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'Housewives' fill Emmy void left by absent 'Friends'

Los Angeles / AFP
07/15/05

The ABC network's mega-hit comedy of suburban shenanigans, "Desperate Housewives," struck Emmy gold Thursday, garnering 15 nominations for US television's top awards.

The show, which grabbed a global audience in its debut season, shared the series spotlight with NBC's gay-themed sitcom "Will and Grace" which also received 15 nods.

Topping the overall nominations were two original made-for-television movies from cable channel HBO, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" and "Warm Springs," each of which grabbed 16 bids.

The success of "Desperate Housewives" threatened a catfight in the best comedy actress category, with nominations for three of the show's stars -- Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman.

The five-strong female cast of the suburban satire has not been known for team spirit, with a widely reported spat arising from a recent cover shoot for the upscale magazine "Vanity Fair."

Although wildly popular, "Desperate Housewives" benefited from a denuded comedy category following the departure of perennial Emmy favorites "Friends," "Sex and the City" and "Frasier."

In the best comedy category, "Desperate Housewives" and "Will and Grace" might find themselves upstaged by a farewell vote for multi-Emmy winner "Everybody Loves Raymond," which wrapped up its ninth and last season.

Also nominated in the same category were last year's winner, "Arrested Development," and the hospital comedy "Scrubs."

The 57th-annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on CBS from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on September 18.

This year's nominations were a boost for a resurgent ABC network, which has spent the past decade running a very distant third in the Emmy stakes to its two broadcast rivals.

In addition to "Desperate Housewives," the network's castaway thriller "Lost" picked up 12 nominations, including one for best drama.

Other nominees for best drama were the gritty Wild West series "Deadwood," funeral home hit "Six Feet Under," action thriller "24" and the presidential favorite "The West Wing," garnering its sixth straight nod in the category.

The mob family drama "The Sopranos" was not eligible this year, as it had no new episodes during the Emmy qualifying period.

HBO underlined its overall domination with a total of 93 nominations, ahead of the broadcast pack that saw CBS with 59 nods, NBC with 54 and ABC with 51.

Among the network's field-leading nominations, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" and "Warm Springs," which recounted Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggle with polio, earned nods for best actor in a movie or mini-series for their respective stars, Geoffrey Rush and Kenneth Branagh.

In the mini-series category, "Elvis" wiggled its hips to six nominations, including one for its Irish star, Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

The nominees for best actor in a drama were Hank Azaria for "Huff," Hugh Laurie for "House," Ian McShane for "Deadwood," last year's winner James Spader for "Boston Legal" and Kiefer Sutherland for "24."

The nominees for best actress in a drama were Patricia Arquette ("Medium"), Glenn Close ("The Shield"), Frances Conroy ("Six Feet Under"), Jennifer Garner ("Alias") and Mariska Hargitay ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit").