Analysis: 'Raymond,' 'Wing' take top Emmys

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Voters showed a distinct preference for the warm and fuzzy -- not to mention the tried and true -- as "Everybody Loves Raymond," "The West Wing" and "Door to Door" took the top prizes at the 55th Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards.

"Door to Door" -- the TNT movie about a man who overcomes cerebral palsy to become a successful salesman -- took six Emmys, including best TV movie. William H. Macy won for lead actor in a miniseries or movie and shared a writing Emmy with Steven Schachter, who also won for best director of a miniseries or movie.

"Everybody Loves Raymond" -- a throwback in many ways to an earlier era of TV comedy -- captured five Emmys, including its first for best comedy series. Doris Roberts and Brad Garrett won for outstanding supporting actress and actor in a comedy series, and the CBS hit won for oustanding directing in a comedy series.

"The West Wing" provided one of the bigger surprises at this year's Emmy Awards, winning outstanding drama series for the fourth time in its four seasons on NBC. The White House drama fell out of favor with many critics last season, and also took a ratings hit with viewers, and by the end of the 2002-03 season, creator Aaron Sorkin announced he was leaving the show.

A fourth consecutive best series win placed "The West Wing" among some exalted company in Emmy history -- as one of just six shows to win the top prize four times. "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "All in the Family," "L.A. Law" and "Cheers" all won best series Emmy four times. "Frasier" -- a "Cheers" spinoff now beginning its 11th and final season on NBC -- won the top comedy Emmy in each of its first five seasons, beginning in 1993.

The win for "The West Wing" was seen as an upset, since most critics thought "The Sopranos" would finally become the first cable series to win for best drama. The two stars of the HBO crime family hit -- James Gandolfini and Edie Falco -- both won their third Emmys for outstanding lead actor and actress in a drama series.

Speaking with reporters backstage, Gandolfini expressed disappointment in the show's failure once again to take the top Emmy. But he said the subject matter on his show has probably kept TV academy voters from rewarding "The Sopranos" with the best drama series prize.

"Yeah, I think it's the subject matter," he said. "I think we're thieves and crooks and they show me in my underwear."

If "The Sopranos" cast and crew were disappointed to go home without the top Emmy, they still had a better night than two other HBO hits that were heavily nominated but went home virtually empty-handed.

The funeral home drama "Six Feet Under" led the field with 16 nominations --but took just one Emmy, for casting for a drama series. The sex comedy "Sex and the City" had 13 nominations but managed just one prize -- also for casting.

It's tempting to suggest that "The West Wing" -- which is freely available on network TV -- was simply seen by more Emmy voters than "The Sopranos," which is only available in first run on the premium channel HBO. But that doesn't account for the acting wins for Gandolfini and Falco -- or for HBO's continued recent dominance as the preeminent Emmy competitor.

The cable channel took 18 awards this year. CBS was second with 16, following by NBC with 15 and ABC with 9.

Debra Messing won her first Emmy for lead actress in a comedy series for the NBC comedy "Will & Grace." Tony Shalhoub won for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for his performance as an obsessive-compulsive detective in the USA Network hit "Monk." Maggie Smith won for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or a movie for "My House in Umbria."

The Sci Fi Channel's "Steven Spielberg Presents Taken" won for outstanding miniseries, while the NBC special "Cher -- The Farewell Tour" won for variety, music or comedy special. Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," which has become a favorite reference point among professional politicians and leading journalists for its satiracal coverage of national crises -- primarily the war in Iraq -- won for best variety, music or comedy series.

"It was such a great war for us," said Stewart in an acceptance speech that displayed the sardonic humor that also won the show a writing Emmy.

Stewart also introduced a comedy bit framed as an entertainment industry "salute" to TV news -- that actually turned out to be a collection of highly sensationalized moments culled from TV news broadcast over the past year.

"Tonight we honor the news for becoming us," said Stewart, "mindless ratings whores."

Political humor on the telecast also included two appearances by "Saturday Night Live" veteran Darrell Hammond -- once as Arnold Schwarzenegger in a lampoon of California gubernatorial recall politics, and once as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld offering a disapproving critique of the state of television.

Producer Phil Rosenthal accepted the comedy series award for "Everybody Loves Raymond" with a speech suggesting that if network executives had had their way, "Raymond" would have been a different show from the classic, family-oriented comedy that viewers have embraced since the show debuted in 1996. Rosenthal said network suits at the time wanted the show only to be hip and edgy.

"Especially I want to thank all you hipsters in the audience for supporting us all these years," Rosenthall said. "We do it for you."

Emmy voters rewarded several veteran performers. Along with Roberts and Smith, Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands won for supporting actor and actress in the HBO movie "Hysterical Blindness." Gene Wilder won for guest actor in a comedy series for an episode of "Will & Grace."

Fox TV's presentation broke with tradition by not having a single host. Rather, the telecast featured an all-star lineup of comics -- including Bernie Mac, Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Short, Conan O'Brien, Dennis Miller and Mike Myers.

The telecast also featured a daring send-up of the open-mouth kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears on the recent MTV Awards -- as Garry Shandling and Brad Garrett locked lips for a few seconds.

Two of the emotional high points of the show involved tributes to recently deceased entertainment figures -- one a legend, the other a highly respected and well-loved contemporary actor.

TV news legend Walter Cronkite introduced the tribuet to Bob Hope, who died at 100 in July. "Happy Days" star Henry Winkler introduced a tribute to "Three's Company" star John Ritter, who died on Sept. 11 at 54.

Romano presented Bill Cosby with the second annual Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.

As the telecast -- scheduled for three hours -- ran over its alotted time, producers rushed presenters onto the stage to present the final handful of awards with as little ceremony as possible. There was no time left for comedy bits, but Myers found an economical way to get a laugh out of the situation even as he accomplished what surely was one of his major objectives in appearing on the show -- to promote his upcoming project.

"I'm here for one reason and one reason alone -- my love for television," he said, before slyly conceding that this was "not a time to plug 'The Cat in the Hat,' coming to theaters this fall."