‘Housewives’ score Emmy nominations

updated 12:35 p.m. ET July 14, 2005

LOS ANGELES - “Desperate Housewives,” a dark satire about suburbia that became an instant hit in its debut season, was among the top Emmy nominees announced Thursday.

The ABC series, competing in the comedy category, received 15 nominations, sharing status as series front-runner with the NBC sitcom “Will & Grace,” which also got 15.

Premium cable channel HBO once again dominated the made-for-TV movie category with two of its films: “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers” and “Warm Springs,” each garnering 16 bids to top all nominees.

Nominations for the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced in an early morning ceremony at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre.

There were Emmy riches for both departing series and newcomers.

“Everybody Loves Raymond,” which wrapped after nine seasons, received 13 nominations including best comedy. Creator and executive producer Phil Rosenthal was most excited about a writing nomination for the series’ final episode.

“You know what’s nice about that, we all shared the credit together, and that’s the one I’d love to have, because we’d all get it together,” he said.

“Lost,” a freshman drama about air crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island, got 12, although its stars were shut out of the lead acting nominations. Two members of the ensemble cast, Naveen Andrews and Terry O’Quinn, received best supporting actor bids.

The Emmy recognition of “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” was icing on the cake for ABC, which was pulled out of a ratings slump by the two new series. “Desperate Housewives” finished the season as the fourth-most-watched program, averaging nearly 24 million weekly viewers, while “Lost” was No. 14 with an average 16 million viewers.

Television’s most-watched show, the talent contest “American Idol,” was recognized with a nomination in the reality competition program category. Other nominees were “The Amazing Race,” “Survivor,” “Project Runway” and Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice.”

“Desperate Housewives” chose to compete in the comedy category, usually home to half-hour sitcoms, although it’s an hourlong comedy-drama. There is precedent: The legal satire “Ally McBeal” won the best comedy series award in 1999.

Joining “Desperate Housewives,” “Will & Grace” and “Everybody Loves Raymond” in the best comedy series category were last year’s winner, “Arrested Development,” and “Scrubs.”

Besides “Lost,” the other best-drama series contenders were “Deadwood,” “Six Feet Under,” “24” and the veteran White House drama “The West Wing.”

Three stars of “Desperate Housewives” were named in the category of best lead actress in a comedy series — Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman. Left out were co-stars Eva Longoria and Nicollette Sheridan. Other nominees in the category: Patricia Heaton of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and Jane Kaczmarek of “Malcolm in the Middle.”

Among those in the category for best lead actor in a comedy series were two Emmy newcomers, Jason Bateman of “Arrested Development” and Zach Braff of “Scrubs.” Also nominated: Eric McCormack of “Will & Grace,” Ray Romano of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and Tony Shalhoub of “Monk.”

James Spader, last year’s winner of the lead actor in a drama series award, was nominated again for “Boston Legal.” Other nominees were Hank Azaria for “Huff,” Hugh Laurie for “House,” Ian McShane for “Deadwood” and Kiefer Sutherland for “24.”

“It’s an extraordinary part,” McShane said from London. “I think I brought something to the character.”

Film star Glenn Close, who joined “The Shield” last season, received a bid as best lead actress in a drama series. Other nominees were Frances Conroy of “Six Feet Under,” Jennifer Garner of “Alias,” Mariska Hargitay of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and first-time Emmy nominee Patricia Arquette of “Medium.”

In addition to “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,” which dramatized the life of the great comic film star, and “Warm Springs,” which recounted Franklin D. Roosevelt’s struggle with polio before he became president, other nominees in the TV movie category were “Lackawanna Blues,” “The Office Special” and “The Wool Cap.”

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