The CBS shows that make it to the top of the Emmy’s list over the last few years aren’t as plentiful as some of their counterparts, but they are consistent.
The Emmys love to recognize Everybody Loves Raymond, but not necessarily bestow it with the top honors. Coming in with 11 nominations, including its fourth run for best comedy series, Raymond keeps churning out the laughs as Raymond and his wife Debra continue to contend with Raymond’s intrusive family.
Ray Romano, the show’s centerpiece, is turning into a Primetime Emmys Susan Lucci (the soap actress who received 18 Daytime Emmy nominations before finally winning her 19th). He is going for his fourth try as lead actor in a comedy series, and even though he’ll probably just laugh it off if he loses, it’s got to sting a little when his TV wife and mother keep winning the awards. Patricia Heaton as the beleaguered Debra gets her fourth nomination as lead comedy actress this year and has won it twice already. Doris Roberts as Raymond’s endlessly annoying mother Marie goes for her fourth try as well, having won the supporting actress award last year. Peter Boyle as Ray’s couch potato dad, Frank, and Brad Garrett as his jealous older brother, Robert, round out the list, both getting nods for best supporting actor.
Although CBS’ compelling drama Judging Amy is struggling for viewers, the two lead actresses, Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly, have managed to snag nominations for lead actress and supporting actress in a drama series, respectively, for the past three years.
The new shining star in CBS’ horizon is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, now in its second season. This creepy X-Files-like drama stars William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger as an elite team of police forensic experts working cases in Las Vegas. The series garnered six nominations, including a nod for best dramatic series. If it keeps getting as popular as it has been, certainly we’ll see more Emmy appearances in the next few years.
And then there’s Dave. Late Show with David Letterman, which moved from NBC to CBS in 1994, is a CBS Emmy staple year after year in the best variety, music or comedy series category. Of course, for the first few years when it was up against NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, it couldn’t win the award. But since 1998, it’s taken home the Emmy each time.
