Rounding out the Best Actor in a Drama category are Andre Braugher of Homicide: Life on the Street and NYPD Blue's Jimmy Smits and Dennis Franz. Both Braugher and Smits have announced they will leave their prime-time shows this season. In fact, there are several nominees who won't be back in the fall lineup. Jane Seymour was nominated in the Best Actress in a Drama Series for her now-canceled Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Garry Shandling was nominated in the Best Actor in a Comedy Series for HBO's shelved The Larry Sanders Show; and Ellen DeGeneres won a comedy nod for her role as Ellen Morgan in Ellen, which as we all know was given the heave-ho by ABC. Jerry Seinfeld won't be back next season either, but he was strangely snubbed in the comedy category. NewsRadio's Phil Hartman, shot and killed by his wife this May, was honored in the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy category.
NewsRadio's late Phil Hartman, nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Expect a few changes in the September 13 Emmy cast as well. The good news is there won't be a host. After Bryant Gumbel's soporific performance last year, producers instead decided to parade a long line of big-name celebrity presenters across the stage. There was also the reported shortage of top-shelf talent that was interested in hosting. Now the bad news: The ceremony will be an Oscar-length four hours, with a 25-minute arrival show, backstage interviews, live musical performances, a sentimental look back on television's greatest moments, a series of short films that document how television affects Americans and, of course, the presentation of 27 awards.
