Emmy Nominations Announced

The nominees for the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced this morning in Los Angeles. The awards ceremony will be televised on Fox on September 16, 2007

Newcomers Heroes and Ugly Betty and 30 Rock were among the nominees for best drama and comedy, respectively. Returning favorites Grey’s Anatomy, House, Boston Legal and The Sopranos, which ended its storied eight-season run this year, rounded out the drama nods. While Entourage, Two and a Half Men and The Office, last year’s comedy winner, led the comedy nods.
The Sopranos scored 15 nominations in all including a best actor and actress nods for James Gandolfini and Edie Falco and a supporting nods for Michael Imperioli and Lorraine Bracco and Aida Turturro. David Chase’s drama was third in total nods behind the pay cable channel’s Dick Wolf made-for-TV movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (17) and AMC’s Broken Trail (16).

Fox’s 24, which took home the best drama prize last year, was shut out of that categorie, but star Kiefer Sutherland was recognized with a best actor nod where he’ll face Gandolfini, Hugh Laurie (House), James Spader (Boston Legal) and Rescue Me’s Denis Leary.

Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU), Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters), Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), Patricia Arquette (Medium) and Minnie Driver (The Riches) will compete with Falco in the drama category.
Alec Baldwin, who has flirted with quitting his job as the arrogant and obtuse network chief on 30 Rock, was recognized for his work on the comedy. His competition in the best actor in a comedy category is Steve Carell (The Office), Charlie Sheen (Two And A Half Men), Monk’s Tony Shalhoub and Ricky Gervais from Extras, another HBO show that ended its run this season.

America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives), Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (The New Adventures of Old Christine) and Mary Luoise Parker, from Showtime’s Weeds, scored best comedic actress nods.    

Parker received a second nomination for lead actress in a miniseries or movie for her work on Oxygen’s The Robber Bride. Queen Latifah (HBO’s Life Support), Helen Mirren’s (PBS’ Prime Suspect), Debra Messing (

USA

’s The Starter Wife) and Gene Rowlands (Lifetime’s What if God Were The Sun) also were recognized.
Best actor in a miniseries or movie nods went to Robert Duvall (Broken Trail), William H. Macy (TNT’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes), Tom Selleck (CBS’ Jesse Stone: Sea Change), Jim Broadbent (HBO’s Longford) and Matthew Perry (TNT’s The Ron Clark Story).
Broken Trail, Starter Wife and Prime Suspect are the outstanding miniseries nominees, while

Wounded Knee

, Discovery’s Inside the Twin Towers, The Ron Clark Story, Longford and Lifetime’s Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy are the outstanding movie nominees. 

Bracco and Turturro will compete with Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters) and Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl and Chandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy) in the supporting actress in a drama category.
Jaime Pressly (My Name is Earl), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds) and Holland Taylor and Conchata Ferrell (Two and a Half Men) are the supporting actress nominees. 

Imperioli will face T.R. Knight (Grey’s Anatomy), William Shatner (Boston Legal) and Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson (Lost) in the supporting actor category.

Kevin Dillon and Jeremy Piven were recognized in the supporting category for their work on the HBO comedy Entourage. They’ll face off against Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Rainn Wilson (The Office) and Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men).

Fox’s American Idol, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, CBS’ Amazing Race and Bravos Top Chef and Project Runway received nods in the reality competition category.
The nominations were announced Thursday morning by Two and Half Men and Closer stars Jon Cryer and Kyra Sedgwick. 

For a complete list of nominees go to www.emmys.com.