‘Best Man,’ ‘Harvey’ Top Image Nods

Universal’s “The Best Man,” a romantic comedy about a group of African American yuppies who experience love and conflict as they prepare for a wedding, and the WB’s comedy “The Steve Harvey Show” were the leaders Wednesday in nominations for the 30th annual NAACP Image Awards.

“The Best Man,” which marked the debut of writer-director Malcolm Lee and was a hit with crossover audiences, scored nine nominations, including best actor nods for Taye Diggs and Morris Chestnut, best actress nominations for Nia Long and Monica Calhoun, and acting nominations for co-stars Harold Perrineau Jr., Terrence Howard, Melissa de Soussa and Sanaa Lathan. The film was also nominated for best picture.

“The Steve Harvey Show,” about a 1970s R&B; star turned high school music teacher and now vice principal, collected five nominations, including a best actor citation for star Steve Harvey, co-starring nominations for Cedric the Entertainer, Terri J. Vaughn and Wendy Raquel Robinson, and for best comedy series.

The awards, which honor the best in black entertainment in the fields of film, television, music and literature, will be handed out Feb. 11 and 12 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. A shortened version of the ceremony will be broadcast on Fox April 8.

The ceremony may take on added significance in light of the NAACP’s recent protest against the lack of racial diversity on television. NAACP President Kweisi Mfume has threatened to stage boycotts and demonstrations against at least one of the four major networks if they do not take measures to increase diversity in front of and behind the camera.

Among networks and cable channels, CBS has the most nominations with 19, followed by ABC with 15, HBO with 14, WB with 12 and NBC with 10. Fox and UPN both have five nominations.

Other nominees for best picture include “Life,” “The Hurricane,” “The Matrix” and “The Wood.” Besides Diggs and Chestnut, the best actor nominees include Denzel Washington (“The Hurricane”), Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile”) and Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix”). Long and Calhoun are joined in the best actress category by Debbi Morgan (“The Hurricane”), Lisa Gay Hamilton (“True Crime”) and Rosario Dawson (“Light It Up”).

Outstanding TV comedy series nominees include “For Your Love,” “The Hughleys,” “Cosby” and “Linc’s.” Outstanding drama series nominees were “Ally McBeal,” “ER,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Oz” and “The Practice.”

Times staff writer Dana Calvo contributed to this story.