falco, who plays Gandolfini's wife, Carmela.

Only five years ago, Falco was a waitress; needless to say, she's delighted at the path her career is taking. But will the double-nomination for the two top "Sopranos" actresses affect their chemistry?

"We never work together," she noted during an interview on CNN Showbiz Today. "But -- I couldn't speak for Lorraine," she went on, "But everything that has gone on with these nominations feels communal. The concept of Lorraine and I competing for this feels kind of outrageous."

"From the Earth to the Moon," HBO's sweeping chronicle of America's space program, received a leading 17 nominations last year.

Overall, however, Thursday was a day for old favorites -- including Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce of "Frasier" and "Chicago Hope" star Christine Lahti -- to get their due at the 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards nominations. Veteran shows by far outweighed new shows like "Sex and the City," "Sports Night" and "Will and Grace" for the total number of nods accumulated.

Raking in 13 nominations, the FOX show "Ally McBeal" tied with "The Practice" and "Joan of Arc" for the second most nominations, behind "The Sopranos." 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.

"Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer was nominated for best comedy series actor, along with Ray Romano of CBS's "Everybody Loves Raymond," Paul Reiser of NBC's "Mad About You," Michael J. Fox of ABC's "Spin City," and John Lithgow of NBC's "3rd Rock from the Sun."

And two other "Frasier" stars -- David Hyde Pierce, who plays Grammer's finicky brother, and John Mahoney, who portrays their gruff ex-cop dad -- led the pack of supporting actor nominees in the comedy category. Their competition includes Peter Boyle of "Everybody Loves Raymond," Peter MacNicol of "Ally McBeal," and David Spade of NBC's "Just Shoot Me."

Supporting actress in a comedy series nominees included another "Just Shoot Me" star, Wendie Malick; Lucy Liu of "Ally McBeal"; Kristen Johnson of "3rd Rock From the Sun"; "Friends" star Lisa Kudrow, nominated for the second year running; and Doris Roberts of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

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.

In addition to McDermott, three people in the supporting cast of "The Practice" were nominated for best supporting actress: Camryn Manheim, who plays an attorney in the same firm as McDermott; Lara Flynn Boyle as Helen Gamble, a lawyer in the district attorney's office; and Holland Taylor, as Judge Roberta Kittleson. Nancy Marchand of "The Sopranos" and "NYPD Blue" star Kim Delaney rounded out the list.

Meanwhile, "The Practice" and "Law & Order" got two nominations apiece in the best supporting actor in a dramatic series category. The nominees were Benjamin Bratt and Steven Hill, "Law & Order"; Steve Harris and Michael Badalucco, "The Practice"; and Noah Wyle, "ER."

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.

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).

Supporting actors in the same category were: Beau Bridges in "Inherit The Wind"; Don Cheadle and Joe Mantegna in "The Rat Pack," an HBO production; Peter Fonda in "The Passion Of Ayn Rand; and Peter O'Toole in "Joan Of Arc."

"Joan of Arc" picked up two more nominations in the supporting actress list, in Jacqueline Bisset and Olympia Dukakis. Competing against them are Bebe Neuwirth for her role as Dorothy Parker in "Dash and Lilly," Anne Bancroft for the CBS movie "Deep In My Heart," Cicely Tyson for "A Lesson Before Dying," and Dianne Wiest for "The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn" (CBS).

The Emmy Awards, organized by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, go to programs aired between June 1, 1998, and May 31, 1999. The nominations are determined by a broad popular vote, and the narrowing down is done by panels composed of six to 75 established TV professionals.

The winners are scheduled to be announced at the 51st Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on September 12 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. FOX will telecast the ceremony live.