The housewives of Wisteria Lane and the castaways on a certain Pacific island were shut out of the primetime Emmy nominations, announced today.
“Grey’s Anatomy” and “24” earned the most nominations.
In a surprise upset, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” which dominated last year’s list, and “Lost,” which won the Emmy, were not nominated. However, a number of first-timers did earn nominations for the 58th annual primetime Emmy Awards announced in a predawn news conference in Los Angeles. The winners will be revealed Aug. 27 in ceremonies broadcast on NBC.
Garnering the most nominations at 16 was TNT’s “Into the West.” That miniseries will compete with “Bleak House (Masterpiece Theatre)” on PBS, “Elizabeth I” on HBO and “Sleeper Cell” on Showtime.
“Grey’s,” the sudsy hospital drama about the lives and loves of medical interns on ABC, and “24,” the serialized thriller following the exploits of a counterterrorist unit on Fox, will compete against “House” on Fox, “The Sopranos” on HBO and “The West Wing” on NBC for best drama series.
“Arrested Development,” cancelled by Fox, will compete with “Curb Your Enthusiasm” on HBO, “The Office” on NBC, “Scrubs” on NBC and “Two and a Half Men” on CBS for best comedy series.
First-timers in the best actor categories include Kyra Sedgwick of TNT’s “The Closer” and Denis Leary of FX’s “Rescue Me.”
Critics have gripped for years that the nomination process favored previous winners.
Rule changes by the academy, putting more emphasis on committee decisions, resulted in a roster that includes not only fresh faces but several series no longer on the air.
Leary will compete for best actor in a drama against Peter Krause of “Six Feet Under,” Keifer Sutherland of “24,” Martin Sheen of “The West Wing” and Christopher Meloni of NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU.”
Sedgwick is nominated as best actress in a drama against Geena Davis of the defunct “Commander in Chief,” Mariska Hargitay of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” Frances Conroy of the late “Six Feet Under” and Allison Janney of the retired “The West Wing.”
In comedy, the best actor nominees are Larry David of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Kevin James of “The King of Queens,” Tony Shalhoub of “Monk,” Steve Carell of “The Office” and Charlie Sheen of “Two and a Half Men.”
Best actress in a comedy nominees are Lisa Kudrow of the cancelled “The Comeback,” Jane Kaczmarek of the retired “Malcolm in the Middle,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus of “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” Stockard Channing of the cancelled “Out of Practice,” and Debra Messing of the retired “Will & Grace.”
The old rules were conceived when three networks ruled the TV universe, the new rules open the field. That allowed lesser known cable shows, like Showtime’s “Huff” and “Weeds” and FX’s “Thief,” to earn nominations alongside more familiar network series. Several predicted nominees were snubbed, however, notably WB’s “The Gilmore Girls.”
For the sixth consecutive year HBO garnered the most nominations of any network, 95, led by “The Sopranos.” ABC was second with 64.
Two TV movies about the Sept. 11 flight that crashed in a Pennsylvania field drew nominations in the TV movie category: A&E’s “Flight 93” and the Discovery Channel’s “The Flight That Fought Back.” Competing in that category are “The Girl in the Cafe,” “Mrs. Harris” and “Yesterday,” all on HBO.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
