Actress Jennifer Aniston reacts after winning an Emmy at the 54th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles September 22, 2002. Aniston won Outstanding Lead Actress in a comedy series for her work on „Friends.“
PHOTO – REUTERS
LOS ANGELES – The Emmy awards played it safe on Sunday night, honoring an array of veteran shows, including „Friends“ and „The West Wing,“ and effectively snubbing the season‘s hot new contender, „Six Feet Under.“ „The West Wing“ won its third consecutive award for best drama series, while „Friends,“ television‘s top-rated program, finally took the prize for best comedy series after five tries.
Sept. 11 was on the minds of many Academy voters who named the four-network telethon „America: A Tribute to Heroes“ the year‘s best musical and variety special, which raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the survivors of the attacks.
The NBC hit political drama „The West Wing“ won its third consecutive Emmy Award as best drama, beating out the season‘s hot new show „Six Feet Under“. Allison Janney, who plays the White House press secretary on the show, won the award for best actress in a a drama series.
In a major Emmy Awards upset, Michael Chiklis was named best actor in a drama series for playing a corrupt cop on the FX cable network‘s biggest hit, „The Shield.“ „Friends“ star Jennifer Aniston was named best actress in a comedy series for her role as Rachel Green. It was the first Emmy claimed by Aniston.
„The Gathering Storm,“ the tale of how Winston Churchill rose to power to fight Adolf Hitler, was named the best made-for-television movie. In total, HBO won seven awards for the night, giving it a total of 24. NBC won 9 awards for the night, also giving it a total of 24. Reuters
