Talk about a summer rerun: NBC's fast-paced medical drama "ER," television's top-rated series, led the Emmy pack for a third straight year Thursday with 22 nominations.
In a startling sign of the increasing importance of cable TV, Home Box Office received the most nominations of any network or cable channel, a spot that traditionally has gone to one of the big three networks.HBO, with 90 bids, edged last year's winner, NBC, by just one for the 49th Annual Primetime Emmys. CBS received a total of 60 nominations followed by ABC with 44. Fox earned 19 bids and PBS had 18.
HBO's "The Larry Sanders Show" received 16 nominations, the most ever for a comedy series in a single awards year.
Other programs making strong showings included "The X-Files" with 12 nominations and "NYPD Blue" with 11 nods. Other comedies receiving multiple nominations included the popular NBC sitcoms "Frasier" and "Seinfeld," each with nine nods.
"ER's" nominations included best drama series and leading actor and actress bids for stars Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies and Sherry Stringfield, who has left the show. Absent from the list was heartthrob George Clooney, who had been nominated the last two years.
Other best drama series nominees were "Chicago Hope," "Law & Order," "NYPD Blue" and "The X-Files."
NBC dominated the comedy series category, with four of the five nominations: "Frasier," "Mad About You," "Seinfeld" and "3rd Rock from the Sun." HBO's "Larry Sanders" was the fifth.
Nominees in top categories:
DRAMA SERIES: "Chicago Hope," CBS; "ER," NBC; "Law & Order," NBC; "NYPD Blue," ABC; "The X-Files," Fox.
COMEDY SERIES: "Frasier," NBC; "The Larry Sanders Show," HBO; "Mad About You," NBC; "Seinfeld," NBC; "3rd Rock From The Sun," NBC.
MINISERIES: "In Cold Blood," CBS; "The Last Don," CBS; "The Odyssey," NBC; "Prime Suspect 5: Errors Of Judgment," PBS; "Stephen King's The Shining," ABC.
VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES: "Dennis Miller Live," HBO; "Late Show With David Letterman," CBS; "Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher," ABC; "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," NBC; "Tracey Takes On. . .," HBO.
VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL: "The 69th Annual Academy Awards," ABC; "Bette Midler: Diva Las Vegas," HBO; "Chris Rock: Bring The Pain," HBO; "George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy," HBO; "The 50th Annual Tony Awards," CBS.
PRESIDENT'S AWARD: "A&E Biography," A "ER," NBC; "If These Walls Could Talk," HBO; "Miss Evers' Boys," HBO; "Touched By An Angel," CBS.
ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES: David Duchov-ny, "The X-Files," Fox; Anthony Edwards, "ER," NBC; Dennis Franz, "NYPD Blue," ABC; Jimmy Smits, "NYPD Blue," ABC; Sam Waterston, "Law & Order," NBC.
ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES: Gillian Anderson, "The X-Files," Fox; Roma Downey, "Touched By An Angel," CBS; Christine Lahti, "Chicago Hope," CBS; Julianna Margulies, "ER," NBC; Sherry Stringfield, "ER," NBC.
ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES: Michael J. Fox, "Spin City," ABC; Kelsey Grammer, "Frasier," NBC; John Lithgow, "3rd Rock From The Sun," NBC; Paul Reiser, "Mad About You," NBC; Garry Shandling, "The Larry Sanders Show," HBO.
ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES: Ellen DeGeneres, "Ellen," ABC; Fran Drescher, "The Nanny," CBS; Helen Hunt, "Mad About You," NBC; Patricia Richardson, "Home Improvement," ABC; Cybill Shepherd, "Cybill," CBS.
ACTOR, MINISERIES OR SPECIAL: Armand Assante, "Gotti," HBO; Beau Bridges, "Hidden In America," Showtime; Robert Duvall, "The Man Who Captured Eichmann," TNT; Laurence Fishburne, "Miss Evers' Boys," HBO; Sidney Poitier, "Mandela and De Klerk," Showtime.
ACTRESS, MINISERIES OR SPECIAL: Stockard Channing, "An Unexpected Family," USA; Glenn Close, "In the Gloaming," HBO; Helen Mirren, "Prime Suspect 5: Errors Of Judgement," PBS; Meryl Streep, "First Do No Harm," ABC; Alfre Woodard, "Miss Evers' Boys," HBO.
SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES: Adam Arkin, "Chicago Hope," CBS; Hector Elizondo, "Chicago Hope," CBS; Eriq LaSalle, "ER," NBC; Nicholas Turturro, "NYPD Blue," ABC; Noah Wyle, "ER," NBC.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES: Kim Delaney, "NYPD Blue," ABC; Laura Innes, "ER," NBC; CCH Pounder, "ER," NBC; Gloria Reuben, "ER," NBC; Della Reese, "Touched By An Angel," CBS.
SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES: Jason Alexander, "Seinfeld," NBC; David Hyde Pierce, "Frasier," NBC; Michael Richards, "Seinfeld," NBC; Jeffrey Tambor, "The Larry Sanders Show," HBO; Rip Torn, "The Larry Sanders Show," HBO.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES: Christine Baranski, "Cybill," CBS; Janeane Garofalo, "The Larry Sanders Show," HBO; Kristen Johnston, "3rd Rock From The Sun," NBC; Lisa Kudrow, "Friends," NBC; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Seinfeld," NBC.
SUPPORTING ACTOR, MINISERIES OR SPECIAL: Obba Babatunde, "Miss Evers' Boys," HBO; Beau Bridges, "The Second Civil War," HBO; Michael Caine, "Mandela and De Klerk," Showtime; Ossie Davis, "Miss Evers' Boys," HBO; Joe Mantegna, "The Last Don," CBS.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, MINISERIES OR SPECIAL: Kirstie Alley, "The Last Don," CBS; Bridget Fonda, "In the Gloaming," HBO; Glenne Headly, "Bastard Out Of Carolina," Showtime; Frances McDormand, "Hidden In America," Showtime; Diana Rigg, "Rebecca," PBS.
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