David Hyde-Pierce and Jenna Elfman will co-host this year's awards ceremony MESSAGE BOARD 1999 Primetime Emmy's

(CNN) -- So you're not on the list of the rich and famous now plotting their dressed-to-kill outfits for Sunday's Emmy Awards show. So what? You can still prep for a big night in front of the tube (and if you want to dress up, hey, we won't stop you). Here's what you need to know.

The 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

Sunday, September 12, 1999. Celebrities begin arriving for the awards at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET. The awards show begins at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.

The Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles. For your viewing pleasure, the awards are also being telecast live on FOX, beginning at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET.

Who's onstage

David Hyde Pierce ("Frasier") and Jenna Elfman ("Dharma and Greg"), both nominees in this year's prime-time Emmys, have been tapped to host the ceremony.

INTERACTIVE:

Take a look at all the presenters for this year's awards ceremony

Emmy winners and new talent are mixing it up for the ceremony's presenters, from three-time Emmy-winner Dennis Franz ("NYPD Blue") and current Emmy nominees Dylan McDermott and Camryn Manheim ("The Practice") to Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") and Keri Russell ("Felicity"). In addition to co-hosting the show, Elfman will present, too.

Also on the lengthy presenting list: Jon Stewart, comedians Tracey Ullman and Ray Romano (both up for Emmys), Jay Leno and John Leguizamo; Martin Short, Noah Wyle ("ER") and "NYPD Blue"-ers Rick Schroeder and Kim Delaney.

Robert Guillaume, whose recent stroke was written into the script of his TV show, "Sports Night," is also scheduled to be a presenter.

How are the winners chosen?

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.

That's not a hollow ball she's holding... it's actually a model of an electron!

The first Emmys were presented in 1949, soon after the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was founded to promote television's "cultural, educational and research aims," as a way to encourage quality in the fledgling medium.

The statue of a svelte winged woman, proffering what looks like a hollow ball but actually is an electron symbol, quickly became a show-business icon. The name is a feminized form of "Immy," a nickname for the image orthicon tube that equipped televisions of the time.

Six Emmys were presented that first year, and shows had to be produced in Los Angeles to be eligible. But that rule gave way in short order to broader competition, as the medium exploded in popularity. The awards ceremony was first broadcast nationwide in 1955.

There are actually several sets of Emmys, awarded by two separate groups. This comes from a long-standing rivalry between Los Angeles and New York industry people that led to the organizational split in 1977.

The award categories were divvied up at that time. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, in Los Angeles, presents the prime-time Emmys. The New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences handles the rest, including those for daytime, sports and news and documentary shows.