| 56th Primetime Emmy Awards | |
| Location: | Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California |
| Presenter: | Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |
| Host: | Garry Shandling |
| Network: | ABC |
| Producer: | Don Mischer |
| Director: | Louis J. Horvitz |
| Most Awards: | Angels in America (7) |
| Most Nominations: | The Sopranos (12) |
| Award1 Type: | Outstanding Comedy Series |
| Award1 Winner: | Arrested Development |
| Award2 Type: | Outstanding Drama Series |
| Award2 Winner: | The Sopranos |
| Award3 Type: | Outstanding Miniseries |
| Award3 Winner: | Angels in America |
| Award4 Type: | Outstanding Reality-Competition Program |
| Award4 Winner: | The Amazing Race |
| Award5 Type: | Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series |
| Award5 Winner: | The Daily Show with Jon Stewart |
| Previous: | 55th |
| Next: | 57th |
The 56th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 19, 2004. The ceremony was hosted by Garry Shandling and was broadcast on ABC.
The HBO miniseries Angels in America had the most successful night. It became the first program to sweep every major category, going 7/7, in Emmy history, until 2020 when Schitt’s Creek repeated the feat. Along with Schitt’s Creek, Caesar's Hour in 1957 and The Crown in 2021, it is one of only four programs to win all four main acting categories.
Upstart comedy series Arrested Development won Outstanding Comedy Series (being the second time Fox won that specific award) and two other major awards overall. Its pilot became the twelfth episode to accomplish the directing/writing double.
After years of winning everything but the top prize, The Sopranos finally took home the crown for Outstanding Drama Series, not only knocking off four-time defending champion The West Wing but by being the first cable show, HBO, ever to beat any of the Big Four television networks for that award. It led all dramas with twelve major nominations and four major wins. One of those wins was for Drea de Matteo for Drama Supporting Actress and, too, was the first time that award went to a cable network. Furthermore, the cable network also won for the first times in the Comedy Lead Actress and Comedy Supporting Actress categories (Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon respectively for Sex and the City).
Entering its final ceremony, five-time series champion Frasier needed five major wins to tie The Mary Tyler Moore Shows record of 27 major wins. Because it was only nominated in three major categories, breaking the record was not possible. Though it did not tie the record, Frasier finished its Emmy career on a high note, winning two major awards, the most it had won since 1998. Its 25 major wins put it at second of all time. When adding its wins in technical categories, its total rises to 37, the most for any comedy series.
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:[1]
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| Networks | No. of Nominations | |
|---|---|---|
| HBO | 56 | |
| NBC | 33 | |
| CBS | 19 | |
| ABC | 12 |
| Program | Category | Network | No. of Nominations |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Sopranos | Drama | HBO | 12 |
| Angels in America | Miniseries | 11 | |
| Sex and the City | Comedy | 8 | |
| The West Wing | Drama | NBC | 6 |
| Curb Your Enthusiasm | Comedy | HBO | 5 |
| Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | ||
| Something the Lord Made | Movie | HBO | |
| Arrested Development | Comedy | Fox | 4 |
| Deadwood | Drama | HBO | |
| The Reagans | Movie | Showtime | |
| And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself | HBO | 3 | |
| Chappelle's Show | Variety | Comedy Central | |
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | |||
| Frasier | Comedy | NBC | |
| Late Show with David Letterman | Variety | CBS | |
| The Lion in Winter | Movie | Showtime | |
| Prime Suspect VI: The Last Witness | Miniseries | PBS | |
| Will & Grace | Comedy | NBC | |
| 24 | Drama | Fox | 2 |
| The 76th Annual Academy Awards | Variety | ABC | |
| Alias | Drama | ||
| Elaine Stritch: At Liberty | Variety | HBO | |
| Friends | Comedy | NBC | |
| Ike: Countdown to D-Day | Movie | A&E | |
| Iron Jawed Angels | HBO | ||
| Joan of Arcadia | Drama | CBS | |
| Late Night with Conan O'Brien | Variety | NBC |
| Network | No. of Awards | |
|---|---|---|
| HBO | 16 | |
| ABC | 4 | |
| NBC | 3 | |
| Fox | ||
| Comedy Central | 2 |
| Program | Category | Network | No. of Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angels in America | Miniseries | HBO | 7 |
| The Sopranos | Drama | 4 | |
| Arrested Development | Comedy | Fox | 3 |
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Variety | Comedy Central | 2 |
| Frasier | Comedy | NBC | |
| Sex and the City | HBO |
The awards were presented by the following people:[4]