After bagging a Golden Globe and a SAG Awards trophy, will "Desperate Housewives" star Teri Hatcher hit the trifecta in September by bagging an Emmy statuette? Hatcher wouldn't stand for any talk of who will win or who should win Thursday morning, which happened to be her first day back at work on the series' second season. "This category is full of amazing people who have delivered amazing work for a long time. I'm honored just to be in that group." In reflecting on the phenom that was "Housewives" this year, Hatcher took a bit of pride in noting that her natural inclination toward physical comedy encouraged series creator Marc Cherry and the rest of the writing staff to develop more pratfalls for her accident-prone character, Susan Mayer. And that's a good thing for an hourlong series that's competing in Emmy's comedy categories. "They really started writing in that direction for me, and that helped us bring out the humor of these real-life situations," Hatcher said. "But really I think it's Marc and his unpredictable look at these people in this neighborhood that makes the show funny more than any of us individually being funny."

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It's good to be Marcia Cross these days. "Life just keeps getting better and better and better," the "Desperate Housewives" star said after learning that all those predictions and prognosticators were right: She had an Emmy nom in the bag for her work on ABC's red-hot dramedy. Cross says she's grateful for the opportunity to play a character with such depth. She's been surprised by the directions that the "Housewives" writers have took the not-so-happy homemaker Bree Van De Kamp this past season, and she's not at all sure what's in store for Season 2. "I'm going back to work with gobs of fear in my gut. I'm thinking, 'Oh my god, who's she going to be now? How's that going to impact me?' She's such a wonderfully multidimensional, challenging role."

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Thursday was a happy day in the William H. Macy-Felicity Huffman household as the married actors both grabbed a piece of the Emmy spotlight. Huffman earned a lead comedy actress bid for her work on "Desperate Housewives," and Macy bagged two noms for starring in and producing the TNT telepic "The Wool Cap." "I get to act with Eva Longoria, Nicollette Sheridan, Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross -- and I get nominated for an Emmy? What could be better than that," Huffman said, hinting that she was looking forward to a night on the town come the awards ceremony Sept. 18. "Bill and I are gonna get a baby sitter. We're gonna dance. I'm gonna take a shower, and Bill's gonna wear makeup."

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She might be up against the "Desperate Housewives" juggernaut, but "Malcolm in the Middle" star Jane Kaczmarek still is tickled to be included in the lead comedy actress circle for the sixth consecutive year. "I never win, but being nominated means that so many people picked up a pencil and circled your name. It is just the nicest compliment anyone could give you," she said. Kaczmarek is finding the silver lining in having such stiff competition in the category this year. The "Housewives" stars have been very generous to the Clothes Off Our Backs charity that Kaczmarek founded to encourage stars to donate their awards-show duds for charity auctions. "We've raised more than $500,000 in the last three years," she said. "The 'Desperate Housewives' women were very generous after the Golden Globes, so I was happy to see all those girls nominated."

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It's no secret that some members of the "Two and a Half Men" team had high hopes for earning Emmy noms, but Conchata Ferrell wasn't one of them. "You could have knocked me over with a feather," Ferrell said of her reaction to learning that she was up for supporting comedy actress honors. "I don't think of things like awards anymore. I'm just thrilled to be a working actor and so grateful for this part. To be perfectly honest, just to be in the same room as (fellow nominees) Holland Taylor and Doris Roberts is awesome. The only thing I'm sorry about is that ("Men" stars) Jon (Cryer) and Charlie (Sheen) weren't recognized. I think next time they will be."

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"Everybody Loves Raymond" creator/executive producer Phil Rosenthal was on cloud nine after learning that his series' much-praised finale had earned a comedy writing nomination for him and the rest of the show's writing staff. "We're very grateful not to be forgotten," Rosenthal said of the writing nom and the fact that "Raymond" earned its seventh consecutive comedy series nom. "We're gone. There's no reason for anyone in the business to give us any nominations, so it must be from the heart." But Rosenthal has one beef about the Emmys this year, and that's the "farkakte" plan to have the winners in writing categories accept their awards via taped video segments. "If it weren't for the writing, would they even be able to give any awards at all? It seems a little insulting, doesn't it?"

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Holland Taylor already has one Emmy on her mantel, for her work on "The Practice" in 1999, but she was "delighted and very surprised" to learn that she's in contention again for her co-starring role on CBS' "Two and a Half Men." More than anything else, she's grateful to the men behind "Men," particularly co-creators Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn. "The incredible writing on 'Two and a Half Men' handed me this on a silver platter. What I'm disappointed about is the fact that the show and the writing staff didn't get acknowledged -- for a show that's been in the ratings top 10 practically since it premiered. And of course Jon Cryer and Charlie Sheen are incredible, so it's baffling why they would get overlooked."

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Eric McCormack -- nominated for lead actor in a comedy series for his role as Will Truman on NBC's "Will & Grace" -- has been nominated three times before (including one win) but said he still was "surprised as hell." He actually has begun to notice a pattern to his Emmy recognition: "It seems like I get nominated every other year; it's been the odd years," joked McCormack, who was previously cited in 2000, '01 and '03. McCormack, who said he "never counts his chickens" where awards recognition is concerned, said he learned of his nom from his publicist, who awoke him with an early-morning call. "It's always great when you're not waiting for it. When the phone rings (that early) and (you think) someone might be having a heart attack, it's really you that ends up having the heart attack."

McCormack was thrilled with "Will & Grace's" 15 nominations -- tying for the most series noms with ABC's "Desperate Housewives" -- but said the news was bittersweet because Debra Messing was the only one of the show's core cast of four who didn't get nominated. However, "it's so great to have this push going into our last year." (Next season is expected to be the sitcom's last.) "It's bittersweet (knowing this could be the last season), but we all made an agreement years ago to go out when we were still on top," he said.

Next up for McCormack? He's spending the summer pitching shows as a producer to networks through his NBC Universal Television Studio-based shingle Big Cattle Prods., headed by Michael Forman.

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Good things come to those who wait. That's what "Arrested Development" co-star Jessica Walter was thinking when she learned of her fourth career Emmy nom, as supporting comedy actress for her work on the show. It came some 30 years after her first (and only) Emmy win in 1975 for the short-lived NBC police drama "Amy Prentiss." "I'm so blessed to be on this show," she said. "It's a fabulous role and a brilliant creation of (executive producer) Mitch Hurwitz. To be honest, I feel like I won simply from having gotten such a fabulous job as this in the first place."

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An Emmy nomination found "Deadwood" star Ian McShane in London, filming the still-untitled new Woody Allen movie. McShane, who plays the villain Al Swearengen in HBO's Wild West drama, got a nom for outstanding lead actor in a drama series. He heard the news from his mother-in-law, though other people had left messages for him as well.

McShane said he was happy that "Deadwood" received other nominations, and he gives all the credit to series creator/executive producer David Milch. "I'm thrilled for David," McShane said. "He's written an extraordinary show with extraordinary characters." McShane said he's looking forward to the new season, which begins the second week of August in Los Angeles. He said the town of Deadwood, previously lawless, will start to come to terms with more law and bureaucracy in the form of elections this season.

McShane, who didn't receive a best actor Emmy nomination last year, did win a Golden Globe for the role. "The Emmy would fit very nicely with the Golden Globe," he said.

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Naveen Andrews was half a world away, shooting "The Ten Commandments" in Morocco, when he learned about his Emmy nomination for supporting actor in a drama series for his role on ABC's "Lost." It's Andrews' first nomination and essentially the first TV show he's been involved with. "It's very nice to get some kind of acknowledgment for your work. It's bloody good for the show," Andrews said. "We're all pretty proud of it. It's a great thing to be involved in."

He's particularly happy that "Lost" was recognized twice in the category; Terry O'Quinn received a nomination for supporting actor in a drama series. "I really admire him as an actor," Andrews said. "To be in the same category as him is a true honor."

He hopes to make it to the Emmy Awards in September, though that will depend on the shooting schedule of "Lost," which films in Hawaii. At any rate, he can get tips from his girlfriend, Barbara Hershey, who earned a nomination for her role in 1990's "A Killing in a Small Town." "Maybe I'll get some tips from her on how to behave," said Andrews, who will leave Morocco at the end of the month to fly to Hawaii to begin shooting "Lost's" second season. "I see the next season as getting really trippy," he said. "I think we can push the envelope very far on this one."

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David Shore, creator/executive producer of Fox's breakout hit "House," has been nominated for an Emmy twice before, in 1998 and '99, as a producer of NBC's "Law & Order." But he said his nomination for writing for a drama series -- for the "Three Stories" episode of "House" -- is his most personal yet. "At that time, if you were a producer on 'Law & Order,' you knew you were getting an Emmy nomination," he said. "This one is a little more personal and obviously more individual. That is cool."

Shore -- who also praised the show's star, Hugh Laurie, who was nominated for lead actor in a drama series -- said he heard the nominations for best dramatic series on the radio and thought "House" had been shut out completely when it wasn't named. "I had bought into the hype a little and was disappointed. I thought that was the end of it. Then somebody called to tell me (that Shore had been nominated), and I was shocked. ... There were so many good shows on this year."

As for the show's building buzz, Shore gives credit to its lead-in, a certain popular reality singing competition, for getting viewers to stick around and turn it into a hit. "I hate to do it, but I gotta give a lot of credit to the reality show 'American Idol' (which premiered its fourth season a couple of months after 'House' debuted)," he said. "We got critical praise at the beginning, but there seems to be a wave forming where more and more people are saying they love the show."

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"We played a great game of tennis," Glenn Close said of her work opposite Michael Chiklis during the past season of FX's "The Shield," which brought her a lead drama actress Emmy nom. "For me, the process is everything, and the process on this show was joyous," she said. "It was one of the best experiences of my career, and I don't say that lightly. Everybody down to the craft-services guys on this show were all pulling at least 500%, and that made it a wonderful atmosphere to work in."

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For Hugh Laurie, star of Fox's "House," the Emmy nomination is all about the strength of the writing. "I think the scripts are terrific. I think the conception of the character is quite brilliant," said the actor, who has just begun the second season of the show. He credits show creator/executive producer David Shore, who also received a writing nomination for the "Three Stories" episode that capped the first season. "I think, to be honest, the achievement is really his," Laurie said. "It's a fantastic conception, and it's brilliantly executed by him."

Laurie added that he's often asked to summarize Dr. Gregory House's character, which is a difficult task. "Describe House in a couple of sentences? It can't be done. That's what's fascinating about him," Laurie said. 'He's an endless round of contradictions. That makes it all the more exciting to play."

Laurie added that he was surprised to get a nomination. "I'm still reeling. I'm still taking it all in," he said. "I've been doing this for 20-odd years and never really been sure that I've been doing the right thing, that I've been in the right place at the right time. It's wonderful to feel at last that maybe I didn't pick the wrong career, that I didn't take a wrong turning, that maybe this is something that I ought to be doing."

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The nominations rolled in for Showtime's "Huff" -- and co-star and nominee Oliver Platt couldn't be happier. "I'm thrilled. I'm very surprised, and I'm just thrilled for the show," said Platt, who is in production on the second season. "I don't need to tell you how significant this can be for the life of a show. We're thrilled that people are watching and paying attention."

Platt, who received an Emmy nomination in 2001 for his role on "The West Wing," got a nom Thursday for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series, playing Russell Tupper. "Anybody would be thrilled to be nominated, but it's much more satisfying in the context of a show being recognized, especially for us because we're a freshman series," Platt said. He's said the writing and acting is strong on "Huff," and he's hoping that the Emmy nominations give it renewed life. "I'm thrilled (about his nomination), don't get me wrong. But what I want to keep doing is this show," he said.

Compiled by Paul J. Gough, Cynthia Littleton, Ray Richmond and Kimberly Speight