And the Emmy nominations go to...surprise

This was supposed to be the year of Emmy surprises - and the judges who selected the nominees for the 54th annual prime-time Emmy Awards didn't disappoint. The nominations announced Thursday morning included an impressive 23 picks for HBO's "Six Feet Under," key nominations for Fox's "24" and FX's "The Shield," the resurgence of "Friends" and the disappearance of "NYPD Blue" and "ER." In the Best Drama category, "Six Feet Under," a show created by Oscar-winner Alan Ball ("American Beauty") about a family-run funeral home, was joined by NBC's "The West Wing" (the two-time champion in this category), CBS' "CSI," NBC's "Law & Order" and the surprising "24." The latter wowed TV critics with its fast-paced action but failed to draw large audiences during its inaugural season. This year "Six Feet Under" essentially took the place of HBO's "The Sopranos," which did not air a single episode during the 2001-02 season. Last year at this time, "The Sopranos" collected 22 Emmy nominations. HBO led all networks with 93 nominations, followed by NBC (89), CBS (50), ABC (35), Fox (33) and PBS (11). Emmys are handed out in 86 categories. Tom O'Neil, who wrote the book The Emmys and now manages the GoldDerby.com site, notes that "Law & Order," with its 11th consecutive nomination for Best Drama series, matches the mark set by "M*A*S*H" and "Cheers," which were each nominated 11 straight times as Best Comedy. "Friends," meanwhile, has been left out of the Best Comedy category over the years nearly as often as it was left in. But TV's top-rated sitcom returned to the list of five after being snubbed in 2001. It joins last year's winner, HBO's "Sex and the City"; another HBO comedy, "Curb Your Enthusiasm," from "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David; CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond"; and NBC's "Will & Grace," which received more nominations than any other comedy with 13. The Emmys will be Sept. 22 in Los Angeles and broadcast on NBC. Bryce Zabel, who heads the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, told E! Online there would be "no cancellations," referring to last year's twice-delayed ceremony. The drama category proved that high ratings do not necessarily command the academy's respect. Though the top-rated drama, "CSI," was nominated, longtime audience favorite "ER" fell out of the list of five. Moreover, the academy chose to reward the edgier performances of Michael Chiklis, who plays a ruthless cop on "The Shield," and Kiefer Sutherland as secret agent Jack Bauer on "24" rather than William Petersen's character on "CSI." Michael C. Hall and Peter Krause of "Six Feet Under" and President Martin Sheen of "The West Wing" also were nominated. Conspicuously missing: best-actor perennial Dennis Franz of "NYPD Blue" and anyone from "ER." It was the same story on the Best Actress side. "CSI's" Marg Helgenberger, a nominee last year, was passed over in favor of two more "Six Feet Under" players (Rachel Griffiths and Frances Conroy) and ABC's "Alias" babe Jennifer Garner. Amy Brenneman of CBS' "Judging Amy" was again nominated for Best Drama actress, as was Allison Janney of "The West Wing," who had won for the same role as Best Supporting Actress. Janney wasn't the only one who upgraded her ticket. On the comedy side, the cast of "Friends" asked to be nominated in the Best Actor and Actress categories instead of supporting roles, as had been their tradition. The Emmy judges rewarded them with nominations for Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and - in a mild shocker - Jennifer Aniston instead of Lisa Kudrow, the only friend to have taken home a trophy, in 1998. More surprises: Comedian Bernie Mac took his place alongside perennial favorites Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier") and Ray Romano ("Raymond") in the Best Comedy actor list. And "Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher," after having the year from hell - its host was widely condemned for his post-9/11 comments and the show was later canceled - made the short list of Best Variety Shows. Another notable omission from the Best Comedy list is "Frasier." O'Neil notes that "Frasier" has won 27 Emmys in eight seasons, and it seemed to be knocking on the door of the all-time mark of 29 Emmys won by "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." The Oscarcast has won 28 Emmys and is nominated again this year for Best Special. "The West Wing" has already won 17 Emmys and must be considered the front-runner in all categories this year, especially Supporting Actor and Actress, where it garnered seven of the 11 nominations. O'Neil, however, said Thursday that the Emmys are anyone's race and will hinge on how shrewd nominees are in choosing their best work. Emmy rules require most nominees to submit just one episode to judges. "When we see Patricia Heaton two years in a row beating the sexy, glamorous Sarah Jessica Parker, then you know it all came down to episode selection," O'Neil said. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com The short list Best Drama: "The West Wing," "CSI," "24," "Law & Order," "Six Feet Under" Best Comedy: "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Friends," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Sex and the City," "Will & Grace" Best Actress in a Drama: Rachel Griffiths and Frances Conroy, "Six Feet Under"; Amy Brenneman, "Judging Amy"; Jennifer Garner, "Alias"; Allison Janney, "The West Wing" Best Actor in a Drama: Michael Chiklis, "The Shield"; Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall, "Six Feet Under"; Martin Sheen, "The West Wing"; Kiefer Sutherland, "24" Best Actress in a Comedy: Jennifer Aniston, "Friends"; Sarah Jessica Parker, "Sex and the City"; Debra Messing, "Will & Grace"; Jane Kaczmarek, "Malcolm in the Middle"; Patricia Heaton, "Everybody Loves Raymond" Best Actor in a Comedy: Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry, "Friends"; Bernie Mac, "The Bernie Mac Show"; Ray Romano, "Everybody Loves Raymond"; Kelsey Grammer, "Frasier" More Emmy nominations More nominees in major Emmy categories announced Thursday by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: Miniseries: "Band of Brothers," HBO; "Dinotopia," ABC; "The Mists of Avalon," TNT; "Shackleton," A&E. Made-for-TV Movie: "Dinner With Friends," HBO; "The Gathering Storm," HBO; "James Dean," TNT; "The Laramie Project," HBO; "Path to War," HBO. Variety, Music or Comedy Series: "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," Comedy Central; "Late Show With David Letterman," CBS; "Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher," ABC; "Saturday Night Live," NBC; "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," NBC. Variety, Music or Comedy Special: "The 74th Annual Academy Awards," ABC; "America: A Tribute to Heroes," various networks; "The Carol Burnett Show: Show Stoppers," CBS; "Cirque Du Soleil's Alegria," Bravo; "The Concert for New York City," VH1; "Opening Ceremony Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games," NBC. Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Victor Garber, "Alias," ABC; Dule Hill, "The West Wing," NBC; Freddy Rodriguez, "Six Feet Under," HBO; Richard Schiff, "The West Wing," NBC; John Spencer, "The West Wing," NBC; Bradley Whitford, "The West Wing," NBC. Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Lauren Ambrose, "Six Feet Under," HBO; Stockard Channing, "The West Wing," NBC; Tyne Daly, "Judging Amy," CBS; Janel Moloney, "The West Wing," NBC; Mary-Louise Parker, "The West Wing," NBC. Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Peter Boyle, "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS; Bryan Cranston, "Malcolm in the Middle," Fox; Brad Garrett, "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS; Sean Hayes, "Will & Grace," NBC; David Hyde Pierce, "Frasier," NBC. Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Kim Cattrall, "Sex and the City," HBO; Wendie Malick, "Just Shoot Me," NBC; Megan Mullally, "Will & Grace," NBC; Cynthia Nixon, "Sex and the City," HBO; Doris Roberts, "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS. @ART CAPTION:Bernie Mac (right) in "The Bernie Mac Show" was nominated for an Emmy as best actor in a comedy. One of his young co-stars is Dee Dee Davis (left). @ART CREDIT:File photo @ART CAPTION:Top, Best Actor nominee Michael Chiklis, 'The Shield.' Above, 'Six Feet Under' nominees Peter Krause and Rachel Griffiths. @ART:Photos (3, color and b/w) @ART CAPTION:More Emmy nominations @ART:Graphic @ART CREDIT:The Associated Press