'Six Feet Under' Leads Emmy Nominations

LOS ANGELES - The funeral home drama "Six Feet Under" received a leading 16 Emmy nominations Thursday, followed by three-time best drama winner "The West Wing" with 15.

"The Sopranos," back in contention after missing out on last year's awards because it didn't air during the eligibility period, received 13 nominations, along with the comedies "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Sex and the City."

"Law & Order" missed out on setting a record, failing to receive the best drama series nomination that would have given it 12 consecutive best series nominations. It's tied for the record with "Cheers" and "M-A-S-H."

Besides a best drama series bid, "Six Feet Under" also earned nominations for cast members Frances Conroy as best actress and Peter Krause as best actor.

Other contenders for best drama series are "The Sopranos," "The West Wing," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "24."

Nominees for best comedy series are "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Sex and the City," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Will & Grace" and last year's winner, "Friends."

Jennifer Aniston, winner of last year's best comedy series actress award, received another nomination in the category this year. Her competition includes Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond," Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcom 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 best comedy series trophy he missed out on last year. Other nominees are Larry David of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Bernie Mac of "The Bernie Mac Show," Eric McCormack of "Will & Grace" and last year's winner, Ray Romano of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Other actresses nominated in the drama series category are Edie Falco of "The Sopranos," Jennifer Garner of "Alias," Marg Helgenberger of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and Allison Janney of "The West Wing," who took home the trophy last year.

In addition to Krause, a drama series acting bid went to last year's surprise winner, Michael Chiklis of "The Shield," who received the first such honor for a basic cable show. Other nominees are James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos," Martin Sheen of "The West Wing" and Kiefer Sutherland of "24."

The Emmy Awards are the U.S. television industry's top honors, and the 55th annual broadcast of the awards program will air from Los Angeles on Sept. 21 on the Fox broadcast network.

Duran Duran Reunite At Roxy In L.A.

On Tuesday night the original '80s Duran Duran lineup (singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, guitarist Andy Taylor, bassist John Taylor, and drummer Roger Taylor) celebrated their 25th anniversary by playing Los Angeles's 450-capacity Roxy nightclub as a warm-up for their much-hyped brief U.S. reunion tour, which officially kicks off tonight at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, California. Not only was this the group's first Stateside performance in 18 years, but it also marked another homecoming of sorts, as the Roxy was the first American venue Duran Duran ever played back in 1981.

Although Duran Duran have never stopped recording and touring, the original lineup only recorded three studio albums together--1981's Duran Duran, 1982's Rio, and 1983's Seven And The Ragged Tiger--before the departure of Andy and Roger Taylor. With the recruitment of Frank Zappa/Missing Persons guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, the band continued on as a quartet until John Taylor chose to leave in 1997, after which Le Bon, Rhodes, and Cuccurullo persevered as a trio. This year's tour--which began July 7 in Osaka, Japan--reunites the classic Duran Duran lineup for the first time since Live Aid in 1985.

Sponsored by DKNY//JEANS and The Fader magazine, this special event became the hot ticket in town the moment it was announced last week. Not only did the show and its swanky Chateau Marmont after-party attract a wide range of celebrity fans--including Beck, Nicolas Cage, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, No Doubt's Tony Kanal and Adrian Young, Christina Applegate, Jenna Elfman, Pamela and Michael Des Barres, hairstyling guru Paul Mitchell, Rush Hour movie director Brett Ratner, South Park co-creator Trey Parker, Styx's Tommy Shaw, local nightlife fixture Rodney Bingenheimer, and Mark McGrath (who memorably spoofed Duran Duran in Sugar Ray's "When It's Over" video)--but it also drew a large number of diehard Duranies willing to pay upwards of $500 for a scalped ticket. (Tickets went on sale for $25 at the Roxy box office the day before the show, and sold out immediately.)

Judging from the reaction inside the packed club, these Duran devotees--wearing customized T-shirts emblazoned in rhinestones with the individual band members' names and bearing roses and gifts for their idols--definitely felt they got their money's worth. The moment the band, still stylish as ever in their natty black suits and multi-zippered trousers, launched their 14-song set with "Friends Of Mine," the entire crowd was a seething, screaming, sweaty mass. No one in attendance seemed to mind that John had let his hair go gray, that Andy had put on a little weight, or that the long-missing-in-action Roger wore a hangdog expression throughout the set, as if he was less than overjoyed to return to the public eye; seeing the group perform new wave classics like "Hungry Like The Wolf," "Planet Earth," "Waiting For The Night Boat," "Is There Something I Should Know," "Wild Boys," "Careless Memories," "Girls On Film," and "Rio"--as well as later-period songs that Andy and Roger were playing live for the first time, like "Come Undone," "Ordinary World," and "Notorious" (although, strangely, no Seven And The Ragged Tiger tracks)--made them feel like it was 1983 all over again. The audience was even warmly receptive to two new songs from Duran Duran's upcoming reunion album (due out in 2004), the dreamy, "Ordinary World"-ish ballad "What Happens Tomorrow" and the funky uptempo number "Virus."

Duran Duran play tonight in Costa Mesa, and on July 17 and 19 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. In addition to their upcoming studio album, Duran Duran will release a greatest-hits double-DVD set this September.

WAKE UP WITH EMMY

E! News Live's 90-minute live coverage of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' unveiling of this year's Primetime Emmy nominations begins Thursday morning at 8 a.m. ET/5 a.m. PT.

CODA

Grammy-winning Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz has died. The Cuban-born singer, known for her supersized vocals and towering wigs, succumbed to brain cancer Wednesday at her New Jersey home. She was 77.

Travolta Says Turning Down 'Chicago' Big Mistake

BERLIN (Reuters) - John Travolta, who became an icon for the disco craze with is dancing in "Saturday Night Fever," says he made a big mistake in turning down a starring role in this year's Academy Award winning film "Chicago."

"You're rubbing salt in my wounds," Travolta told Germany's Bunte magazine in an excerpt released ahead of publication on Thursday. "I'm still angry with myself that I turned down the role of the lawyer in Chicago that Richard Gere then got."

Travolta said Gere did a great job with the dance numbers in Chicago, which dominated the Academy Awards and won best picture.

"But oh, how I would have loved to have showed them all what I can do one more time," said Travolta, 49.

Miramax to Split Tarantino Film Into Two Parts

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Miramax Films, a major player in distributing independent movies, is taking the unusual step of splitting a new movie from director Quentin Tarantino into two parts and releasing each as separate films, a studio spokesman said on Wednesday.

"The idea was thought of when the script was in development and after seeing the (film) footage, it made sense," said the spokesman.

The movie, called "Kill Bill," is the first from the critically acclaimed director since 1997's "Jackie Brown," and has been widely anticipated by his fans.

But with preliminary versions running at three hours, it was almost twice as long as a normal movie, meaning theaters would have fewer screenings in a day and risk losing ticket sales.

The movie is about a female assassin, played by Uma Thurman, who survives an attempt on her life and, after spending five years in a coma, sets out for vengeance.

The first part of the story will be released as planned on Oct. 10, with the debut date for the second part as yet to be determined, the spokesman said.

Splitting a film's story into two parts is unusual, but does have recent precedent.

The makers of "The Matrix" shot two sequels to that popular 1999 movie at the same time, and when the first, "The Matrix: Reloaded," debuted in May this year, producer Joel Silver made a point of saying "Reloaded" was only half of the story.

The second part, "The Matrix: Revolutions," hits theaters this coming November.