LOS ANGELES (AP) – A change in voting rules aimed at adding spice to the Emmys resulted in a nominations mix of TV’s mainstream and cult favorites.

A lot of the old favorites are still there: “The Sopranos,” “The West Wing,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” but fellow contenders this time included Fox’s low-rated sardonic comedy “Arrested Development,” CBS pop-spirituality drama “Joan of Arcadia” and the star of the canceled sitcom “Life With Bonnie.”

“It really is a fresh mix here. That’s what we were trying to do, shake things up a little,” TV Academy Chairman Dick Askin said.

Premium cable channel HBO dominated Thursday, receiving nearly twice as many nominations as any broadcast network and fielding many of the leading nominees.

“Angels in America,” the HBO miniseries about vengeful ghosts, beatific angels and ordinary people enduring the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, had the most nominations with 21.

“The Sopranos,” HBO’s perennial nominee that has yet to win a best drama series award, was the leading nominee among regular shows with 20, including a first-ever best supporting actress bid for Drea de Matteo, who played the unlucky mob girlfriend Adriana.

“If you thought Adriana cried a lot … you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. …’cause I’m cryin’ like crazy now,” de Matteo said in a statement, written in her signature New-Yorkese.

TV Academy members gave a fond farewell to HBO’s “Sex and the City” with a best comedy series nod for its final season, but didn’t nominate two other departing series, NBC’s “Friends” and “Frasier.”

All four “Sex and the City” stars picked up nominations: Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon in the supporting comedy actress category and Sarah Jessica Parker for lead comedy actress.

“We’ve never all been nominated, and that’s really great,” Nixon told The Associated Press. “And also you figure, we’re not filming the show anymore, we feel like, “Well, maybe people have moved on.’ But it’s nice to see that they remember us.”

Joining Parker in the lead comedy actress class was Bonnie Hunt of “Life with Bonnie,” which ABC recently canceled.

Meanwhile, John Ritter, the “8 Simple Rules” comedy star who died last year, received a posthumous nomination as best lead actor in a comedy series.

Along with “The Sopranos” and “Joan of Arcadia,” other nominees in the best drama series category were “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “24,” and last year’s winner, “The West Wing.”

Joining “Arrested Development” and “Sex and the City” in the best comedy series category: “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Will & Grace” and last year’s winner, CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

The Emmys are scheduled to air Sept. 19 on ABC, with Garry Shandling as host.

“The Reagans,” which was bounced from CBS to cable’s Showtime after some complained it was unfair to President Reagan, received seven nominations including outstanding made-for-TV movie. James Brolin and Judy Davis, who played Ronald and Nancy Reagan, received acting nods.

“The Reagans” producer Craig Zadan said he felt relief. “The last six months have been so harrowing, at first being attacked for a movie that nobody had even seen. And a friend said … “My fear for you is that people will not judge the movie on its merits but judge it by the controversy.’ And today the Hollywood community, thank God, stood behind us and judged it on its merits.”

Other nominees in the TV movie category: “And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself,” “Something the Lord Made,” “Ike: Countdown to D-Day” and “The Lion in Winter.”

HBO received 124 nominations, nearly twice that of runner-up NBC with 65 bids. CBS received 44 nominations; ABC had 33, Fox 31 and PBS 27.

“Angels in America” was nominated as outstanding miniseries and earned acting bids for stars Emma Thompson, Al Pacino and Meryl Streep.

Playwright Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning story was a risky proposition at the start.

“We all felt that way. Even (director Mike Nichols) didn’t know how it was going to come out as a movie. Under his tutelage it took on a life of its own and became a whole new beast,” said Justin Kirk, who played a recently diagnosed AIDS patient who was abandoned by his lover.

Kirk competes against three co-stars – Patrick Wilson, Ben Shenkman and Jeffrey Wright – and William H. Macy for “Stealing Sinatra” in the supporting movie or miniseries actor category. “We’re all pitted now against each other, so there’s no celebrating,” Kirk joked.

Other nominated miniseries were “American Family: Journey of Dreams,” “Horatio Hornblower,” “Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness” and “Traffic: The Miniseries.”

Nominees for the reality series category were Donald Trump’s hit “The Apprentice,” “The Amazing Race,” “American Idol,” “Last Comic Standing” and “Survivor.”

A total of 433 nominations were announced in an early morning ceremony by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

In February, the academy shook up Emmy rules to freshen a competition that repeatedly saw the same shows vying for and winning trophies. Academy members were given the opportunity to choose up to 10 nominees per category, double the previous number, with the top five vote-getters ending up as the nominees in each category.

Although that’s the same number of contenders as in the past, the academy hoped the mix would be more representative of the growing bounty of programming on cable and newer broadcast channels.

Unlike the Academy Awards, which recognize a new crop of films each year, the Emmys tend toward reruns because shows are eligible as long as they air original episodes in the awards calendar year.

The result has been winning streaks such as that of NBC’s “The West Wing,” named best drama series for the last four consecutive ceremonies.

The Emmys are scheduled to air Sept. 19 on ABC, with Garry Shandling as host.

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AP-ES-07-15-04 1752EDT