55th Primetime Emmy Awards

The 55th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 21, 2003. The ceremony was broadcast on Fox. The Sci Fi channel received its first major nomination this year for Outstanding Miniseries for Taken; the series won the award. 28 competitive awards were presented.
With the win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Debra Messing, Will & Grace became only the third television show to have all credited actors win a Primetime Emmy Award for their respective role, following All in the Family and The Golden Girls. For its seventh season, Everybody Loves Raymond won its first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. It led all comedies with four major wins and ten major nominations. The West Wing won Outstanding Drama Series for the fourth consecutive year, tying the record set by Hill Street Blues.
Despite failing to win Outstanding Drama Series, The Sopranos continued to rake in the awards, leading all dramas with four major wins, including James Gandolfini and Edie Falco winning their third and final trophy for their respective category. Also Joe Pantoliano's win for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series|Supporting Actor in a Drama] marked the first time HBO had won in this category.
Additionally, for the first time, not only did Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding [Lead Actor in a Comedy Series|the Lead Male in a Comedy award] go to a show outside the Big Four TV networks, with Tony Shalhoub's win, for Monk on the USA Network, it was that network's first ever Acting win.
For the first time since 43rd [Primetime Emmy Awards|1991], the Outstanding Drama Series field did not include Law & Order; it was nominated 11 times in the category, a record for drama series that still stands. The mark tied the overall record held by comedy series M*A*S*H and Cheers. For the first time since its premiere, Frasier, then in its tenth and penultimate season, didn't win a major award, with its only major nominations going to David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney for Primetime Emmy Award for [Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series|Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series]. The ceremony featured 11 presenters, which included: Ellen DeGeneres, Brad Garrett, Darrell Hammond, George Lopez, Conan O'Brien, Bernie Mac, Dennis Miller, Garry Shandling, Martin Short, Jon Stewart, and Wanda Sykes.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:

Most major nominations

Program	Category	Network	No. of Nominations
The Sopranos	Drama	HBO	10
Everybody Loves Raymond	Comedy	CBS	8
The West Wing	Drama	NBC	8
Curb Your Enthusiasm	Comedy	HBO	7
Six Feet Under	Drama	HBO	7
Door to Door	Movie	TNT	6
Sex and the City	Comedy	HBO	6
Will & Grace	Comedy	NBC	6
My House in Umbria	Movie	HBO	5
Hysterical Blindness	Movie	HBO	4
Live from Baghdad	Movie	HBO	4
Normal	Movie	HBO	4
24	Drama	Fox	3
Alias	Drama	ABC	3
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Variety	Comedy Central	3
Friends	Comedy	NBC	3
Late Show with David Letterman	Variety	CBS	3
Robin Williams: Live on Broadway	Variety	HBO	3
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone	Movie	Showtime	3
Saturday Night Live	Variety	NBC	3
The 75th Annual Academy Awards	Variety	ABC	2
The Bernie Mac Show	Comedy	Fox	2
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band	Variety	CBS	2
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Drama	CBS	2
Frasier	Comedy	NBC	2
Hitler: The Rise of Evil	Miniseries	CBS	2
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story	Movie	Lifetime	2
Late Night with Conan O'Brien	Variety	NBC	2
Malcolm in the Middle	Comedy	Fox	2
Napoléon	Miniseries	A&E	2

Most major awards

Program	Category	Network	No. of Awards
Door to Door	Movie	TNT	4
Everybody Loves Raymond	Comedy	CBS	4
The Sopranos	Drama	HBO	4
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Variety	Comedy Central	2
Hysterical Blindness	Movie	HBO	2
The West Wing	Drama	NBC	2

Presenters

The awards were presented by the following people:

Presenter	Role
David Schwimmer Matt LeBlanc Matthew Perry	Presented the award for Primetime Emmy Award for [Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series\|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series]
Kiefer Sutherland	Presented the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Jon Stewart	Presented the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony LaPaglia Poppy Montgomery	Presented the award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
Alfre Woodard Charles S. Dutton	Presented the award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Conan O'Brien	Presented the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Bryan Cranston Jane Kaczmarek	Presented the award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Ellen DeGeneres	Presented the award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program
Michael Chiklis	Presented the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Bernie Mac	Presented the award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program
Christina Applegate	Presented the award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program
Alicia Silverstone Rob Lowe	Presented the award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special
Allison Janney	Presented the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Eric McCormack Debra Messing	Presented the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Dennis Miller	Presented the award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
Jeff Probst Ryan Seacrest	Presented the award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special
Bonnie Hunt	Presented the award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special
Sarah Jessica Parker	Presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
George Lopez	Presented the award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
Jennifer Garner Victor Garber	Presented the award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie
Edie Falco James Gandolfini	Presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Damon Wayans	Presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Ray Romano	Presented the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award to Bill Cosby
Martin Short	Presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Marg Helgenberger William Petersen	Presented the award for Outstanding Miniseries
Helen Mirren	Presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Ted Danson	Presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
William H. Macy	Presented the award for Outstanding Drama Series
Mike Myers	Presented the award for Outstanding Comedy Series

In Memoriam

;Notes