Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 22, 1995 TAG: 9507250022
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICK DU BROW LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD LENGTH: Medium
Capping its freshman season, in which it ranked No. 2 among all series and averaged 33 percent of the audience - more than any other regular program - ``ER'' collected 20 nominations.
With dramas making a comeback in network prime time, the runner-up was ABC's police series ``NYPD Blue,'' which picked up 12 nominations.
Voters of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences showed their disdain again for the much-praised series ``Roseanne'' as a candidate for best comedy.
It was ignored as a contender and has never been nominated for top comedy series in its seven seasons on the air. However, the show's stars, Roseanne and John Goodman, were nominated, as was Laurie Metcalf as supporting actress.
Instead of finally honoring the influential ``Roseanne'' series with a nomination, academy voters instead chose ``Frasier,'' ``Friends,'' ``Mad About You,'' ``Seinfeld'' and ``The Larry Sanders Show'' as the best comedy nominees.
ABC, though the No. 1-rated network, took it on the chin from Emmy voters. Not only did it manage only 39 nominations overall - compared to 85 each for NBC and CBS and 48 for HBO - but three of its top comedies were snubbed in one way or another.
In addition to the ``Roseanne'' rejection, the academy passed up ABC's ``Home Improvement'' and ``Grace Under Fire'' in the best comedy category, as well as their headliners, Tim Allen and Brett Butler, as lead actor nominees.
ABC, which is being pressed for the ratings lead by NBC, also fared poorly in the specials categories, where it once was the leader. The top specials nominees included HBO, with ``Barbra Streisand: The Concert,'' ``Indictment: The McMartin Trial,'' ``Citizen X'' and ``The Burning Season''; CBS, with ``The Piano Lesson'' and ``Buffalo Girls''; NBC, with ``Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story''; and cable network TNT with the biblical drama ``Joseph.''
Nominated with ``ER'' for best drama series were another new medical show - CBS' ``Chicago Hope'' - ``NYPD Blue,'' ``Law & Order'' and ``The X-Files.''
Competing with ``ER's'' Anthony Edwards and George Clooney for best actor in a drama series are Mandy Patinkin of ``Chicago Hope'' and the two leads of ``NYPD Blue,'' Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits.
Nominees for best actress in a drama series, in addition to ``ER's'' Sherry Stringfield, are teen-ager Claire Danes of the canceled ``My So-Called Life''; past Emmy winner Kathy Baker of ``Picket Fences''; Cicely Tyson for another axed show, ``Sweet Justice''; and Angela Lansbury of ``Murder, She Wrote.''
The Emmy Awards will be telecast Sept. 10 on Fox.
Three NBC comedy stars - Kelsey Grammer of ``Frasier,'' Jerry Seinfeld of ``Seinfeld'' and Paul Reiser of ``Mad About You'' - are in the running for best lead actor in a comedy, along with Garry Shandling of ``The Larry Sanders Show'' and ``Roseanne's'' Goodman.
In the lead actress category for a comedy series are Helen Hunt of ``Mad About You,'' Cybill Shepherd of ``Cybill,'' Candice Bergen of ``Murphy Brown,'' Ellen DeGeneres of ``Ellen'' and Roseanne.
by CNB