'Six Feet Under' On Top Of Emmys

The funeral home drama "Six Feet Under" received a leading 16 Emmy nominations early today in Los Angeles, followed by three-time best drama winner "The West Wing" with 15 bids. "The Sopranos" received 13 nominations, along with the comedies "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Sex and the City."

Emmy Award winners Michael Chiklis ("The Shield") and Jane Kaczmarek ("Malcolm in the Middle") joined Academy Chairman Bryce Zabel to make the announcements at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood, Calif. Both turned out to be among the nominees they announced.

Besides a best drama series bid, "Six Feet Under" also earned nominations for cast members Frances Conroy as best actress and Peter Krause as best actor.

Other contenders for best drama series are "The Sopranos," "The West Wing," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "24."

"Law & Order" missed out on setting a record, failing to receive the best drama series nomination that would have given it 12 consecutive best series nominations. It's tied for the record with "Cheers" and "M-A-S-H."

Nominees for best comedy series are "Everybody Loves Raymond,"
"Sex and the City," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Will & Grace" and last year's winner, "Friends."

Jennifer Aniston, winner of last year's best comedy series actress award, received another nomination in the category this year. She's joined by Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond," Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcom in the Middle," Debra Messing of "Will & Grace" and Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City."

Fellow "Friends" cast member, Matt LeBlanc, will be up again for the best comedy series trophy. Other nominees are Larry David of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Bernie Mac of "The Bernie Mac Show," Eric McCormack of "Will & Grace" and last year's winner, Ray Romano of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Actresses nominated in the drama series category are Edie Falco of "The Sopranos," Jennifer Garner of "Alias," Marg Helgenberger of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and Allison Janney of "The West Wing," who took home the trophy last year.

In addition to Krause, a drama series acting bid went to last year's surprise winner, Michael Chiklis of "The Shield," who received the first such honor for a basic cable show. Other nominees are James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos," Martin Sheen of "The West Wing" and Kiefer Sutherland of "24."

HBO, home of "Six Feet Under" and "The Sopranos," 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.

Only three miniseries made the Emmy nominations cut, "Hitler, The Rise of Evil" and "Napoleon," each with seven bids, and "Steven Spielberg Presents Taken" with six bids.

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."

In the category for reality programs, nominees were "The Amazing Race," "American Idol," "Survivor," "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions: America's Greatest Love Stories" and "100 Years of Hope and Humor."

A second reality category, for alternative programming, includes "The Osbournes," "Da Ali G Show," "Trading Spaces," "Antiques Roadshow" and "Cirque Du Soleil Fire Within."

Nominees 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 "Frazier," Bryan Cranston of "Malcolm in the Middle" and Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace." Six nominees is unusual in a category.

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," and Lauren Ambrose and Rachel Griffiths of "Six Feet Under" and Stockard Channing of "The West Wing."

A total of 435 nominations in 89 categories were announced by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at an early morning ceremony.

The 55th Annual Primetime Emmys will air on Sep. 21 on Fox and will take place at the Shrine Auditorium.