Nominees announced for BET Comedy Awards

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- "The Bernie Mac Show" leads the field with seven nominations for the first BET Comedy Awards, to be presented and televised this month on BET.

BET president Debra Lee said the comedy awards were a natural outgrowth of the BET Awards, launched in 2000.

"In four short years, we set a precedent with the BET Awards as the most-watched awards show among African Americans, thanks to the industry supporters who embraced it and the millions of fans who tuned in," Lee said.

"The Bernie Mac Show" is up for Outstanding Comedy Series, along with "My Wife and Kids," "Girlfriends," "Wanda Sykes Show," "The Parkers," "That's So Raven" and "The George Lopez Show." The nominees for Outstanding Comedy Variety Series are "Chappelle's Show," "MadTV," "Club ComicView," "Coming to the Stage" and "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment." "Barbershop 2," "Bringing Down the House," "Deliver Us From Eva," "White Chicks" and "Head of State" were nominated for Outstanding Box-Office Movie.

The BET Comedy Awards will be televised live over BET on Sept. 28, from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif., in ceremonies hosted by comedian Steve Harvey.