The 56th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 19, 2004. The ceremony was hosted by Garry Shandling and was broadcast on

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. The

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. " Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries forma ...

''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 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

when '' Schitt’s Creek'' repeated the feat. Along with ''Schitt’s Creek'', ''

Caesar's Hour ''Caesar's Hour'' is a live, hour-long American sketch-comedy television program that aired on NBC from 1954 until 1957. The program starred, among others, Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Janet Blair, and Milt Kamen, and ...

'' in

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and '' The Crown'' in

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, it is one of only four programs to win all four main acting categories. Upstart comedy series ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

'' won Outstanding Comedy Series (being the second time Fox won that specific award) and three 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 ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'' 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,

, ever to beat any of the

Big Four television networks In the United States, there are three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks — CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), NBC (National Broadcasting Company), and ABC (American Broadcasting Company) — that due to their longev ...

for that award. It led all dramas with twelve major nominations and four major wins. One of those wins was for

Drea de Matteo Andrea Donna de Matteo is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Adriana La Cerva on the HBO television drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2006), for which she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in ...

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 Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 10 ...

and

Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supp ...

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 Show''s record of 27 major wins. Because it was only nominated in five 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 three major awards, the most it had won since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. 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 and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:Emmys.com list of 2004 Nominees & Winners
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Sarah Jessica Parker at Miami Rhapsody 30th Anniversary Celebration

Programs

Acting

Lead performances

Supporting performances

Guest performances

Directing

Writing

Most major nominations

;By network "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. * HBO – 56 * NBC – 33 * CBS – 19 * ABC – 12 ;By program * ''The Sopranos'' (HBO) – 12 * ''Angels in America'' (HBO) – 11 * ''Sex and the City'' (HBO) – 8 * ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (CBS) / ''The West Wing'' (NBC) – 7

Most major awards

;By network "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. * HBO – 16 * NBC / ABC – 4 * Fox – 3 * Comedy Central – 2 ;By program * ''Angels in America'' (HBO) – 7 * ''The Sopranos'' (HBO) – 4 * ''Arrested Development'' (Fox) / ''Frasier'' (NBC) / ''The Practice'' (ABC) – 3 ;Notes

In Memoriam

* Paul Winfield *

Alan King Alan King (born Irwin Alan Kniberg; December 26, 1927 – May 9, 2004) was an American actor and comedian known for his biting wit and often angry humorous rants. King became well known as a Jewish comedian and satirist. He was also a serious a ...

* Julia Child * June Taylor *

Bob Keeshan Robert James Keeshan (June 27, 1927 – January 23, 2004) was an American television producer and actor. He created and played the title role in the children's television program ''Captain Kangaroo'', which ran from 1955 to 1984, the longest- ...

* Ethel Winant * Michael Kamen *

Jack Elam William Scott "Jack" Elam (November 13, 1920 – October 20, 2003) was an American film and television actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies (sometimes spoofing his villaino ...

Rod Roddy Robert Ray Roddy (September 28, 1937 – October 27, 2003) was an American radio and television announcer. He was primarily known for his role as an offstage announcer on game shows. Among the shows that he announced are the CBS game shows '' Whe ...

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, author, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time'' magazine's obituary of Paar repo ...

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franc ...

* Donald O'Connor * Ronald Reagan *

Anna Lee Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was a British actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell". Early life Anna Lee was born Joan Boniface Winnifrith in Ightham, (pronounced 'Item'), Kent, th ...

Gordon Jump Alexander Gordon Jump (April 1, 1932 – September 22, 2003) was an American actor best known as the clueless, yet occasionally wise, radio station manager Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson in the TV series ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' and the incompetent Ch ...

Isabel Sanford Isabel Sanford (born Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford; August 29, 1917 – July 9, 2004) was an American stage, film, and television actress and comedian best known for her role as Louise "Weezy" Mills Jefferson on the CBS sitcoms ''All in the Fami ...

* Robert Pastorelli * Daniel Petrie * Mary-Ellis Bunim *

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

* Marlon Brando * Peter Ustinov * Art Carney *

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play '' The Odd Couple'' by Neil Si ...

Alistair Cooke Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States.Emmys.com list of 2004 Nominees & Winners
* {{EmmyAwardsbyYear

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Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime E ...

Primetime Emmy The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime E ...

September 2004 events in the United States