Reigning with the most Emmy nominations this year (93 in total), HBO has proven yet again that the once-pay cable network that only showed movies and boxing matches has become a powerhouse leader in television programming.
This year’s HBO darling is Alan Ball‘s Six Feet Under, a first-timer on the Emmy list that garnered a whopping 23 nominations, including best drama series. Ball (the Oscar-winning writer of American Beauty) has created the wonderfully quirky and sometimes heartbreaking world of the Fishers, a dysfunctional family who runs their own funeral home. Luckily, Six Feet Under doesn’t have to compete with another Emmy favorite of HBO’s, The Sopranos, since the mob show has been on hiatus all year (watch for its premiere Sept. 15).
In the top acting categories, best actor in a drama series nominees include Six Feet‘s Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall, who play Nate and David Fisher, respectively–brothers who take over the business when their father meets an untimely demise. Frances Conroy as their on-the-edge mother, Ruth, gets a nod for best actress in a drama series, as does Rachel Griffiths, who plays Nate’s entirely screwed up girlfriend, Brenda. Rounding out the list are Lauren Ambrose as angst-ridden teenage sister Claire, up for best supporting actress in a drama series, and Freddy Rodriguez as the Fisher’s top-notch embalmer, Frederico, who gets a nod for best supporting actor.
Another newbie to the Emmy scene is Curb Your Enthusiasm, a hysterical, off-the-cuff look at the wacky world of writer Larry David, one of the co-creators of Seinfeld (and the prototype for the Seinfeld character George Constanza). Nominated for best comedy series, the show, which is done mostly in an improvisational style, focuses on the real-life David and his close group of family and friends who continually deal with his pet peeves and neurosis.
HBO’s other ringer is Sex and the City, which rakes in 10 nominations this year, including best comedy series. The racy and hilarious show about four single women living, working and loving in the Big Apple has made it to the Emmy roster every year since its debut in 1998 and finally won the coveted best comedy series prize last year. Sarah Jessica Parker as the neurotic but perky columnist Carrie Bradshaw is going for her fourth try for best actress in a comedy series. So far the slippery Emmy has eluded her but this could be her year. Joining her with their own nominations for best supporting actress in a comedy series is first-time nominee Cynthia Nixon as the sharp-witted Miranda and Kim Cattrall (her third nomination), who plays the sexy Samantha. Maybe the fourth New York gal, Kristin Davis as the sweetly conservative Charlotte, will get her turn next year.
That’s not all, folks. HBO has also dominated the outstanding movies-made-for-television category, getting four out of the five nominations. There’s Dinner With Friends, a talky drama about two couples (Andie McDowell, Dennis Quaid, Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear) dealing with divorce; The Gathering Storm, an intimate portrayal of Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine (Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave, both nominated for actor/actress in a miniseries or movie); The Laramie Project, the real life story about the small-town murder of Matthew Shepherd and its aftermath, and Path To War, an intense drama about President Lyndon B. Johnson (Michael Gambon, nominated for best actor in a miniseries or movie) and his efforts to try and stay out of the Vietnam War. Some heavy hitters, to say the least.
Finally, there is the incredible WWII miniseries Band of Brothers. With 19 nominations (including best miniseries), this saga, which chronicles a company of Army riflemen and their journey from D-Day to the end of the war, clearly stands out among the other nominees.
Chalk it up to that cable channel mentality-pay stations are not beholden to advertisers, only their subscribers, and are able to spew out curse words, reveal bare flesh and whip up hot sex at the drop of a hat. HBO has freedom, and isn’t afraid to use it.
