It was an early day for actress Jami Gertz (Still Standing) and actor Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos, Law & Order), who took stage center at 5:30am to announce the nominees for the 57th Annual Primetime Emmys. Televised live from the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre, North Hollywood, California, the two assisted Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chairman of the Board & CEO Dick Askin in announcing the nominees for the 88 categories.

Cable network HBO lead the networks again with an astounding 93 nominations -- down from last year's 124, but still a feat considering many of its regularly nominated series were either on hiatus or gone for good. However, with 16 nominations a piece for the HBO Films productions of The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers and Warm Springs, as well as 11 for its wild west series Deadwood and 8 for the now-cancelled Carnivale, HBO still ruled the roost. The miniseries Empire Falls also garnered 10 nominations for the network, including dual nods for the legendary husband and wife acting team of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, as did the film Lackawanna Blues, which walked away with 7.

CBS was second with 59, the first time the network has led its network rivals in more than a decade. Thirteen of those nominations were for the final season of the network's Everybody Loves Raymond, which never received its first nomination until after a few seasons on the air. In addition to best comedy series, the show received nods for its leading and supporting actors. Four of the five -- Ray Romano (lead actor), Patricia Heaton (lead actress/comedy series), Doris Roberts (supporting actress/comedy series) and Brad Garrett (supporting actor/comedy series) -- have won in previous years, but this is the last time up at bat for Peter Boyle (supporting actor/comedy series), who has yet to win for his work on the show.

NBC was next with 54, fifteen of those for their long-running Thursday night comedy, Will & Grace. The show won noms for all of its main actors except, surprisingly, new mom Debra Messing, who was snubbed for the second year in a row. The rest of the noms for the network were evenly spaced out among such entries as The Apprentice, The West Wing and Scrubs.

With two new hot network series, ABC was fourth with 51 nominations. Desperate Housewives lead the network with 15 nominations, followed by the other freshman hit series, Lost, with 12. Three of the five Housewives were nominated for lead actress in a comedy, but some wonder if having Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman all in the same category won't split votes enough to give someone else the win. The show is also nominated for best comedy series. On the Drama side of the categories, two of Oceanic Air's survivors received Emmy nods for their roles in Lost. Both Naveen Andrews (Sayid) and Terry O'Quinn (Locke) are nominated for best supporting actor in a drama. The series is also nominated for best drama.

Rounding up the network leaders is Fox, which scored 49 nominations, including 11 a piece for its acclaimed series Arrested Development and 24. Its popular reality show, American Idol, finally got its first Emmy nod, as well.

Since many regular nominees were ineligible, due to series ending (Friends, Fraiser, Sex In the City) or being on hiatus during the eligibility period (Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm), the nominations fields this year yielded a whole new crop of fresh faces that had previously been overlooked. Zach Braff finally got a nomination, for the comedy series, Scrubs, and goes head to head with other first time nominee Jason Bateman (Arrested Development). Entourage's Jeremy Piven got the show's only acting nom for his role as smarmy agent Ari Gold, as did actress Patricia Arquette for her offbeat turn in the NBC show Medium. Coming out of left field, House star Hugh Laurie snagged a nom for his titular doctor role on the Fox series, while Ian McShane finally got noticed for Deadwood, a role for which he has already won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award. Sandra Oh, nominated for Grey's Anatomy, could add a supporting actress award to the Oscar she won earlier this year for Sideways. And actor Alan Alda, who was also nominated this year for both an Oscar (for the Aviator) and a Tony award (for Glengarry Glen Ross), makes it a trifeca of nominations for his supporting role in The West Wing.

Glaringly absent from the list of this year's nominations was the CBS powerhouse trio of CSI series. Not one of them received any kind of nod this year in the major categories, though the original is up for Best Director for guest Quentin Tarantino's vision of the season ending episode. West Wing's Martin Sheen also missed the list, for the first time in many years. His son, Charlie Sheen, failed to get a nod, too, though his female co-stars and his series, Two and a Half Men, did. Equally shocking is that two-thirds of the Desperate Housewives, Eva Longoria and Nicolette Sheridan, are absent from the list, as well.

The 57th Emmy Awards are scheduled to air Sept. 18 live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, on CBS. A host has yet to be announced for ceremony in which 27 awards will be presented. Other honors, including those for technical achievement and guest actors and actresses in series, will be given at a untelevised ceremony a week before the award show.

Here is a list of the nominations for the top categories. For a full listing of all 88 categories, please visit Emmys.org.

Drama Series:
Deadwood [HBO]
Lost [ABC]
Six Feet Under [HBO]
24 [Fox]
The West Wing [NBC]

Comedy Series:
Arrested Development [Fox]
Desperate Housewives [ABC]
Everybody Loves Raymond [CBS]
Scrubs [NBC]
Will & Grace [NBC]

Miniseries:
Elvis [CBS]
Empire Falls [HBO]
The 4400 [USA]
The Lost Prince (Masterpiece Theatre) [PBS]

Made-for-TV Movie:
Lackawanna Blues [HBO]
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers [HBO]
The Office Special [BBC America]
Warm Springs [HBO]
The Wool Cap [TNT]

Variety, Music or Comedy Series:
Da Ali G Show [HBO]
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart [Comedy Central]
Late Night With Conan O'Brien [NBC]
Late Show With David Letterman [CBS]
Real Time With Bill Maher [HBO]

Variety, Music or Comedy Special:
77th Annual Academy Awards [ABC]
Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth [Showtime]
Everybody Loves Raymond - The Last Laugh [CBS]
The Games of The XXVIII Olympiad - Opening Ceremony [NBC]
58th Annual Tony Awards (2004) [CBS]

Actor, Drama Series:
James Spader Boston Legal [ABC]
Ian McShane Deadwood [HBO]
Hugh Laurie House [Fox]
Hank Azaria Huff [Showtime]
Kiefer Sutherland 24 [Fox]

Actress, Drama Series:
Jennifer Garner Alias [ABC]
Mariska Hargitay Law & Order: Special Victims Unit [NBC]
Patricia Arquette Medium [NBC]
Glenn Close The Shield [FX]
Frances Conroy Six Feet Under [HBO]

Supporting Actor, Drama Series:
William Shatner Boston Legal [ABC]
Oliver Platt Huff [Showtime]
Naveen Andrews Lost [ABC]
Terry O'Quinn Lost [ABC]
Alan Alda The West Wing [NBC]

Supporting Actress, Drama Series:
Sandra Oh Grey's Anatomy [ABC]
Blythe Danner Huff [Showtime]
Tyne Daly Judging Amy [CBS]
CCH Pounder The Shield [FX]
Stockard Channing The West Wing [NBC]

Actor, Comedy Series:
Jason Bateman Arrested Development [Fox]
Ray Romano Everybody Loves Raymond [CBS]
Tony Shalhoub Monk [USA]
Zach Braff Scrubs [NBC]
Eric McCormack Will & Grace [NBC]

Actress, Comedy Series:
Marcia Cross Desperate Housewives [ABC]
Teri Hatcher Desperate Housewives [ABC]
Felicity Huffman Desperate Housewives [ABC]
Patricia Heaton Everybody Loves Raymond [CBS]
Jane Kaczmarek Malcolm In The Middle [Fox]

Supporting Actor, Comedy Series:
Jeffrey Tambor Arrested Development [Fox]
Jeremy Piven Entourage [HBO]
Peter Boyle Everybody Loves Raymond [CBS]
Brad Garrett Everybody Loves Raymond [CBS]
Sean Hayes Will & Grace [NBC]

Supporting Actress, Comedy Series:
Jessica Walter Arrested Development [Fox]
Doris Roberts Everybody Loves Raymond [CBS]
Holland Taylor Two And A Half Men [CBS]
Conchata Ferrell Two And A Half Men [CBS]
Megan Mullally Will & Grace [NBC]

Actor, Miniseries or a Movie:
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers Elvis [CBS]
Ed Harris Empire Falls [HBO]
Geoffrey Rush The Life and Death of Peter Sellers [HBO]
Kenneth Branagh Warm Springs [HBO]
William H. Macy The Wool Cap [TNT]

Actress, Miniseries or a Movie:
Blythe Danner Back When We Were Grownups (Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation) [CBS]
Debra Winger Dawn Anna [Lifetime Television]
S. Epatha Merkerson Lackawanna Blues [HBO]
Halle Berry Their Eyes Were Watching God [ABC]
Cynthia Nixon Warm Springs [HBO]

Supporting Actor, Miniseries or a Movie:
Randy Quaid Elvis [CBS]
Paul Newman Empire Falls [HBO]
Philip Seymour Hoffman Empire Falls [HBO]
Christopher Plummer Our Fathers [Showtime]
Brian Dennehy Our Fathers [Showtime]

Supporting Actress, Miniseries or a Movie:
Camryn Manheim Elvis [CBS]
Joanne Woodward Empire Falls [HBO]
Charlize Theron The Life and Death of Peter Sellers [HBO]
Jane Alexander Warm Springs [HBO]
Kathy Bates Warm Springs [HBO]