<i>Judy Garland</i> and <i>Will & Grace</i> lead Emmy nominations (1421)

When the 53rd annual prime-time Emmy awards nominations were announced Thursday morning by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, two of the top honorees were NBC's sitcom Will & Grace and the ABC miniseries My Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, executive-produced by Storyline Entertainment's Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. In fact, Judy Garland earned the most Emmy nominations of any movie or miniseries this season, with 13 nods, for: best miniseries, best actress (Judy Davis), best supporting actress (Tammy Blanchard), best supporting actor (Victor Garber) as well as for its writing, direction, art direction, costumes, editing, hair, makeup, cinematography, and casting. Will & Grace was nominated for best sitcom--an honor that would go in part to the show's openly gay executive producer, Max Mutchnick--and for each of its four lead performers (Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally, Sean Hayes) as well as for art direction, costumes, cinematography, casting, directing, and editing.

Lesbian actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres was nominated twice for her special Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning, for individual performance and for a variety, music, or comedy special.

Another top nominee was Sex and the City, the HBO comedy from out executive producers Darren Star and Michael Patrick King, recognized for art direction, casting, directing, hair, makeup, writing (also for King), supporting actress in a comedy series (Kim Cattrall), and best comedy series. The show was also nominated for best costumes for the work of out designers Patricia Field and Rebecca Weinberg Field. The Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle garnered two additional nominations for out director and past Emmy winner Todd Holland, mentioned in the category of direction and as a co-executive producer for the show's best comedy series nomination. Out producers David Lee and Barbara Gaines saw their shows nominated for best comedy series (Frasier) and best variety, music, or comedy series (Late Show With David Letterman), respectively. The show featuring the late, lamented lesbian icon Xena: Warrior Princess was nominated for best music composition for a series.

Wit, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by lesbian writer Margaret Edson, was nominated for several top awards in the "miniseries, movie, or special" categories, including directing, single-camera editing, lead actress (Emma Thompson), supporting actress (Audra McDonald), best made-for-television movie, and best writing, for Thompson's adaptation of Edson's play. The special Barbra Streisand: Timeless was given nods for editing, lighting direction, music direction, sound mixing, technical direction, and for La Streisand, individual performance in a variety or music program.

Single nominations were earned by the special Elton John: One Night Only (for best multi-camera editing), Showtime's Armistead Maupin's Further Tales of the City (for best miniseries, an honor that would be shared by Maupin and out executive producer Alan Poul, along with the other executive producers), and When Billie Beat Bobby (for Holly Hunter's performance as lesbian tennis icon Billie Jean King).

The Emmy awards will air September 16 and will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. For further information go to www.emmys.com.