Yesterday’s announcement of the Emmy nominations was full of surprises, in part because of new nominating procedures designed to keep the awards from becoming stagnant from year to year.

“Desperate Housewives,” whose stars last year made up three of the five nominations for best actress in a comedy series, was shut out of that category. The show also missed out on the nomination for best comedy series. “Lost,” last year’s winner for best dramatic series, was not nominated for that award. But the new shows — that were thought to benefit from the new rules — did not fare so well either: “My Name Is Earl,” the sitcom starring Jason Leigh, was a critical and popular favorite, but it was shut out of the comedy series and lead actor categories.

HBO led all television outlets, with 95 nominations, including seven for “The Sopranos.” In two of several unexpected omissions, neither Edie Falco nor James Gandolfini were nominated for their roles on that show.

The Fox drama “24” received the most nominations of any series, 12 in all — or, one nomination for every two hours the show follows agent Jack Bauer over the course of a season.

The recently cancelled Fox show “Arrested Development” won the 2004 award for outstanding comedy series and was nominated again this year. The other nominees in the category are “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” the American iteration of “The Office,””Scrubs,” and “Two and a Half Men.”

The nominations for outstanding drama series were “Grey’s Anatomy,” which received 11 nominations; “House,””The Sopranos,” “24,” and “The West Wing,” another cancelled show.

The nominees for outstanding variety, music, or comedy series were “The Colbert Report,””The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” The Late Show With David Letterman,” and “Real Time With Bill Maher.” Stephen Colbert received a nod for best individual performance in a variety or music program, along with Craig Ferguson, Mr. Letterman, Barry Manilow (for a PBS special), and the host of the Tony Awards, Hugh Jackman. The Tonys received two nominations in all, the Academy Awards eight, and the Kennedy Center Honors two.

New York City productions dominated the outstanding special class program category. The nominees were “Dance In America: Swan Lake With American Ballet Theatre,””Jazz At Lincoln Center: Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert,” “A Lincoln Center Special: 30 Years Of Live From Lincoln Center,” and “South Pacific In Concert From Carnegie Hall.”

The 58th Emmy Awards will take place Sunday, August 27, and will be hosted by Conan O’Brien — whose latenight show is nominated for five awards.