'Earth To Moon' Tops Emmy Nods

From the Earth to the Moon, HBO's sweeping chronicle of America's space program, has a leading 17 nominations for the 50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, set for Sunday night.

The cable drama, which was produced by actor Tom Hanks, had been the focus of a protest by broadcast networks who felt the 12-part program was too lengthy to be considered as a miniseries.

Other top Emmy nominees include NBC's medical drama ER and Fox's The X-Files. Each had 16 bids. The NBC miniseries Merlin received 15 nominations.

Ally McBeal, a newcomer to the competitive comedy series category, got 10 nominations. It faces veteran competition from HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, NBC's Frasier, Third Rock From the Sun, and Seinfeld.

This was the Academy's last chance to honor Seinfeld, which bowed out this year.

Competing with Hanks' space miniseries and Merlin were Showtime's Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City, TNT's George Wallace, and USA's Moby Dick.

Joining ER and The X-Files in the best drama category are ABC's NYPD Blue' and The Practice, and last year's winner, NBC's Law & Order.

NBC was the most honored network with 86 total nominations, followed by HBO with 72, ABC with 54, and CBS with 36. Fox received 35 bids, while Turner Network Television got 18.

Nominees for best drama series: