The funeral home drama "Six Feet Under" received a leading 16 Emmy nominations Thursday, followed by three-time best drama winner "The West Wing" with 15.
"The Sopranos," back in contention after missing out on last year's awards because it didn't air during the eligibility period, received 13 nominations, along with the comedies "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Sex and the City."
"Law & Order" missed 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."
Besides a best drama series bid, "Six Feet Under" also earned lead acting nominations for cast members Frances Conroy and Peter Krause.
Other contenders for best drama series were "The Sopranos," "The West Wing," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "24."
Nominees for best comedy series were "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. Her competition includes Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond," Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcolm in the Middle," Debra Messing of "Will & Grace" and Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City."
Kaczmarek, taking part in the announcements, laughed and playfully dropped to the stage floor after hearing her name called.
Another member of the "Friends" cast, Matt LeBlanc, will be up again for the best comedy series actor trophy. Other nominees: Larry David of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Bernie Mac of "The Bernie Mac Show," Eric McCormack of "Will & Grace" Tony Shalhoub of "Monk," and last year's winner, Ray Romano of "Everybody Loves Raymond."
Other actresses nominated in the drama series category were 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: James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos," Martin Sheen of "The West Wing" and Kiefer Sutherland of "24."
Chiklis, also helping announce the nominations, grinned when his name made the list.
"That's kind of like asking somebody to the prom in front of a pep rally," he said at the podium.
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.
"CSI" producer Anthony Zuiker expressed relief at his program's Emmy showing.
"We sort of went big last year, went into a lot of worlds, the show got bigger than us, so we were nervous it wouldn't be recognized," he said, referring to the spin-off "CSI: Miami." "You worry about how do you do a fingerprint in a different way? That's the challenge every year, how do we make it fresh and do it differently."
Only three miniseries made the cut, "Hitler, The Rise of Evil" and "Napoleon," each with seven, and "Steven Spielberg Presents: Taken" with six.
The made-for-TV nominees were led by "Door to Door," which received 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-competition 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 "Frasier," Bryan Cranston of "Malcolm in the Middle" and Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace." Six nominees is unusual in a category.
Boyle, who won a guest-star Emmy in 1993 for "The X-Files," has had four consecutive Emmy nominations for his role as grouchy Frank Barone on "Raymond" but he remains the sitcom's only major cast member without a win.
"Yeah, how about that? Maybe I'm due," Boyle said in a phone interview from New York."
Has this resulted in any ribbing from his castmates?
"Just a little bit, but not too much," Boyle said. "I'm the old, grizzled veteran, I can take it."
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 Emmy Awards are scheduled to air Sept. 21 on Fox. A host has yet to be announced for the Shrine Auditorium ceremony.