'Enterprise' Scores 3 Emmy FX Nods, 5 Total

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) today announced the nominations for the 55th annual Emmy awards, recognising Enterprise with nominations for visual effects, makeup and music.

As many critics already expected (story), Enterprise failed to win any nominations in the non-technical categories such as acting, writing or directing. The show's second season was good for five nominations, differing from the first season only by trading in a nomination in the Hairstyling category for a third Visual Effects nod, and losing the Sound Editing nomination in favour for one in Music. Michael Westmore's makeup team managed to lay claim again to their usual Makeup nomination slot.

Emmy Award winner Michael Chiklis (The Shield) and nominee Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) hosted a short ceremony together with Academy chairman Bryce Zabel this morning to announce the nominations. The actual awards will be presented during a ceremony to be broadcast live on Fox on the 21st of September, although all the awards in the categories for which Enterprise has been nominated will be handed out during the Creative Arts Awards banquet on the 13th of September. Highlights from this event may be shown during the main Emmy telecast on Fox.

Below is a full list of all the nominations Enterprise received this year:

• Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Prosthetic) - Michael Westmore and his team have been nominated in this category every year since 1991, and have won the award four times. This year, their work on "Canamar" has been selected to defend the Trek honours, and will be up against CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, MADtv, Primetime Glick and Six Feet Under. The full make-up team that was nominated consists of Westmore, Suzanne Diaz-Westmore, Bradley M. Look, Jeff Lewis, Earl Ellis, Michael Burnett, Joe Podnar, Todd McIntosh, Barry Koper, Art Anthony, Robert Maverick, Steven Anderson, Debbie Zoiler, Judith Silverman, Roxy D'Alonzo and Ruth Haney.

• Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Dramatic Underscore) - After being absent for one year, Star Trek returns in this category in which it has won once before, for the music composed by Jay Chattaway for Voyager's final episode. This year, Dennis McCarthy won the nomination for his work on "The Expanse". His competition includes The Agency, JAG, Odyssey 5 and 24. McCarthy was nominated at least once for each of the four modern Trek series, and won an Emmy for the main title theme for Deep Space Nine.

• Outstanding Visual Effects For A Series - This category has been Star Trek's most successful, with the franchise only failing once since 1991 to get a nomination, and winning five times. This year, the show is competing only against Buffy, The Vampire Slayer and Firefly - and against itself, as Emmy voters might end up voting for different episodes and thereby splitting the vote in favour of the two other series. The first Enterprise episode that has been nominated is "Dead Stop", with effects by Visual Effects Supervisor Mitch Suskin, Visual Effects Coordinator Art Codron, Visual Effects Compositor Steve Fong, Visual Effects Animator Greg Rainoff, CGI Supervisor Robert Bonchune, Lead Modeler Pierre M. Drolet and CGI Artists Sean Scott, John M. Teska and Koji Kuramura.

• Outstanding Visual Effects For A Series - The second Trek nomination is for "The Crossing", with effects by Visual Effects Producer Dan Curry, Visual Effects Supervisor Ronald B. Moore, Visual Effects Coordinator Armen Kevorkian, Visual Effects Artist Paul Hill, Digital Effects Supervisor David Morton, Visual Effects Animators John M. Teska and Sean Scott, and Lead Modeler Pierre M. Drolet.

• Outstanding Visual Effects For A Series - The final Trek nomination is for the season finale "The Expanse", with effects by Visual Effects Producer Dan Curry, Visual Effects Supervisor Ronald B. Moore, Visual Effects Coordinator Elizabeth Castro, Visual Effects Compositor Paul Hill, CGI Animation Supervisors Fred Pienkos and Bruce Branit, Visual Effects Animator Greg Rainoff and CG Animators Eric Hance and Sean Scott.

Enterprise was by far the most successful UPN show, making up the bulk of its seven nominations. Buffy's visual effects nomination was the only one that show received for its final season, down sharply from last year's four, while Girlfriends won a surprise nomination in the Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series category. The network did manage to beat perennial rival WB, which only had two nominations, but UPN was still far removed from the four other networks, all winning at least 30 nods.

Besides the five Enterprise nominations, several Star Trek alumni were also recognised by the Academy. Kim Cattrall (Valeris) received her usual Outstanding Supporting Actress nomination for Sex and the City, while fellow movie alumni James Cromwell (Zefram Cochrane) and Alfre Woodard (Lily Sloane) both received guest acting nominations for their work on Six Feet Under and The Practice, respectively.

Longtime Trek casting director Junie Lowry-Johnson may win the Outstanding Casting award for Six Feet Under, while former Trek writer Naren Shankar shared in the glory of his current series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation getting a second Outstanding Drama Series nomination.

Outside Trek the Emmy nominations were as predictable as ever, as Six Feet Under led the pack with 16 nominations. In the Outstanding Drama Series category it will have to compete against three-time winner The West Wing, the aforementioned CSI, The Sopranos and 24. The comedy front will see a battle between Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Sex and the City, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Will & Grace.

Genre series fared a little better than usual, as Steven Spielberg's Taken was nominated in the Outstanding Miniseries category, the Sci-Fi Channel received a total of 10 nominations, and Alias and 24 both received at least 10 nominations. But pure science fiction or fantasy shows could still not be found in any of the high-profile categories.

A round-up of all the high-profile nominations can be found in this Reuters article, while the full list of nominations can be downloaded here.

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