‘Sanders,’ Denied an Emmy, Nominated for 15 CableACEs

For “The Larry Sanders Show,” there’ll always be the CableACE Awards.

Blanked again in the Emmy Awards this month, the HBO comedy series received a consolation Tuesday with a leading 15 nominations for the cable industry’s awards for original programming. It has won as best comedy series five years in a row.

And as did its fictional talk-show host, HBO also dominated the 19th annual CableACE nominations, logging 108 of the 384 announced by the National Academy of Cable Programming. Besides the 15 for “Larry Sanders,” HBO garnered seven for “Arli$$,” seven for “Oz,” six for “In the Gloaming” and four each for “Miss Evers’ Boys,” “Bette Midler--Diva Las Vegas,” “Tracey Takes On . . . “ and “Crime of the Century.”

Showtime was the runner-up with 36 nominations, followed by TNT with 29, ESPN with 22, the Discovery Channel with 19 and Nickelodeon and the Learning Channel with 16 apiece.

“George Wallace,” the biographical film from TNT, was the most nominated cable movie, with nine--including one for star Gary Sinise.

Winners will be announced in three batches: on Oct. 22, Nov. 14 and Nov. 15, with the last event televised on TNT from the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.

Here is a partial list of the CableACE nominees. The nominations cover the period between July 1, 1996, and Aug. 31, 1997:

Comedy series: “Arli$$,” HBO; “The Larry Sanders Show,” HBO; “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” Sci-Fi.

Dramatic series: “Avonlea,” Disney; “Dead Man’s Gun,” Showtime; “Oz,” HBO; “Perversions of Science,” HBO; “Stargate: SG-1,” Showtime.

Movie: “12 Angry Men,” Showtime; “Crime of the Century,” HBO; “Mandela and De Klerk,” Showtime; “Miss Evers’ Boys,” HBO.

Miniseries: “George Wallace,” TNT; “Ivanhoe,” A&E.;

Talk show: “Charles Grodin,” CNBC; “Inside the Actors Studio,” Bravo; “InterNight,” MSNBC; “Larry King Live,” CNN; “Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” Comedy Central.

Documentary series: “Biography,” A&E; “Cronkite Remembers,” Discovery; “Medical Detectives,” Learning Channel; “Solar Empire,” Learning Channel; “Understanding,” Learning Channel.

News special or series: “The Death of a Princess,” CNN; “Discovery News,” Discovery; “Inside North Korea,” CNN; “Investigative Reports: Death of Vince Foster,” A&E; “Investigative Reports: Meth’s Deadly High,” A&E.;

Sports information series: “Inside the NFL,” HBO; “Outside the Lines,” ESPN; “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel,” HBO; “The Sporting Life With Jim Huber,” CNN; “The Sports Reporters,” ESPN.

Music special or series: “Bette Midler--Diva Las Vegas,” HBO; “Garth Live From Central Park,” HBO; “Honors ‘97,” VH1; “Storytellers,” VH1; “Tony Bennett Live by Request,” A&E.;

Animated programming special or series: “Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist,” Comedy Central; “Johnny Bravo,” Cartoon; “Kablam!,” Nickelodeon; “South Park,” Comedy Central; “Freakazoid!,” Cartoon Network.

Actor, comedy series: Kel Mitchell, “Kenan and Kel,” Nickelodeon; Garry Shandling, “The Larry Sanders Show,” HBO; Jeffrey Tambor, “The Larry Sanders Show,” HBO; Rip Torn, “The Larry Sanders Show,” HBO; Robert Wuhl, “Arli$$,” HBO.

Actress, comedy series: Amanda Bynes, “All That,” Nickelodeon; Janeane Garofalo, “The Larry Sanders Show,” HBO; Kerri Kenney, “Viva Variety,” Comedy Central; Sandra Oh, “Arli$$,” HBO; Tracey Ullman, “Tracey Takes On . . ,” HBO.

Actor, movie or miniseries: Robert Duvall, “The Man Who Captured Eichmann,” TNT; Ben Kingsley, “Weapons of Mass Distraction,” HBO; Mandy Patinkin, “The Hunchback,” TNT; Sidney Poitier, “Mandela and De Klerk,” Showtime; Gary Sinise, “George Wallace,” TNT.

Actress, movie or miniseries: Bonnie Bedelia, “Any Mother’s Son,” Lifetime; Blythe Danner, “A Call to Remember,” Starz; Jena Malone, “Bastard Out of Carolina,” Showtime; Helen Mirren, “Losing Chase,” Showtime; Alfre Woodard, “Miss Evers’ Boys,” HBO.

Newscaster: Steve Aveson, “Discovery News,” Discovery; Jole Chen, Leon Harris, “The World Today,” CNN; Brian Williams, “The News With Brian Williams,” MSNBC.

Program interviewer: Tom Brokaw, “InterNight,” MSNBC; Bob Costas, “InterNight,” MSNBC; Katie Couric, “InterNight,” MSNBC; Charles Grodin, “Charles Grodin,” CNBC; Larry King, “Larry King Live,” CNN.