This year's Emmys: New talent may rise

'Six Feet Under,' 'West Wing' expected to lead the pack

"Six Feet Under," with Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall, has already won 2 Golden Globe Awards and the 2002 Directors Guild of America Award. This will be the first year it is recognized by the Emmys.

(CNN) -- What a difference a year makes.

The hot debate surrounding the 2001 Emmy Awards was whether they should happen at all. Postponed first by the September 11 terrorist attacks and then by U.S. strikes in Afghanistan, the show did go on, albeit in a far more subdued manner than ever before.

This year, the Emmy focus is on six friends from New York, a family-run funeral home in Los Angeles, a U.S. president and sex and the city. In other words, the show's spotlight is back on television.

"This year, thank God, seems back to normal," says Tom O'Neil, the author of several awards show-related books and columns and host of the Web site GoldDerby.com. "The show will go on in its old tradition, forgoing the seriousness of last year. They'll be going back to having fun."

On Thursday, the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences will announce this year's nominees for the gold statuettes. The 2002 Emmys, set for September 22, might lack the real-life drama of last year's edition -- in which egocentric accolades gave way to patriotic tributes, frilly gowns to business attire, celebration to reflection -- but there should be plenty of suspense nonetheless.

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The absence of Emmy heavy "The Sopranos," and a wide-open comedy field, could pave the way for a wealth of new winners. That means TV's most-watched comedy and drama -- "Friends" and "C.S.I.," respectively -- may handle some hardware after being snubbed last year, while newcomers like "Six Feet Under" could go home golden.

"We're going to see a few of the usual suspects take a bow, but some of them have to make way for some of the new crop," says O'Neil. "Some of the veterans -- shows that have had their Emmy heyday -- are vulnerable."

Funeral home may bring home gold

"The Sopranos," the tale of a troubled mob boss and his sometime disloyal "family," earned 22 nominations last year, winning four awards, including best actor and best actress. But the show is ineligible for any Emmys this year because it has not aired any new shows in more than a year.

Most critics expect "The Sopranos' " HBO cousin, "Six Feet Under," to pick up the slack. The show, which follows a family that runs a funeral home, did not get any Emmy nods in its inaugural season but has been lauded by critics.

" 'Six Feet Under' is irresistible Emmy bait," says O'Neil. "It's sophisticated, it's elitist in its sensibilities, it's very cynical and it's brilliantly written -- the writing and acting is first-rate. And it's about life and death, which gives it a kind of aesthetic importance."

"The West Wing" has won best drama series two years in a row.

Of course, "The West Wing" is no stiff. The Emmy fave has snared the top prize -- best drama series -- two years running, while Martin Sheen, who plays President Bartlet, and co-stars Allison Janney, Rob Lowe and Bradley Whitford are eyeing individual gold.

"C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation," which had more viewers than any other drama last year but only one major Emmy nomination, is expected to contend this year. Other new hopefuls include action series "24" and "Alias" -- specifically, actors Kiefer Sutherland and Jennifer Garner -- as well as the police drama, "The Shield," on FX.

And while "The Practice," "NYPD Blue" and "ER" may not have the Emmy power they once had, they can still be counted on for a few nominations. Perennial nominee Dennis Franz of "Blue" and Anthony Edwards, in his final season in the "ER," are sentimental picks.

Will 'Friends' have its day?

The Emmy jostling in the comedy category began months ago, when audience favorite "Friends" nominated each of its six figureheads for best actor and actress nods. While no one, spare Jennifer Aniston as the baby-bearing Rachel, may earn an individual nomination, O'Neil says the gambit may pay off for the series as a whole.

"The ploy of its cast members to be considered for lead actors is a demand for respect by Emmy voters," he says. "It's a brilliant move."

A victory for "Friends," not even nominated last year, could be as big a shock as "Sex and the City's" come-from-nowhere win in 2001. Sarah Jessica Parker and her gal pals will contend once again for series and individual honors. "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Will and Grace" are the division's other heavyweights, while "Frasier" -- especially its title character, played by Kelsey Grammer -- should be in the running.

The offbeat Fox family comedy "Malcolm in the Middle" and its star, Frankie Muniz, received nominations last year, but may not be so lucky this time around. Bernie Mac and his namesake show, a critical success and another Fox staple, is most likely to step up instead. Lauren Graham of the "Gilmore Girls" and Zach Braff of "Scrubs" are long-shots for individual honors.

The rest of the pack

The TV movie "James Dean" is expected to do well.

War, politics and bigotry dominate the TV movie field this year. The critically acclaimed "James Dean" leads the pack, with "Monday Night Mayhem," "The Day Reagan Was Shot" and "The Rosa Parks Story" also shooting for nominations.

One of two stories about the murder of a young Wyoming homosexual -- "The Laramie Project" and "The Matthew Shepard Story" -- and either or both HBO documentaries "The Gathering Storm" (about Winston Churchill) and "Path to War" (Lyndon Johnson) may also make the grade.

The kid-friendly, effects-packed "Dinotopia" and "Band of Brothers," the latter the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg-produced story of a World War II unit based on a Stephen Ambrose book, could duke it out for best mini-series statuette.

The miniseries and TV-movie awards, of course, are the anomaly in Emmy-land -- in most every other case, a longer-running series and its team contend for awards. As a result, the Emmy Awards traditionally get many holdover nominees and winners from one year to the next -- and a reputation as stale and boring in the process.

But O'Neil, who also forecasts the Oscars, Grammys and other awards shows, says the critique is unfair, if understandable.

"The Emmys always get the same returning shows back; there's nothing that they'll ever be able to do about that," he says.

"But there are more upsets and surprises at the Emmys than any other showbiz awards. It's the most exciting awards show for that reason, and because it celebrates the most powerful medium in the world -- television."

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