And the Emmy Oughtta Go to . . .

All right, already.

What am I, stone? Once more, I’m bowing to a public groundswell demanding that I disclose my own choices in advance of Sunday night’s telecast of the Prime-Time Emmy Awards on CBS, which Bryant Gumbel is hosting. As one especially eloquent caller said:

“Please, Howard. You’re so brilliant. Your taste is so impeccable. Your judgment is so flawless. I implore you to share your unique insights with the rest of us so that we may be guided by your wisdom.”

How ... moving. But enough from mother.

Let’s get down to business. As for those hairstyling nominations ...

Just kidding.

What follows, though, is all of the sober scoop that can be squeezed into this limited space--profound, weighty and suitable for framing. Or if you prefer, it also fits nicely in the bottom of a birdcage.

Now, the single ground rule: Again, in a display of integrity that has brought me global fame as well as death threats from my fellow TV critics, I am confining my picks to shows that I’ve actually seen. Or at least heard about.

Best comedy series: Same field as 1996, except for NBC’s “3rd Rock From the Sun” bumping NBC’s “Friends,” in a category where the Emmy last year went to NBC’s “Frasier.” Also back for another try are NBC’s “Mad About You” and “Seinfeld” and HBO’s “The Larry Sanders Show.”

My feelings about “Seinfeld” and “The Larry Sanders Show” are on the record. I looked up the clips. Exhibiting a level of incongruity that amazes even me, I have called each the best TV comedy ever. I won’t try to reconcile that, except to add that both are examples of extraordinary TV art that deserve recognition.

Best lead actress in a comedy series: Same old, same old from last year, which is why Emmycasts are always so exciting and suspenseful. What, me smirk? The nominees are 1996 winner Helen Hunt of “Mad About You,” Fran Drescher of CBS’ “The Nanny,” Cybill Shepherd of CBS’ “Cybill,” Patricia Richardson of ABC’s “Home Improvement” and Ellen DeGeneres of ABC’s “Ellen,” who is my personal pick for playing a lesbian so persuasively.

Best supporting actress in a comedy series: Last year I opted for returning nominee Christine Baranski of “Cybill.” But the more I see of “Seinfeld,” the more I appreciate last year’s winner, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as being the best comedic actress on the planet. Not including the gang from “Baywatch,” of course. The other nominees are Janeane Garofalo of “The Larry Sanders Show,” Kristen Johnson of “3rd Rock From the Sun” and Lisa Kudrow of “Friends.”

Best lead actor in a comedy series: Another repeat field, ho-hum, except for Michael J. Fox of ABC’s “Spin City” supplanting NBC’s Jerry Seinfeld. The others are Kelsey Grammer of “Frasier,” Paul Reiser of “Mad About You,” John Lithgow of “3rd Rock From the Sun” and Garry Shandling of “The Larry Sanders Show.” Agreeing with the Emmy voters, I picked Lithgow last year, and would again except that Shandling had an exceptionally good season. So I flipped a coin. Shandling.

Best supporting actor in a comedy series: The same nominees from last year, albeit they make up arguably the Emmys’ strongest field. Lacking the resolve I flashed in 1996, I can’t choose among David Hyde Pierce of “Frasier,” Jason Alexander and Michael Richards of “Seinfeld” and Jeffrey Tambor and incumbent winner Rip Torn of “The Larry Sanders Show.” I just flipped another coin. It’s Bob Saget.

Best drama series: Again an exceptionally brawny field, again the same as last year’s. CBS’ “Chicago Hope” and 1996 winner, “ER,” are as worthy as ever. Yet ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” Fox’s “The X-Files” and NBC’s “Law & Order” make my list of the best drama series ever. I’ll vote again for “Law & Order” ... because I’m helplessly hooked.

Best actress in a drama series: The worthy nominees are Roma Downey of “Touched By an Angel” and Christine Lahti of “Chicago Hope,” both on CBS, Julianna Margulies and Sherry Stringfield of “ER,” and my choice, Gillian Anderson of “The X-Files.” Perhaps like some of her other supporters, when I look deeply into her eyes and feel something stirring, I see a great actress.

Best supporting actress in a drama series: Kim Delaney of “NYPD Blue,” Della Reese of “Touched By an Angel” and “ER” women Laura Innes, Gloria Reubens and CCH Pounder are the field. I say Pounder, never underachieving, often undersung.

Best actor in a drama series: More good nominees. A deserving Sam Waterston of “Law & Order” has made the field this year, as has David Duchovny of “The X-Files,” joining Anthony Edwards of “ER” and Jimmy Smits and Dennis Franz of “NYPD Blue.” Franz, taking absolutely no prisoners as one of the most interesting and complex of all TV characters, had another memorable season and shouldn’t be denied just because he won in 1994 and 1996.

Best supporting actor in a drama series: How some of the cast of NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street” failed to make this cut is more mysterious than some of its plots. In any case, Nicholas Turturro of “NYPD Blue” gets the nod over better known “Chicago Hope” doctors Adam Arkin and Hector Elizondo and “ER” medics Eriq LaSalle and Noah Wyle.

Best miniseries: If you think some of the nominated comedies are funny, get a load of this anorexic category, which includes that bummer “The Last Don” from CBS and ABC’s only marginally better remake of “The Shining.” Meanwhile, NBC’s “The Odyssey” was good fun, yet hardly award fodder, and the latest rendering of Granada Television’s “Prime Suspect” on PBS was not “Prime Suspect” at its very best. Almost by default, then, my vote for the Emmy goes to CBS’ nicely done “In Cold Blood” remake. And speaking of macabre nostalgia, the deserving work that got snubbed here was the British-driven remake of “Rebecca” on PBS.

Best movie: This turned out to be an all premium-cable category in which HBO’s “Gotti” is head and holsters above the same network’s “Miss Evers’ Boys,” “In the Gloaming” and “If These Walls Could Talk,” and Showtime’s “Bastard Out of Carolina,” a deftly produced but flawed and unbearably grim and graphic story of child abuse. Ignored, but worth at least a nomination, was HBO’s satirical “Weapons of Mass Distraction.”

Best actress in a miniseries: The field is Glenn Close of “In the Gloaming,” Meryl Streep of ABC’s “First Do No Harm,” Helen Mirren of “Prime Suspect,” Alfre Woodard of “Miss Evers’ Boys” and Stockard Channing of USA’s “An Unexpected Family,” which I did not see. Otherwise, 1996 winner Mirren is always difficult to resist in “Prime Suspect,” but I’ll choose Alfre Woodard for rising so far above her material. Reviewing this list of actresses, by the way, affirms that TV is attracting the cream of acting talent.

Best supporting actress in a miniseries: Glenne Headly was very good in “Bastard Out of Carolina,” but Diana Rigg earns my Emmy nod for being at her twisted best in “Rebecca.” The other nominees are Kirstie Alley of “The Last Don,” Bridget Fonda of “In the Gloaming” and Frances McDormand of Showtime’s “Hidden in America.”

Best lead actor in a miniseries: Mobster supreme Armand Assante of “Gotti,” hands down, although Beau Bridges deserves an honorable mention for his work in “Hidden in America.” This category offers more evidence of top actors choosing to work in TV, for the other nominees are Robert Duvall (TNT’s “The Man Who Captured Eichmann”), Laurence Fishburne (“Miss Evers’ Boys”) and Sidney Poitier (Showtime’s “Mandela and de Klerk”).

Best supporting actor in a miniseries: Beau Bridges of HBO’s “The Second Civil War” bests Obba Babatunde and Ossie Davis of “Miss Evers’ Boys,” Michael Caine of “Mandela and de Klerk” and Joe Mantegna of “The Last Don.” If the standard is supposed to be exceptional work, though, I say no Emmy.

Best informational series: A runaway for that outstanding World War I documentary “The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century” on PBS. “A&E; Biography,” the Discovery Channel’s “Discover Magazine,” the syndicated “Siskel & Ebert” and Bravo’s “Inside the Actors Studio” fill out the field.

Best informational special: I didn’t see the PBS documentary “Man Ray: Prophet of the Avant-Garde.” I did see NBC’s “National Geographic Special: Tigers of the Snow,” HBO’s “Talked to Death” and “Taxicab Confessions III,” none of which approached the searing brilliance of the remaining nominee, the independent documentary “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” from HBO.

Speaking of paradise, I’m history.

The 49th annual Emmy Awards show airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS.