‘Er’ Up For 22 Emmys; Hbo Programs Get 90 Bids

Talk about a summer rerun: NBC’s fast-paced medical drama “ER,” television’s top-rated series, led the Emmy pack for a third straight year today with 22 nominations.

In a startling sign of the increasing importance of cable TV, Home Box Office received the most nominations of any network or cable channel, a spot that traditionally has gone to one of the big three networks.

HBO, with 90 bids, edged last year’s winner, NBC, by just one for the 49th Annual Primetime Emmys. CBS received a total of 60 nominations, followed by ABC with 44. Fox earned 19 bids, and PBS had 18.

HBO’s “The Larry Sanders Show” received 16 nominations, the most ever for a comedy series in a single awards year.

Other programs making strong showings included “The X-Files” with 12 nominations and “NYPD Blue” with 11 nods. Other comedies receiving multiple nominations included the popular NBC sitcoms “Frasier” and “Seinfeld,” each with nine nods.

“ER’s” nominations included best drama series, and leading actor and actress bids for stars Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies and Sherry Stringfield, who has left the show. Absent from the list was heartthrob George Clooney, who had been nominated the past two years.

Other best drama series nominees were “Chicago Hope,” “Law & Order,” “NYPD Blue” and “The X-Files.”

NBC dominated the comedy series category, with four of the five nominations: “Frasier,” “Mad About You,” “Seinfeld” and “3rd Rock from the Sun.” HBO’s “Larry Sanders” was the fifth.

“Larry Sanders,” which stars Garry Shandling as a neurotic television talk-show host, also earned a best acting nod for its star and best-supporting nominations for Jeffrey Tambor, who plays Sanders’ sidekick, Hank, and Rip Torn, last year’s winner, who plays Sanders’ producer.

A best-supporting actress bid went to Janeane Garofalo for her role as Sanders’ talent booker, Paula.

Another leading comedy, “Friends,” didn’t fare so well, gaining just a supporting actress bid for Lisa Kudrow, who plays Phoebe.

Among special programs, the HBO show “Miss Evers’ Boys,” received a leading 12 nominations, and “Bette Midler: Diva Las Vegas,” also on HBO, got 10.

David Duchovny received his first leading actor bid for the supernatural series “The X-Files.” Also nominated in the drama category, besides “ER’s” Edwards, were Sam Waterston of “Law & Order,” and Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits of “NYPD Blue.”

“You never get tired of being flattered by your peers,” said Franz, who has won two Emmys. “You think, ‘Gee that’s nice.’ It’s what we strive for in the business - to be recognized by our peer group.”

Duchovny also received a nod for a guest appearance in a comedy series, “The Larry Sanders Show.”

Joining “ER” stars Margulies and Stringfield in the lead dramatic actress category were Gillian Anderson of “The X-Files,” Roma Downey of “Touched by an Angel” and Christine Lahti for “Chicago Hope.”

“What excites me the most is that so many people from our show are being recognized for their talent and hard work,” Anderson said.

Nominations for best lead comedic actor went to Michael J. Fox of “Spin City,” Kelsey Grammer of “Frasier,” John Lithgow of “3rd Rock” and Paul Reiser of “Mad About You,” as well as Shandling.

Comedy series actresses who received nods were Ellen DeGeneres of “Ellen,” whose character came out as a lesbian in May, Fran Drescher of “The Nanny,” Helen Hunt for “Mad About You,” Patricia Richardson of “Home Improvement” and Cybill Shepherd for “Cybill.” Roseanne was overlooked for her final season of “Roseanne.”

Also overlooked were series unveiled during the 1996-97 season. Although a few received critical acclaim, including “The Practice,” none gained the level of viewer attention that helps a new series become an Emmy nominee.

Best miniseries bids went to “The Odyssey,” “The Last Don,” “Stephen King’s ‘The Shining,”’ “In Cold Blood” and “Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgment.”

A new category was introduced this year: best commercial. The five nominees were two ads for Levi’s jeans, including one in which a man and woman have a meaningful encounter in an elevator, one for Nike titled “Hello World,” an HBO ad called “Chimps” and a fifth for GM’s electric vehicle.

The Emmy Awards ceremony will be held Sunday, Sept. 14, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and will be broadcast live by CBS, part of a rotation deal the academy reached with the four broadcast networks.