LOS ANGELES - NBC's "The West Wing" and HBO's "Sopranos" led their networks to first and second place overall in Emmy nominations yesterday.
But it was a good day, too, for Baltimore's local film industry with HBO's "The Corner," which was filmed in Baltimore, getting four prestigious nominations and finding itself competing for one of the top writing awards against "Homicide: The Movie," which was also filmed in the city last year.
"We're thrilled with all the nominations, and especially happy for all the people in Baltimore connected with `The Corner,' " said Katherine Pongracz, a spokeswoman for HBO in New York.
As they did last year, NBC and HBO dominated the field - NBC with 97 nominations, and HBO with 86. ABC was their nearest competitor with 64 nominations, followed by CBS with 41, PBS with 12, Showtime and Discovery with 11 and WB and A&E each with 5.
"The West Wing" and "Sopranos" led individual shows with 18 nominations each. The two dramas were honored with nominations in virtually every major category from Outstanding Drama Series to top dramatic actors and actresses.
They will be competing for best drama with ABC's "The Practice" and NBC's "ER" and "Law & Order."
For Best Actor in a Drama Series, James Gandolfini, who plays Tony Soprano in "Sopranos," and Martin Sheen, who plays President Josiah Bartlett in "The West Wing," will be up against Dennis Franz of ABC's "NYPD Blue" and Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston of "Law & Order."
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series finds Lorraine Bracco and Edie Falco, of the "Sopranos," up against Julianna Margulies, of "ER," Sela Ward, of ABC's "Once and Again" and Amy Brenneman, of ABC's "Judging Amy."
Nancy Marchand, who died last month, received a nomination as Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Livia Soprano, Tony's mother.
The contenders for Outstanding Comedy Series are: CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond," HBO's "Sex And The City," and "Friends," "Frasier" and "Will & Grace," all on NBC. "Will & Grace" had the most nominations of any sitcom with 11.
But for Baltimore, the big news was "The Corner," which told the story of a family trying to escape the world of drugs in a Baltimore neighborhood devastated by them. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same title by David Simon and Edward Burns.
