Will HBO bury the competition six feet under?

        How many first-time nominees will be winners at tonight's 54th Annual Prime-Time Emmy Awards (8 p.m., Channels 5, 22)?

        Or will our old TV friends — particularly NBC's re-invigorated Friends — dominate the Emmy Awards again?

        Those are the big questions this year, which features an unprecedented number of new names and shows in the major Emmy categories.

        Absent are the stars of ER, NYPD Blue, The Practice, The Sopranos and Law & Order. Past winners Dennis Franz, Eric McCormack, Sela Ward, James Gandolfini and Edie Falco aren't on the list.

        TV's old guard has given way to the young turks: Kiefer Sutherland (24), Jennifer Garner (Alias), Bernie Mac (Bernie Mac Show), Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle); Michael Chiklis (The Shield), and Dule Hill, Janel Moloney and Mary-Louis Parker (The West Wing).

        HBO again leads all networks with 93 nominations — despite The Sopranos being ineligible because it had not aired a new show in the past year.

        But HBO's Six Feet Under filled the void, topping all series with 23 nominations in its first year. That figure includes first-time nods for Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Rachel Griffiths, Lauren Ambrose and Freddy Rodriguez. (Six Feet Under starts the night with five Emmys from the technical awards Sept. 14.)

        HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, also a first-timer, joins the elite club as one of five best comedy series.

        Tonight's big winner could be Friends, TV's No. 1 series in its eighth season thanks to Rachel's (Jennifer Aniston) pregnancy. An Emmy tonight for best comedy would be the first in five tries for Friends, which begins its final season on Thursday.

        Friends stars Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry also are first-timers tonight as best comedy actors. And Ms. Aniston also could win her first Emmy in four nominations.

        If there isn't a Friends frenzy, NBC's Frasier could add to its unprecedented collection with honors for stars Kelsey Grammer or David Hyde Pierce.

        Frasier received three technical awards on Sept. 14, for a record 30 Emmys, passing the Mary Tyler Moore Show (29).

        Emmy night always brings surprises, and tonight there could be more than usual. The absence of four winners last year — Mr. Gandolfini and Ms. Falco (The Sopranos), Mr. McCormack (Will & Grace) and Peter MacNicol (Ally McBeal) — means half of the eight major acting categories for weekly series are wide open.

        Here are the top categories and my picks:

Drama series

        CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS

        Law & Order, NBC

        Six Feet Under, HBO

        24, Fox

        The West Wing, NBC

        Kiese pick: Fox's 24 should win for its bold, innovative 24-episode thriller, though HBO's Six Feet Under could be tonight's darling.

Comedy series

        Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO

        Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

        Friends, NBC

        Sex and the City, HBO

        Will & Grace, NBC

        Kiese pick: NBC's Friends, TV's No. 1 series last season, deserves its first best comedy award.

9-11 HONOR

The four major broadcast networks will receive a top Emmy honor today for a program honoring Sept. 11 heroes.    ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC will receive the Governors Award for joining in support of “America: A Tribute to Heroes,” which was underwritten by the networks and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.    The show reflected “the best of our industry, the best of our nation and the best of our humanity,” said Robin Schwartz, chairman of the Governors Award Committee.    “America: A Tribute to Heroes” gathered actors and musicians including Julia Roberts, Will Smith, Willie Nelson and Bruce Springsteen in a tribute and telethon for terrorism victims.

Actor, drama

        Michael Chiklis, The Shield, FX

        Michael C. Hall, Six Feet Under, HBO

        Peter Krause, Six Feet Under, HBO

        Kiefer Sutherland, 24, Fox

        Martin Sheen, The West Wing, NBC

        Kiese pick: Nothing compares to the longest day of Jack Bauer's life portrayed by 24's Kiefer Sutherland.

Actress, drama

        Jennifer Garner, Alias, ABC

        Amy Brenneman, Judging Amy, CBS

        Rachel Griffiths, Six Feet Under, HBO

        Frances Conroy, Six Feet Under, HBO

        Allison Janney, The West Wing, NBC

        Kiese pick: Six Feet Under will win something, so I'm going with Rachel Griffiths. I love Allison Janney, but she's a supporting actress (the category she won last year).

Actor, comedy

        Bernie Mac, The Bernie Mac Show, Fox

        Ray Romano, Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

        Kelsey Grammer, Frasier, NBC

        Matt LeBlanc, Friends, NBC

        Matthew Perry, Friends, NBC

        Kiese pick: Matt LeBlanc, snubbed by the Emmys for seven years, has earned it.

Actress, comedy

        Patricia Heaton, Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

        Jennifer Aniston, Friends, NBC

        Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm in the Middle, Fox

        Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City, HBO

        Debra Messing, Will & Grace, NBC

        Kiese pick: Jane Kaczmarek is overdue, but Jennifer Aniston's performance as pregnant Rachel should take win her first Emmy.

Supporting actor, drama

        Victor Garber, Alias, ABC

        Freddy Rodriguez, Six Feet Under, HBO

        Dule Hill, The West Wing, NBC

        John Spencer, The West Wing, NBC

        Bradley Whitford, The West Wing, NBC

        Richard Schiff, The West Wing, NBC

        Kiese pick: It's going to be someone from The West Wing, and so I'll take Richard Schiff rather than two straight wins for Bradley Whitford.

Supporting actress, drama

        Tyne Daly, Judging Amy, CBS

        Lauren Ambrose, Six Feet Under, HBO

        Mary-Louise Parker, The West Wing, NBC

        Stockard Channing, The West Wing, NBC

        Janel Moloney, The West Wing, NBC

        Kiese pick: Janel Moloney had a lot of screen time this season, so it's her turn, unless Lauren Ambrose wins the gold.

Supporting actor, comedy

        Peter Boyle, Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

        Brad Garrett, Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

        David Hyde Pierce, Frasier, NBC

        Bryan Cranston, Malcolm in the Middle, Fox

        Sean Hayes, Will & Grace, NBC

        Kiese pick: A tough race to call, but I'll go with the previously ignored Bryan Cranston in his first nomination.

Supporting actress, comedy

        Doris Roberts, Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

        Wendie Malick, Just Shoot Me, NBC

        Cynthia Nixon, Sex and the City, HBO

        Kim Cattrall, Sex and the City, HBO

        Megan Mullally, Will & Grace, NBC

        Kiese pick: Sex and the City will win something; I pick Ms. Cattrall.

Miniseries

        Band Of Brothers, HBO

        Dinotopia, ABC

        The Mists of Avalon, TNT

        Shackleton, A&E

        Kiese pick: No contest: HBO's war epic, Band of Brothers.

Made-for-TV movie

        Dinner With Friends, HBO

        The Gathering Storm, HBO

        James Dean, TNT

        The Laramie Project, HBO

        Path to War, HBO

        Kiese pick: HBO will win this one too, probably with The Laramie Project.

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