• by July 12, 2001

"The Sopranos" received a leading 22 Emmy nominations Thursday, the most ever in the three seasons of the cable hit about the angst-filled life of a suburban mob family.

The show's chief competition again will be NBC's White House series "The West Wing," which received 18 nominations and last year picked up the best drama trophy among its record nine honors.

For the first time, reality programs were eligible for recognition, with nominations going to CBS' "Survivor" and Fox's "American High" among others in the popular genre.

HBO's "The Sopranos" nominations included best drama and bids for series stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco.

Besides "The West Wing," the series will compete for best drama with NBC's "ER" and "Law & Order," and ABC's "The Practice."

The 11-year-old drama "Law & Order" marked its 10th consecutive year of being nominated, extending a record it broke last year.

"This is icing on the cake," said producer Dick Wolf, whose show has survived despite constant cast changes over the years. "The cast - it's not that they are replaceable - we've just been lucky to have one great actor after another."

Comedy series that received nominations: CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond," NBC's "Frasier" and "Will & Grace," HBO's "Sex and the City," and Fox's "Malcolm in the Middle."

Other top contenders were "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows," a miniseries about the life of the late singer which earned 13 bids, and the baseball home run saga "61 " and the NBC comedy "Will & Grace," which each received 12 nominations.

Gandolfini, best dramatic actor last year, will compete this time with Andre Braugher of ABC's canceled "Gideon's Crossing," Dennis Franz of ABC's "NYPD Blue" and Rob Lowe and Martin Sheen of "The West Wing."

Besides Falco, others nominated for best actress in a drama series were her co-star Lorraine Bracco, Amy Brenneman of CBS' "Judging Amy," Sela Ward of ABC's "Once and Again," and Marg Helgenberger of CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Ward won the Emmy last year.

Among networks, "The Sopranos" helped drive HBO to a leading 94 nominations, followed by NBC with 76, ABC with 63 and CBS with 46.

Nominations for best actor in a comedy series went to Kelsey Grammer of "Frasier," John Lithgow of the canceled "3rd Rock from the Sun" and Eric McCormack of "Will & Grace," all on NBC, and Frankie Muniz of "Malcolm in the Middle" and Ray Romano of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Female comedy series counterparts who received bids were Calista Flockhart of Fox's "Ally McBeal" and Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcolm in the Middle," last year's winner Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond," Debra Messing of "Will & Grace" and Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City."

Along with "Life With Judy Garland," best miniseries nods went to "Anne Frank" on ABC, Showtime's "Armistead Maupin's Further Tales of the City," A&E's "Horatio Hornblower" and TNT's "Nuremberg."

In the made-for-TV movie category, "61 " will compete with HBO's "Conspiracy" and "For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story," Showtime's "Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor" and HBO's "Wit."

The awards in the two new reality show categories will be given out during an Emmy creative arts ceremony held more than a week before the televised ceremony. In these categories, awards may go to one, more than one, or none of the nominees, depending on the decisions of judging panels.

Among reality programs in which a prize was not the object of the show, the nominees were "American High," which Fox canceled and PBS picked up, Bravo's "The Awful Truth With Michael Moore," "The E! True Hollywood Story" on E! Entertainment Television, HBO's "Taxicab Confessions" and TLC's "Trauma: Life in the ER."

Nominees in reality shows in which contestants are after a prize were VH1's "Bands on the Run," USA's "Eco-Challenge: Borneo," TLC's "Junkyard Wars," MTV's "Road Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour" in addition to "Survivor."

Bids for best supporting actor in a drama series went to Michael Imperioli and Dominic Chianese of "The Sopranos" and Bradley Whitford, John Spencer and Richard Schiff of "The West Wing."

Nominees for supporting actress in a drama series were Stockard Channing and Allison Janney of "The West Wing," Aida Turturro of "The Sopranos," Maura Tierney of "ER" and Tyne Daly of "Judging Amy." Janney claimed the prize in 2000.

Robert Downey Jr., whose guest role on "Ally McBeal" was interrupted by a drug-related arrest, was nominated for best comedy supporting actor. He'll compete against co-star Peter MacNicol as well as Peter Boyle of "Everybody Loves Raymond," David Hyde Pierce of "Frasier" and Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace," who has a chance to repeat as winner.

Supporting comedy actress nominations went to "Friends" co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow, Doris Roberts of "Everybody Loves Raymond," Kim Cattrall of "Sex and the City" and Megan Mullally of "Will & Grace."

Ellen DeGeneres, whose HBO special "Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning" received two nominations, will be the master of ceremonies of the awards broadcast Sept. 16 on CBS.

- Associated Press