The comedy issue 56th Primetime Emmys

2004 Emmy nominations: comedy’s changing of the guard

From Arrested Development’s breakthrough to Frasier’s farewell, revisit the series and performers on the 2004 comedy ballot, with every nominee linked to their profile.

By Series Schedule Editorial Published

Categories covered
7
Nominations in this guide
35
Nominations announced
Primetime ceremony

A look back

A changing of the guard

The 2004 Emmy comedy ballot reads like a conversation between television’s established favorites and a different kind of family sitcom. Arrested Development shared the Outstanding Comedy Series lineup with Curb Your Enthusiasm, Everybody Loves Raymond, Sex and the City and Will & Grace. The eventual win for the Bluth family makes that lineup especially revealing in hindsight.

The acting races tell a broader story. Friends and Frasier were absent from the top comedy-series category, yet their casts remained prominent among the performance nominees. Frasier’s original run had ended that May; Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce and Laura Linney would each take home an acting award.

There was also a poignant nomination for John Ritter in 8 Simple Rules, following his death in September 2003. Alongside it were the very different comic worlds of Monk, Malcolm in the Middle and Life with Bonnie: a reminder that the five series finalists were only one part of the year’s comedy picture.

Below are all nominees in seven categories: comedy series, plus the six lead, supporting and guest acting races. Open any performer’s name to explore their profile, or follow a show title to its series page. Winner labels reflect the final results, rather than predictions from nomination day.

Winner This retrospective includes the eventual results. Every nominee is listed in each category.

The top prize

Outstanding Comedy Series

A family in free fall, a master of social discomfort and three established ensembles: the top category offered five very different comic worlds.

  • Arrested Development

    Winner

    FOX

    The Bluth family turned a business collapse into an intricate web of callbacks, bad decisions and competing egos. Its comedy-series win gives this ballot its strongest sense of a new direction.

  • Curb Your Enthusiasm

    HBO

    Larry David made ordinary social friction feel like a high-stakes dispute. The nomination paired a show built around discomfort with more familiar sitcom rhythms.

  • Everybody Loves Raymond

    CBS

    The Barones found endless comic trouble in the distance between being a close family and being far too close. Four of the show’s regulars also appeared in the lead and supporting acting fields.

  • Sex and the City

    HBO

    Friendship, relationships and competing ideas of adulthood kept the New York quartet in the conversation. All four central performers earned nominations across lead and supporting actress.

  • Will & Grace

    NBC

    Quick exchanges and an ensemble that could turn a minor disagreement into a full performance kept the show in the top category. Its nominations also extended to supporting and guest acting.

Verify comedy series nominees at the Television Academy

The performances

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Kelsey Grammer took the award for Frasier. The field also included John Ritter’s posthumous nomination for 8 Simple Rules.

Verify lead actor nominees at the Television Academy

The performances

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Sarah Jessica Parker won in a field that also recognized the central performances in Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, Life with Bonnie and Malcolm in the Middle.

Verify lead actress nominees at the Television Academy

The performances

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

David Hyde Pierce’s win gave Frasier both male lead and supporting acting awards. Everybody Loves Raymond supplied two of the five nominees.

Verify supporting actor nominees at the Television Academy

The performances

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Sex and the City occupied three places on this five-person ballot, with Cynthia Nixon ultimately winning for Miranda Hobbes.

Verify supporting actress nominees at the Television Academy

The performances

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

John Turturro won for playing Ambrose Monk. The other nominations drew from Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Friends and Will & Grace.

Verify guest actor nominees at the Television Academy

The performances

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Laura Linney’s win for Frasier was one of that show’s three acting victories among the six performance categories covered here.

Verify guest actress nominees at the Television Academy

The bigger picture

Why this ballot still matters

Read together, these categories resist a tidy story about one style of comedy replacing another. Arrested Development won the series prize, while Frasier and Sex and the City accounted for five of the six acting wins listed here. Innovation and affection for established characters could coexist on the same ballot.

The supporting-actress field is a particularly striking snapshot: Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall competed against one another, while Sarah Jessica Parker appeared in lead actress. It is a useful way to revisit Sex and the City as an ensemble, with several distinct comic voices recognized at once.

For a viewer returning to these shows, the guest categories offer another route into the era. John Turturro in Monk and Laura Linney in Frasier sit alongside appearances by Danny DeVito, Christina Applegate and John Cleese. Start with a familiar name, then use the linked profiles to follow the rest of their television work.

Sources & scope

This guide covers Outstanding Comedy Series and the six lead, supporting and guest acting categories at the 2004 Primetime Emmys. Writing, directing and other craft categories are outside its scope. Nominees and winners were checked against the Television Academy records linked under each category.

The guest acting awards were presented at the Creative Arts ceremony on ; the main Primetime ceremony followed on . This is a retrospective published in 2026.

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