Sopranos heads Emmy nominations

HBO's mobster saga, The Sopranos, led the field of prime-time series announced yesterday as contenders for US television's highest honours, with 20 Emmy nominations, including a nod for best drama.

Sopranos, rubbed out by The West Wing in three previous Emmy Award match-ups, will compete again with the NBC political drama and two other nominees from last year, Fox espionage thriller 24 and TV's highest-rated drama, CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Joining this year's roster of best-drama contenders is first-time challenger Joan of Arcadia, the CBS show about a teen-age girl who talks with God.

The nomination of West Wing, starring Martin Sheen as fictional US president Bartlet, puts the show in the running for re-election to a record fifth term as best dramatic series. The only other prime-time show in Emmy history to claim five best series victories was the long-running comedy Frasier, which bowed off NBC last season.

HBO's popular but newly departed Sex and the City was the most nominated sitcom, gaining recognition in 11 categories, including best comedy series.

Fox's offbeat family sitcom Arrested Development, a low-rated but critically favoured freshman show, also snagged a best-comedy nomination. The other nominees were NBC's Will & Grace, HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, and last year's champ, CBS's Everybody Loves Raymond, headed into a ninth and final season.

While Sopranos clinched the most nominations of any series, the most nominated programme overall with 21 nods was the HBO mini-series Angels in America, starring Al Pacino.

Nominated as best made-for-TV movie, and in six other categories, was The Reagans.