Los Angeles ? The macabre HBO funeral home drama “Six Feet Under” received a leading 23 Emmy nominations Thursday, as the television academy recognized an unusually wide range of shows and performers.

While Emmy favorite “The West Wing” was a close second with 21 nominations, top bids also went to actor Michael Chiklis, star of the violent and volatile cable police drama “The Shield” on FX, and to another cable series, HBO’s sardonic comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Peter Krause and Rachel Griffiths are shown on the set of HBO's Six

Besides a best drama series mention, “Six Feet Under” also earned a half-dozen nominations for cast members including best actor nominees Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall and best actress nominees Rachel Griffiths and Frances Conroy.

Best drama series

Other shows up for best drama series are NBC’s “The West Wing,” CBS’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” Fox’s “24” and NBC’s “Law & Order.”

Best comedy series

Along with “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” nominees for comedy series were HBO’s “Sex and the City,” CBS’s “Everybody Loves Raymond,” NBC’s “Will & Grace” and “Friends.”

Best dramatic actor

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Nominated with Hall, Krause and Chiklis for dramatic actor were Martin Sheen of “The West Wing” and Kiefer Sutherland for “24.”

Best dramatic actress

Other dramatic actress nominees besides Griffiths and Conroy: Amy Brenneman for “Judging Amy,” Jennifer Garner for “Alias,” and “The West Wing’s” Allison Janney.

Best reality show

In the reality programming category, MTV’s top-rated show “The Osbournes” competes with PBS’s “American High,” The Learning Channel’s “Trauma: Life in the ER” and HBO’s “Project Greenlight” and “Taxicab Confessions.”

Best comedy actor

Competing with Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry (“Friends”) for best comedy actor: Kelsey Grammer of “Frasier,” Bernie Mac of “The Bernie Mac Show” and Ray Romano of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

Best comedy actress

Last year’s winner, Patricia Heaton of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” joins Jennifer Aniston (“Friends”) in the comedy actress category, along with Jane Kaczmarek of “Malcolm in the Middle,” Deborah Messing of “Will & Grace,” and Sarah Jessica Parker of “Sex and the City.”

Best miniseries

HBO’s epic World War II story “Band of Brothers” was among the overall leading nominees with 19 mentions, including best miniseries. Other competitors in the category are ABC’s “Dinotopia,” TNT’s “The Mists of Avalon,” and A&E’s “Shackleton.”

Best supporting comic actor

The supporting comedy actor category included Peter Boyle and Brad Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” David Hyde Pierce of “Frasier,” Bryan Cranston of “Malcolm in the Middle” and Sean Hayes of “Will & Grace.”

Best supporting comic actress

Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall of “Sex and the City” were nominated for supporting comedy actress, along with Wendie Malick of “Just Shoot Me,” Megan Mullally of “Will & Grace” and Doris Roberts of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

Best supporting actor in drama

Six actors made the cut for best dramatic supporting actor, including four from “The West Wing” Dule Hill, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford and Richard Schiff Victor Garber of “Alias” and Freddy Rodriguez of “Six Feet Under.”

Best supporting actress in drama

“The West Wing” also dominated the best dramatic supporting actress category, with nominations for Mary-Louise Parker, Stockard Channing and Janel Moloney, and other nominees Tyne Daly of “Judging Amy” and Lauren Ambrose of “Six Feet Under.”

The 54th annual prime-time Emmy Awards will air Sept. 22 on NBC. A host has yet to be announced.