Despite Changes, Primetime Emmys Largely a Rerun

Joining Sedgwick in the race for best drama series actress: first-timer Geena Davis, "Commander in Chief"; and repeaters Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: SVU"; Frances Conroy, "Six Feet Under"; and Allison Janney, "The West Wing."

Charlie Sheen, Kevin James and Shalhoub will duke it out for best comedy actor with Larry David of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and Steve Carell of "The Office."

And four of the five nominees for best sitcom actress worked on shows that have been canceled: Jane Kaczmarek ("Malcolm in the Middle"), Debra Messing ("Will & Grace"), Lisa Kudrow ("The Comeback") and Stockard Channing ("Out of Practice"). The fifth nominee is Julia Louis-Dreyfus, whose "The New Adventures of Old Christine" is the only sitcom in the batch that's returning this fall.

"It's hard to even believe it. You dream about these kinds of things and then it happens and it doesn't seem real, kind of. I'm still digesting this," Louis-Dreyfus said in her carefully crafted, spontaneous-reaction quote, which she might have pulled off had she not been nominated every year from '92 through '98 for her role on "Seinfeld."

On the other hand, Kaczmarek -- back for her seventh try at the best sitcom actress statuette -- hit a spontaneous-reaction-quote home run with, "I'm the nominee who won't go away."

The jaw-dropping lack of fresh names sent shockwaves through the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre at the TV academy's North Hollywood headquarters, where Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Garrett announced the glam-category nominees early Thursday morning.

You could see the outrage in the heaving bosoms of the celebrity suck-up show hostesses, dressed in snug, revealing tops, who were there to cover the Emmy noms, as they grilled Louis-Dreyfus about the tight, white, cleavage-revealing number into which she had poured herself for the morning's festivities.

Male on-air talent who were there to cover the nominations were outraged, too; you just couldn't see their chests heaving under their dark suits. But their eyes flashed, which is almost as good:

"It's television's biggest night! The Emmy nominations are in and we'll tell you who's got some serious celebrating to do!"

Okay, maybe that guy isn't such a good example. But how about this: "It didn't accomplish its goal to boost those other networks," said O'Neil, the Yoda of prime-time Emmy nominations, who'd come to do commentary for CNN Headline News and pick up inside dope for his all-things-trophy-show Web site.

In one of few nominations that seem to have benefited from the change in the process, Craig Ferguson received the first-ever nomination for "The Late Late Show," for best individual performance in a variety or music program. Ferguson, the third host, snagged the nomination in his first year on the CBS show.

Noticeably missing from yesterday's nominations was Graham, darling of some TV critics, and of O'Neil. "That Lauren Graham is not here is going to cause industry outrage," O'Neil told The TV Column. "Many think the system was tinkered with so she could finally get her due. . . . The system that was designed to help mostly the artsy stuff ended up boosting 'Two and a Half Men.' "

Talking to CNN Headline News, he added that "TV critics of America say she's given the best performance on the tube."

"There are some surprises, but the surprises we'd hoped to see were not here," he said.