LOS ANGELES — "Desperate Housewives," a dark satire about suburbia that became an instant hit in its debut season, was among the top Emmy nominees announced Thursday.

The ABC series, competing in the comedy category, received 15 nominations, sharing status as series front-runner with the NBC sitcom "Will & Grace," which also got 15.

Premium cable channel HBO once again dominated the made-for-TV movie category with two of its films: "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" and "Warm Springs," each garnering 16 bids to top all nominees.

Nominations for the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced in an early morning ceremony at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre.

There were Emmy riches for both departing series and newcomers.

"Everybody Loves Raymond," which wrapped after nine seasons, received 13 nominations, including best comedy. Creator and executive producer Phil Rosenthal was most excited about a writing nomination for the series' final episode.

"You know what's nice about that, we all shared the credit together, and that's the one I'd love to have, because we'd all get it together," he said.

"Lost," a freshman drama about air crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island, got 12, although its stars were shut out of the lead acting nominations. Two members of the ensemble cast, Naveen Andrews and Terry O'Quinn, received best supporting actor bids.

The Emmy recognition of "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" was icing on the cake for ABC, which was pulled out of a ratings slump by the two new series. "Desperate Housewives" finished the season as the fourth-most-watched program, averaging nearly 24 million weekly viewers, while "Lost" was No. 14 with an average 16 million viewers.

Television's most-watched show, the talent contest "American Idol," was recognized with a nomination in the reality competition program category. Other nominees were "The Amazing Race," "Survivor," "Project Runway" and Donald Trump's "The Apprentice."

"Desperate Housewives" chose to compete in the comedy category, usually home to half-hour sitcoms, although it's an hourlong comedy-drama. There is precedent: The legal satire "Ally McBeal" won the best comedy series award in 1999.

Joining "Desperate Housewives," "Will & Grace" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" in the best comedy series category were last year's winner, "Arrested Development," and "Scrubs."

Besides "Lost," the other best-drama series contenders were "Deadwood," "Six Feet Under," "24" and the veteran White House drama "The West Wing."