LOS ANGELES – “Angels in America,” the HBO miniseries adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning play about New Yorkers affected by the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, received a leading 21 Emmy nominations Thursday.
“The Sopranos” was the leading nominee among series, with 20.
Changes to Emmy rules intended to broaden the field beyond familiar nominees worked, with showings by Fox’s critically acclaimed but low-rated sitcom “Arrested Development” and CBS’ offbeat and popular drama “Joan of Arcadia.”
“It really is a fresh mix here. That’s what we were trying to do, shake things up a little,” TV Academy Chairman Dick Askin said.
Cable channel HBO dominated, receiving nearly twice as many nominations as any broadcast network and fielding the leading nominees “Angels in America” and “The Sopranos.”
TV Academy members gave a fond farewell to HBO’s “Sex and the City” with a best comedy series nod for its final season, but didn’t nominate two other departing series, NBC’s “Friends” and “Frasier.”
Along with “The Sopranos,” which has yet to win a best drama series award, and “Joan of Arcadia,” other nominees in the best drama series category include “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “24,” and last year’s winner, “The West Wing.”
Joining “Arrested Development” and “Sex and the City” in the best comedy series category: “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Will &Grace” and last year’s winner, “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
John Ritter, the “8 Simple Rules” comedy star who died suddenly last year, received a posthumous nomination as best lead actor in a comedy series, and Jennifer Aniston of “Friends” was nominated for best lead actress in a comedy series.
HBO received 124 nominations, nearly twice that of runner-up NBC with 65 bids. CBS received 44 nominations, ABC had 33, Fox had 31 and PBS had 27.
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