HBO's Angels in America Nabs 21 Emmy Noms

The HBO film adaptation of Tony Kushner's Angels in America received more Emmy Award nominations than any program this year with a total of 21. The show was honored in the category of Outstanding Miniseries and earned nominations for stars Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson as well as featured players Mary-Louise Parker, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Patrick Wilson and Jeffrey Wright.

Angels in America was also nominated for numerous technical awards. The miniseries scored nods in the categories of Outstanding Art Direction For a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding Special Visual Effects For a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Writing For a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special, Outstanding Casting For a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Cinematography For a Miniseries or Movie, Outstanding Costumes For a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Directing For a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Hairstyling For a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Main Title Design and Outstanding Makeup For a Miniseries, Movie or a Special Non-Prosthetic.

Pacino received a nomination in the Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries or a Movie category and Streep and Thompson will be competing against each other for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries or a Movie. Parker is up for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Miniseries or a Movie and Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Patrick Wilson and Jeffrey Wright occupy four of the five slots in the Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or a Movie category the fifth belonging to Atlantic Theater Company member William H. Macy for Stealing Sinatra. In the Outstanding Miniseries category Angels In America is competing against American Family - Journey Of Dreams, Horatio Hornblower , Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness and Traffic: The Miniseries.

Angels in America premiered on the cable network in two parts on December 7 and 14. Although the film earned stellar reviews, it wasn't necessarily a ratings champ for HBO. The first section, Millennium Approaches played for about 4.2 million viewers, but ratings declined 30 percent for part two, Perestroika, drawing 2.93 million viewers.

The Emmy Awards will be held at the Shrine Exhibition Hall on September 12 when many of the behind-the-scenes awards will be distributed and September 19. ABC Television will televise the larger ceremony on September 19.