Emmy favors "24", "Grey's Anatomy", snubs "Lost", "Housewives"

The thrills of "24" and the sex appeal of "Grey's Anatomy" eclipsed last year's Emmy darlings "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" in the award nominations Thursday, while shows that have fallen off the TV schedule scored a number of high-profile bids.

Photo: Emmy favors "24", "Grey's Anatomy", snubs "Lost", "Housewives"

The drama "24," with its tense formula of tracking a federal agent's anti-terrorism exploits hour by hour, episode by episode, capped what some deemed its best season yet with a leading 12 nominations, informs AP.

For the 2006 voting process, the Emmy bigwigs instituted new rules designed to allow critically acclaimed underdogs and a less predictable roster of actors and programs into the nomination process. Well, so much for that.

There are few real surprises in the final list of nominees announced Thursday by the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences: "Grey’s Anatomy" and "24" picked up the most nominations — 11 and 12, respectively — and there’s no argument there, as both series are coming off solidly entertaining seasons. Rounding out the list of best drama nominees are "House," "The Sopranos" and (what a surprise) "The West Wing," informs Chicago Tribune.

The actress, who previously won an Emmy for her work on "Seinfeld," said her new nomination left her feeling "bubbly" and "thrilled," adding it would help her new series build its audience.

"It's definitely important for the show," she said. "It's certainly better to be nominated than not."

Dick Askin, chief executive of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, said the competition was opened up by a new nominating system that put a blue-ribbon panel in charge of winnowing the top vote-getters down to the five nominees in each category.

"One of the major themes here is change," Askin said. "As you can see, we have a lot of new faces."

The 58th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by comedian Conan O'Brien, will be broadcast live on NBC from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 27, reports Reuters.