Brace yourself. This Sunday night, some angels, a spy, a cynic and a meddling mother-in-law are coming over to break the Fast of Gedaliah. You don’t have to feed them, however. They’re all part of the 56th annual Emmy Awards on Sept. 19, hosted this year by comedian Garry Shandling.
Tony Kushner’s epic HBO AIDS-themed miniseries "Angels in America" is up for a whopping 21 awards — more than any other program — including director, best actor (for Al Pacino as Roy Cohn), best actress (for both Emma Thompson and Meryl Streep in myriad roles), writing and best movie or miniseries.
On a lighter note, the MOTs are strong in the comedy category, among them Larry David for his HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Jeffrey Tambor in the Fox hit "Arrested Development" and everyone’s favorite mom and brother, Doris Roberts and Brad Garrett as they head into what is scheduled to be the final season of CBS’s "Everybody Loves Raymond." Missing this year: "Will and Grace’s" Debra Messing (but maybe the character’s impending divorce will put the NBC star back on the list next year).
Also keep an eye out for Victor Garber, as daddy spy on ABC’s "Alias," and Kristin Davis of the gone but not forgotten "Sex and the City," who gets her first nomination for the season her character converted to Judaism.
No matter who wins, one thing is for sure: If you were able to identify any of the shows in the opening paragraph, you might want to add "And for watching too much TV" to your repentance this Yom Kippur.
The 56th Annual Emmy Awards airs live at 5 p.m. on ABC.
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