‘Sopranos’ Makes A Killing With 15 Emmy Nominations

“The Sopranos,” the mob series that went to its grave with a shockingly inconclusive finale, found a happy ending Thursday with 15 Emmy nominations including best drama.

The made-for-TV movie “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” led all nominees with 17 bids.

James Gandolfini, who played the emotionally conflicted mob boss on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” and Edie Falco, who played his wife, both received top acting nominations.

The series’ other nominees included Michael Imperioli, who received a bid for best supporting dramatic actor for his role as the ill-fated Christopher. Aida Turturro, who played Tony’s tough sister Janice, and Lorraine Bracco, who co-starred as his conflicted psychiatrist Dr. Melfi, were nominated for supporting actress.

The other best-drama series were “Boston Legal,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “House” and freshman sci-fi sensation “Heroes.”

“The Sopranos” emerged with the most nominations for a series, followed by “Ugly Betty” with 11 and, with 10 each, sexy medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” and critical favorite “30 Rock.”

“Grey’s Anatomy,” which came through a difficult year in which star Isaiah Washington was fired after twice using an anti-gay slur, wasn’t hurt when it came to Emmy bids. Besides best drama series, there were nominations for four supporting cast members and two guest actors.

The miniseries “The Starter Wife” also was a top nominee with 10 bids.

The freshman hit, “Ugly Betty,” based on a Colombian telenovela, made it into the ranks of best comedy series nominees. It’s joined by “Entourage,” “30 Rock,” “Two and a Half Men” and last year’s winner in the category, “The Office.”

“Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera was recognized with a nod for her starring role.

Joining Gandolfini among lead drama series actor nominees were Hugh Laurie of “House,” Denis Leary of “Rescue Me,” James Spader of “Boston Legal” and last year’s winner Kiefer Sutherland of “24.” Last year’s drama series winner was “24” but it was snubbed this time.

Falco will compete with Patricia Arquette of “Medium,” Minnie Driver of “The Riches,” Sally Field of “Brothers & Sisters,” Kyra Sedgwick of “The Closer” and last year’s winner, Mariska Hargitay of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

Along with Ferrera in the lead comedy actress category were Felicity Huffman of “Desperate Housewives,” Tina Fey of “30 Rock,” Mary-Louise Parker of “Weeds” and last year’s winner, Julia Louis-Dreyfus of “The New Adventures of Old Christine.”

Their actor counterparts included last year’s winner, Tony Shalhoub of “Monk,” Ricky Gervais of “Extras,” Steve Carell of “The Office,” Charlie Sheen of “Two and a Half Men” and Alec Baldwin of “30 Rock.”

Justin Timberlake got some Emmy love this morning when he was nominated for his contribution to the “Saturday Night Live”-featured song, “D-ck in a Box.” The nomination is from the category for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. Timberlake, who hosted the episode in which the song originated, is nominated with the song’s other co-writers. Timberlake and his co-nominees face competition from songs featured in “Scrubs” and “Family Guy.”

“Friday Night Lights,” the critically acclaimed but low-rated high school football drama that needed an Emmy boost, failed to gain major nominations.

Altogether, 463 nominations were announced. HBO was the most recognized with 86 bids, followed by ABC with 70, NBC with 69, CBS
with 44, Fox with 28 and PBS with 24.

The three-hour Emmy Awards ceremony will be broadcast Sept. 16 by Fox from the Shrine Auditorium.

Other Emmy honors, including those for technical achievement and guest actors and actresses in series, will be given at the creative arts ceremony on Sept. 8.

Below is a list of Emmy nominee highlights:

DRAMA SERIES:
“Boston Legal” – first nomination
“Grey’s Anatomy” – second nomination
“Heroes” – first nomination
“House” – second nomination
“The Sopranos” – seventh nomination (won in 2004)

COMEDY SERIES:
“Entourage” – first nomination
“The Office” – second nomination (won in 2006)
“30 Rock” – first nomination
“Two and a Half Men” – second nomination
“Ugly Betty” – first nomination

ACTRESS – DRAMA:
Patrcia Arquette (“Medium”) – second nomination (won in 2005)
Minnie Driver (“The Riches”) – first nomination
Eddie Falco (“The Sopranos”) – sixth nomination (won in 1999, 2001 & 2003)
Sally Field (“Brothers and Sisters”) – seventh nomination (won in 1977 & 2001)
Mariska Hargitay (“Law & Order: SVU”) – fourth nomination (won in 2006)
Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer”) – second nomination

ACTOR – DRAMA:
James Gandolfini (“The Sopranos”) – sixth nomination (won in 2000, 2001 & 2003)
Hugh Laurie (“House”) – second nomination
Denis Leary (“Rescue Me”) – third nomination
James Spader (“Boston Legal”) – third nomination (won in 2004 & 2005)
Kiefer Sutherland (“24”) – tenth nomination (won 2 in 2006 – actor and producer of “24”)

ACTRESS – COMEDY:
America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”) – first nomination
Tina Fey (“30 Rock”) – fifth nomination (won in 2002 for writing on SNL)
Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives”) – second nomination (won in 2005)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) – ninth nomination (won in 1996 & 2006)
Mary-Louise Parker (“Weeds”) – fourth nomination (won in 2004)

ACTOR – COMEDY:
Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”) – sixth nomination
Steve Carrell (“The Office”) – second nomination
Ricky Gervais (“Extras”) – sixth nomination (won in 2006)
Tony Shalhoub (“Monk”) – fifth nomination (won in 2003, 2005 & 2006)
Charlie Sheen (“Two and a Half Men”) – second nomination

SUPPORTING ACTRESS – DRAMA:
Rachel Griffiths (“Brothers and Sisters”) – third nomination
Katherine Heigl (“Grey’s Anatomy”) – first nomination
Chandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy”) – second nomination
Sandra Oh (“Grey’s Anatomy”) – third nomination
Aida Turturro (“The Sopranos”) – second nomination
Lorraine Bracco (“The Sopranos”) – fourth nomination

SUPPORTING ACTOR – DRAMA:
William Shatner (“Boston Legal”) – fifth nomination (won in 2004 & 2005)
T.R. Knight (“Grey’s Anatomy”) – first nomination
Masi Oka (“Heroes”) – first nomination
Michael Emerson (“Lost”) – second nomination (won in 2001)
Terry O’Quinn (“Lost”) – second nomination
Michael Imperioli (“The Sopranos”) – fifth nomination (won in 2004)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS – COMEDY:
Jaime Pressly (“My Name is Earl”) – second nomination
Jenna Fischer (“The Office”) – first nomination
Holland Taylor (“Two and a Half Men”) – fifth nominatio (won in 1999)
Conchata Ferrell (“Two and a Half Men”) – third nomination
Vanessa Williams (“Ugly Betty”) – first nomination
Elizabeth Perkins (“Weeds”) – second nomination

SUPPORTING ACTOR – COMEDY:
Kevin Dillon (“Entourage”) – first nomination
Jeremy Piven (“Entourage”) – third nomination (won in 2006)
Neil Patrick Harris (“How I Met Your Mother”) – first nomination
Rainn Wilson (“The Office”) – first nomination
Jon Cryer (“Two and a Half Men”) – second nomination

REALITY-COMPETITION SHOW
“The Amazing Race” – fifth nomination (won in 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006)
“American Idol” – fifth nomination
“Dancing with the Stars” – second nomination
“Project Runway” – third nomination
“Top Chef” – first nomination

REALITY SERIES (non-competition)
Antiques Road Show – fifth nomination
Dog Whisperer with Cesr Millan – second nomination
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – fourth nomination (won in 2005 and 2006)
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List – second nomination
Penn & Teller: Bullshit! – fourth nomination


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