The funeral home drama "Six Feet Under" picked up a leading 16 Emmy nominations, including best drama, to lead the nods for the 55th annual Emmy Awards announced Thursday in Hollywood, Calif.

2004 EMMY AWARDS Special Coverage Section Featuring Emmy News, Nominees, Surveys And More

The show led all nominees for the second consecutive year. It also earned top acting nominations for stars Peter Krause and Frances Conroy.

Behind it this year is the "The West Wing" has 15 nominations, including best drama. The other best drama nominees are "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "24" and "The Sopranos."

"Law & Order" missed out on its chance to set an Emmy record by failing to receive an oustanding drama nomination. If it had, it would have had 12 consecutive nominations, besting the record of 11 it now shares with "Cheers" and "M*A*S*H."

The mob family drama "The Sopranos" is back with a vengeance after a year hiatus. It earned 13 nominations, including an Outstanding Lead Actor Drama nod for James Gandolfini and a lead actress nod for Edie Falco.

In addition to Gandolfini and Krause, the other nominees in the lead actor, drama category are last year's winner, Michael Chiklis of "The Shield," Martin Sheen for "The West Wing" and Kiefer Sutherland of "24."

The nominees for best comedy are "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Friends," "Sex and the City" and "Will & Grace."

"Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Sex and the City" tied for the third-most nominations with "The Sopranos," with 13 each.

"Friends" star Jennifer Aniston, winner of last year's Outstanding Comedy Series Actress Emmy, received another nomination in the category this year. Facing off against her for this year's trophy are Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond," Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcolm in the Middle," Debra Messing of "Will & Grace" and Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City."

Another member of the "Friends" cast, Matt LeBlanc, will be up again for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series again this year. He'll be taking on Larry David of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Bernie Mac of "The Bernie Mac Show," Eric McCormack of "Will & Grace" and Ray Romano, who won last year for "Everybody Loves Raymond."

The nominations were read by Chiklis and Kaczmarek, who were both were clearly taken aback by their nominations.

"It's kind of like asking somebody to the prom in front of the pep rally," Chiklis said after hearing his name announced. Kaczmarek, on the other hand, reacted with actions, not words -- as she kissed the ground after Chiklis read her name (pictured, above).

Academy president Bryce Zabel was also on hand to announce a new category, the Reality Competition Emmy. Going for that trophy are "The Amazing Race," "American Idol" and "Survivor."

Only three nominations were granted in the miniseries category. Those were "Napoleon," "Hitler, The Rise of Evil" and "Steven Spielberg Presents: Taken."

In the made-for-TV category, the nominees were "Door to Door," "Live From Baghdad," "My House in Umbria," "Normal" and "Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story."

"Door to Door" led its made-for-TV counterparts with 12 nominations.

Nominees in the top 10 categories were revealed in the four-minute live ceremony. Backed by the impressive showings of "Six Feet Under" and "The Sopranos," HBO earned the most nominations with 109. NBC came in second with 77, followed by CBS with 59, Fox with 37, ABC with 33 and PBS with 16.

The made-for-TV nominees were led by "Door to Door," which received 12 bids. Other nominees were "Live From Baghdad," "My House in Umbria," "Normal" and "Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story."

The 55th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be handed out in a live network broadcast from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sept. 21. A host has yet to be announced.