Prime-time reality programmes have reached critical mass

John Leverence, Emmy Awards director

The two shows will be up against the hospital drama ER, and the legal shows Law & Order and The Practice.

For the first time, reality programmes were eligible for recognition, with nominations going to CBS' Survivor and Fox's American High among others in the genre.

Will & Grace, last year's winner for best comedy, again topped the list of nominees in that category, joined by Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Malcolm in the Middle, and Sex and the City.

Reality TV

The choices were announced on Thursday by Patricia Heaton and Sean Hayes of nominated comedies Everybody Loves Raymond and Will & Grace.

Emmy Awards director John Leverence said the time had come to recognise reality shows, which can now be honoured in two categories.

One category pays tribute to non-fiction reality programmes like Temptation Island that seek to entertain but do not offer prizes.

The other is for shows that do not fit into any existing categories, including Survivor and Road Rules.

West Wing's Allison Janney gets an Emmy from Martin Sheen in 2000

"It wasn't difficult to see that new prime-time reality programmes have reached critical mass" and required their own category," said Leverence.

The Emmys, awarded by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, will be broadcast on 16 September in a ceremony hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.