<i>Sopranos</i> Hit Emmy High Note

Fresh comedy faces and a wise guy are among the contenders for the 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

The Sopranos, HBO's critically acclaimed series about a mobster in suburbia, captured a leading 16 Emmy nominations Thursday and became the first cable program to be recognized in the best dramatic series category.

Also making strong showings with 13 nominations apiece were Fox's off-kilter comedy Ally McBeal, the ABC legal drama The Practice and the CBS miniseries Joan of Arc.

HBO also fielded only the second cable comedy series to earn a nomination, the risque program Sex and the City.

But the most nominated network, with 82 bids, was NBC, with HBO second with 74. ABC received 58 nominations, CBS had 46 and Fox received 33.

The awards were announced by Camryn Manheim, who was nominated as best dramatic supporting actress for The Practice and by David Hyde Pierce, also a nominee for supporting comedy actor for Frasier. The pair were winners in those categories last year.

The other nominees for best drama are E.R., Law and Order, NYPD Blue and last yearÂ's winner, The Practice.

The nominees for best comedy are Ally McBeal, Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Friends and Sex and the City.

Some of the acting nominees are David Hyde Pierce of Frasier, Camryn Manheim of The Practice, Calista Flockhart of Ally McBeal and Dennis Franz of NYPD Blue.

Meryl Marshall, chairman and chief executive officer of the Television Academy, broke the good news to Manheim and Pierce in a predawn announcement carried live on TV.

Lead actors in drama series who received nods included Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits of NYPD Blue, Dylan McDermott of The Practice, and Sam Waterston of Law & Order, along with The SopranosÂ' James Gandolfini.

Competing with Soprano actresses Lorraine Bracco and Edie Falco, drama series lead actress nominees included Gillian Anderson of Fox's The X-Files, Christine Lahti of CBS' Chicago Hope and Julianna Margulies of E.R.

Kelsey Grammer, who won the best comedy actor trophy last year, was nominated again. Joining him were Michael J. Fox of ABC's Spin City, John Lithgow of NBC's 3rd Rock From The Sun, Paul Reiser of NBC's Mad About You and Ray Romano of Everybody Loves Raymond.

Comedy lead actress nominees included Jenna Elfman of ABC's Dharma & Greg, Flockhart of Ally McBeal, Patricia Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond, Parker of Sex and the City, and last year's winner, Helen Hunt of Mad About You.

Winners will be announced Sept. 12 in Los Angeles during a live Fox broadcast from the Shrine Auditorium.