Whose Power Will Win the Glory?

The White House will take on the Mafia at this year’s nighttime Emmy Awards ceremony, as NBC’s “The West Wing” and HBO’s “The Sopranos” will duel for best drama, while NBC’s “Will & Grace” made a significant splash in the situation comedy arena.

Both “The West Wing,” the behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of a fictional White House, and “The Sopranos”--about a Prozac-popping mobster and both his “families”--garnered 18 nominations on Thursday, including a pair each of best writing bids. (Last year, “Sopranos” claimed four of five nominations in the writing category.)

The logjam of quality dramas this year was such that “NYPD Blue”--after six straight nominations--was left out of the running, with the two aforementioned shows joined by two-time winner “The Practice” and two perennial NBC nominees, “ER” and “Law & Order,” whose consecutive nomination streaks have grown to six and nine, respectively--the latter an Emmy record.

“The West Wing” continues a long history of first-year dramas capturing the imagination of Emmy voters. Past series to lead the nomination pack in their first season include “NYPD Blue,” “ER,” “Twin Peaks” and, last year, “The Sopranos.”

Another recurring theme, however, is that none of those programs won the Emmy their first time out, suggesting voters--often perceived as being a bit stodgy--need to see more than a single year of a series before bestowing upon it the TV industry’s most prestigious honor.

Having already received numerous accolades--including a rare standing ovation from media buyers at NBC’s upfront sales presentation in May and a sweep of the recent Television Critics Assn. Awards--”Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin said he was “just happy to be invited to the party,” adding wryly, “We are already emotionally prepared for the fact that 18 nominations means we are going to be denied an Emmy about every six minutes.”

“Will & Grace,” meanwhile, the 2-year-old sitcom about the friendship between a woman and a gay man, totaled 11 nominations to emerge as the most recognized sitcom--a good tuneup for becoming the focal point of NBC’s “Must-See TV” Thursday lineup in the fall.

“These things are always a huge boost,” said co-creator David Kohan, whose first call was to his father, Buz Kohan, a veteran comedy writer who has received 13 of the statuettes himself. “It just gives you more credibility.”

Other best sitcom aspirants include five-time winner “Frasier,” the still-overlooked “Friends,” CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond” and HBO’s bawdy “Sex and the City.”

The notable omission is Fox’s “Ally McBeal,” the only one-hour show ever to break through in the sitcom balloting and last year’s honoree, which sank to a mere trio of Emmy bids.

Whether simply overwhelmed by the competition or suffering a backlash in response to a perceived decline in quality, “Ally’s” absence can’t be viewed as a complete rebuke of producer David E. Kelley, who scored an unprecedented sweep of last year’s best comedy and drama series and still amassed a respectable 10 nominations for “The Practice.”

With its comedies leading the way, NBC again garnered the most nominations at 97, followed by 86 for HBO and ABC’s 64. It’s a long drop from there to CBS (41), and Fox, which, with “Ally” falling out of favor and “The X-Files” relegated to a half-dozen nominations in technical areas, was virtually an also-ran in this year’s race.

Jane Kaczmarek was recognized for her work in Fox’s “Malcolm in the Middle,” but the show itself--perceived as being young-skewing for the generally older Emmy voters--didn’t make the cut.

Despite “NYPD Blue’s” absence from the drama beat, star Dennis Franz has an opportunity to make a bit of history come Emmy night. If he wins best actor again, Franz will join Candice Bergen (“Murphy Brown”) and Don Knotts (“The Andy Griffith Show”) as the only winners of five Emmys playing the same character in a single series.

The competition includes “The West Wing’s” Martin Sheen, “The Sopranos’ ” James Gandolfini and “Law & Order’s” Sam Waterston and Jerry Orbach, the latter receiving his first Emmy nod for the long-running crime drama.

Michael J. Fox, who has left ABC’s “Spin City” to battle Parkinson’s disease, is no doubt the sentimental choice in the comedy arena--having not won for the show in three previous tries--against Kelsey Grammer and John Lithgow, three-time recipients for “Frasier” and “3rd Rock From the Sun,” respectively.

The other actor nominees are “Will & Grace’s” Eric McCormack and “Raymond’s” Ray Romano, joined this year by all of their respective co-stars--including Brad Garrett, the one omission among the five “Raymond” regulars a year ago.

That means “Will’s” Debra Messing joins Kaczmarek as new nominees in a comedy actress field sure to produce a first-time winner after four years watching “Mad About You’s” Helen Hunt make her annual walk to the podium. Rounding out the list are “Raymond’s” Patricia Heaton, “Sex’s” Sarah Jessica Parker and “Dharma & Greg’s” Jenna Elfman, who, with her third nomination, has seniority among the group.

Two stars of new series, “Judging Amy’s” Amy Brenneman and “Once and Again’s” Sela Ward, are represented among the dramatic actress contenders, joined by “Sopranos” stars Edie Falco (who took last year’s prize) and Lorraine Bracco as well as “ER’s” since-departed Julianna Margulies, who won a supporting actress award before switching to consideration as lead actress four years ago.

Performers determine how and whether to submit themselves, with the omitted Rob Lowe, for example, having entered himself as a lead actor on “West Wing”--a largely ensemble cast that picked up supporting nominations for John Spencer, Richard Schiff, Allison Janney and Stockard Channing.

HBO, which has won the Emmy for outstanding movie for seven years running, snagged three of the five nominations with “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge”; the docudrama about the making of “Citizen Kane,” “RKO 281”; and “If These Walls Could Talk 2,” which explored the lesbian experience in America. ABC completed the category with the musical “Annie” and “Oprah Winfrey Presents: Tuesdays With Morrie.”

ABC also claimed best miniseries bids with “Arabian Nights” and “The Beach Boys: An American Family,” part of an eclectic slate featuring CBS’ “Jesus,” A&E;’s “P.T. Barnum” and HBO’s gritty look into drug use, “The Corner.”

Given the emphasis on the lack of racial diversity in prime time last season, it’s worth noting of the 80 acting nominees only five are minorities, including Sheen, who is of Latino heritage but doesn’t play a Latino on “West Wing,” and four African Americans: Halle Berry for the “Dorothy Dandridge” biography, Danny Glover in the TNT movie “Freedom Song,” and Steve Harris and guest actress Beah Richards, both for “The Practice.”

There were as many black characters, in fact, in the Budweiser ad that popularized the phrase “Whassup”--one of the five best commercial nominees, a relatively new Emmy category.

Beyond “Malcolm,” which did gain writing and directing bids, some critics lobbied for another youthful show, the WB’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which secured a writing nomination for an inventive episode that went more than 20 minutes without any dialogue.

“The usual youth snub we see is still there,” said Thomas O’Neil, author of “The Emmys,” a guide to the awards history.

This year’s voting will use a newly revised system introduced by the presenting organization, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, in response to 1999’s parade of familiar faces. In a move that has provoked some second-guessing, the academy has abandoned judging panels--which ensured that the judges actually watched every nominated episode--in favor of at-home viewing, allowing hundreds more people to participate but also creating room, critics say, for more sentiment and politics to creep into the process.

Among names to watch in that regard are the late Nancy Marchand, a four-time Emmy winner for “Lou Grant” between 1978 and ’82 who died shortly after the second season of playing the central figure’s manipulative mother on “The Sopranos.” Her category also includes “Judging Amy’s” Tyne Daly, honored five times before.

Covering 81 categories, the 52nd annual Emmys will be presented Sept. 10 and televised on ABC. Awards in technical areas such as editing and sound will be handed out in late August. Programs televised between June 1, 1999, and May 31, 2000, were eligible.

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Leaders of the Pack/Nominations by Show:

18 Nominations

“The Sopranos” (HBO)

“The West Wing” (NBC)

13 Nominations

“RKO 281” (HBO)

12 Nominations

“Annie” (ABC)

11 Nominations

“Introducing Dorothy Dandridge” (HBO)

“Will & Grace” (NBC)

10 Nominations

“The Practice” (ABC)

9 Nominations

“72nd Annual Academy Awards” (ABC)

“ER” (NBC)

“Everybody Loves Raymond” (CBS)

“Frasier” (NBC)

“Sex and the City” (HBO)

8 Nominations

“Friends” (NBC)

7 Nominations

“Cher: Live in Concert--From the MGM” (HBO)

“Star Trek: Voyager” (UPN)

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Nominee leaders by network/cable channel:

NBC - 97

HBO - 86

ABC - 64

CBS - 41

Fox - 26

PBS - 12

Showtime - 11

Discovery - 11

TNT - 10

UPN - 7