'West Wing' edges 'Sopranos' on Emmy night

Gandolfini, Falco win acting honors

By Todd Leopold
CNN

(CNN) -- For the second year in a row, NBC's "West Wing" won the prize as best drama series of the year, defeating HBO's "Sopranos" as well as NBC's "Law & Order" and "ER" and ABC's "The Practice."

But "Sopranos" wasn't overwhelmed by "The West Wing," as it was last year when the mob drama won just one award. This night, "The Sopranos" won three -- including awards for best actor and actress in a drama series, given to series stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco. Including awards given out before the telecast, the show won a total of four.

"The West Wing" also won two acting awards. Allison Janney, who portrays press secretary C.J. Cregg on the show, won for supporting actress in a drama series, and Bradley Whitford, who portrays presidential adviser Josh Lyman, won for supporting actor in a drama series. The series won a total of eight awards, four of which were given out earlier.

"The Sopranos" had 22 nominations going into the telecast. "The West Wing" was second with 18 nods.

HBO was a big winner on the night as well. The network's sassy comedy, "Sex and the City," took home the award for best comedy series. Two HBO movies, "Wit" and "Conspiracy," won two awards each.

Members of the "Sex and the City" cast were surprised to win best comedy, they said backstage. The show is the first cable series to take the award.

Eric McCormack of "Will & Grace" won outstanding lead actor in a comedy series, beating Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier"), John Lithgow ("3rd Rock From the Sun"), Frankie Muniz ("Malcolm in the Middle"), and Ray Romano ("Everybody Loves Raymond").

Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") won outstanding lead actress in a comedy series. Other nominees were Calista Flockhart ("Ally McBeal"), Jane Kaczmarek ("Malcolm in the Middle"), Sarah Jessica Parker ("Sex and the City"), and Debra Messing ("Will & Grace").

Awards were also taken home by Peter MacNicol of "Ally McBeal," for supporting actor in a comedy series, and Doris Roberts of "Everybody Loves Raymond," for supporting actress in a comedy series.

Patriotic opening

The awards for "The West Wing" fit nicely with a distinctly patriotic opening for the show, which had been postponed twice due to the September 11 terrorist attacks and ensuing U.S.-led retaliation on Afghanistan.

The first sounds from the CBS broadcast were the trumpeted notes of "America the Beautiful." A chorus of college students, backed by a screen full of images of America, soon joined in. Then Walter Cronkite, possibly the voice of America, made a taped address, telling the nation that life must go on and television can help in the healing process. Television, Cronkite said, "reminds us that entertainment can help us feel."

There were also early references to the difficulty in getting the show on the air, plus a rival network's stiff competition: Game 7 of the World Series on Fox.

"Are they canceling?" host Ellen DeGeneres joked in her opening monologue, looking at a stage manager. "You're watching the World Series, aren't you?"

DeGeneres' comedy touched on a number of subjects. "What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?" she asked at one point, earning big laughs.

DeGeneres kept the broadcast light, at various points venturing into the audience and going backstage, cracking jokes the whole way. At the end of the show, she was rewarded with a standing ovation.

Conservative dress and metal detectors

This year's Emmys had a low-key flair, unlike previous productions. Instead of tuxedos and drop-dead gowns, there were conservative suits and quietly stylish dresses. The traditional red carpet made way for metal detectors at a security checkpoint. Instead of the 6,000-seat Shrine Auditorium, the show was broadcast from the 2,000-seat Shubert Theater.

A number of stars were no-shows, including Gandolfini. At one point, reacting to the lack of winners on hand to accept their awards, Steve Martin went on stage to jokingly take a statue meant for actress Judy Davis, who won for lead actress in a miniseries or movie for her performance in "Life With Judy Garland: Me & My Shadows."

The show closed with Barbra Streisand singing "You'll Never Walk Alone," a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks.

"It's a very scary time, so I wanted to give something back to the American people," Streisand said after the show. The singer and actress, who won an Emmy earlier in the evening for performance in a variety or music program, hasn't liked to perform live in recent years. "We should be grateful for what we have."

Other winners

Throughout the evening, along with the tributes to the country, the victims of the attacks, the 50th anniversary of "I Love Lucy," and the late actor Carroll O'Connor, the business of the Emmys remained the same: handing out awards to the best in television.

Those award winners also included actor Brian Cox, for his performance in the movie "Nuremberg"; Mike Nichols, for directing the movie "Wit"; "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," which won for writing for a variety, music or comedy program; and "Survivor," which won for outstanding non-fiction program (special class).

"Malcolm in the Middle" garnered honors for director Todd Holland and for writing. In presenting the latter award, actress Jean Smart took a moment to pay tribute to producer David Angell, who was among the airliner victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Smart called the "Cheers" and "Frasier" producer "an incredibly talented, incredibly kind person." His picture was displayed on a video monitor.

Among networks, HBO and NBC led with 16 trophies each, followed by Fox with 15, ABC with 10 and CBS with eight -- all including the earlier presentations.

The Emmys are presented by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.