53rd Primetime Emmy Awards

The 53rd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, November 4, 2001, seven weeks late. The ceremony was re-scheduled twice from its original date of September 16 at the Shrine Auditorium because of the September 11, 2001 attacks that occurred five days prior to the event. It was also removed from its rescheduled date of October 7 again at the same venue as a result of the start of the War in Afghanistan. The event was then relocated to the Shubert Theater. The Shubert had previously hosted the 1973 and 1976 ceremonies and was slated for demolition in 2002. The ceremony was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and was broadcast on CBS.

Contents

• Winners and nominees
• Most major nominations
• Most major awards
• References

Barbra Streisand sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" in a surprise appearance at the close, in honor of the victims of the attacks.

Sex and the City became the first premium channel to win Outstanding Comedy Series, this was its only major award. The NBC cult hit Freaks and Geeks accomplished a rare feat, though it only ran for one season, it was nominated two different years for writing. The episode "Bowling" made Malcolm in the Middle just the second show, and first comedy, to have two different episodes win awards for directing and writing. The Defenders was the first show to do this in 1963 and 1965. (Specific episodes were not nominated in the comedy categories until the late 1960s). Meanwhile, Frasier, now in its eighth season, would earn its final Outstanding Comedy Series nomination after eight consecutive nominations including 5 consecutive wins (seasons 1–5).

In the drama field, The West Wing won Outstanding Drama Series for its second straight year, and led all shows with four major awards on the night. The Sopranos led all shows with 15 major nominations, and was second to The West Wing with three major wins.

Mike Nichols's win made him the ninth person to become an EGOT.