"Frasier" ...

"Friends" ...

and "Ally McBeal" are all likely to make the cut for best comedy series.

(CNN) -- Couch potatoes are expected to find out early Thursday which of their favorite television shows will get the nod for an Emmy. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences plans to announce nominations for about 80 categories. Camryn Manheim ("The Practice") and David Hyde Pierce ("Frasier") will be on hand to make the announcement.

Last year's big winner was NBC's "Frasier." Kelsey Grammer's show garnered its fifth consecutive Emmy for best comedy -- no other comedy or drama has ever received that many Emmy Awards. Grammer and Pierce, who plays Frasier's quirky brother, received awards for best lead actor and best supporting actor in a comedy series, respectively.

Will "Frasier" continue the streak? That's iffy. Many critics said the show stagnated this season, when Frasier lost his gig as a talk radio psychologist, and spent much of the season as a languishing, unemployed couch potato.

Its biggest rival could be "Friends," another NBC show. It did exceptionally well ratings-wise this year. The peacock network says "Friends" has been the top-rated 8 p.m. Thursday show for the past three seasons. It was nominated for best comedy in 1995 and '96, but didn't win either time. However, Lisa Kudrow won best supporting actress in a comedy series last year for her role as the eccentric friend Phoebe.

Another popular one is FOX's "Ally McBeal," with the neurotic lead played by Calista Flockhart. The hour-long comedy earned 10 nominations in its first season last year.

And ABC has at least three shows vying for the comedy awards: "Spin City," "Dharma and Greg" and "Sports Night," which might get a badly needed ratings boost from a nomination. Newcomer "Will and Grace" (NBC) may snag some nominations too.

Two hit comedy series that retired this year could get a few bids: Tim Allen's tool-time "Home Improvement" (ABC), and "Mad About You" (NBC), for which Helen Hunt won a best-actress award last year.

Producer David E. Kelley is considered a contender on several fronts. Not only does he produce and write "Ally McBeal," he pens the more serious legal drama "The Practice" on ABC. That show earned Kelley the "Best Drama Series" Emmy last year and best supporting actress award for co-star Camryn Manheim.

Kelley also produces "Chicago Hope," a show not perceived as a frontrunner in the "Best Drama" category. Neither is the other hospital drama series, "ER" (NBC), which still draws more viewers than most of its competition, but has suffered in ratings lately. Critics attribute part of that drop to the departure of heartthrob doc George Clooney.

Ratings for "NYPD Blue" (ABC) also slipped, with the departure of Jimmy Smits' Bobby Simone. But they've bounced back a bit since Rick Schroder joined the cast. Schroder, who made it big on the TV scene as a child actor in the '80s sitcom "Silver Spoons," may be in the running for a nomination for best actor in a drama.

Other contestants for best drama include NBC's "Law & Order," which won in 1997, and "Homicide: Life on the Street," a critically acclaimed show which aired its final episode this season. Another potential nomination could go to FOX's "X-Files," which stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

When the Emmy nominations come out, there's always a tally of how the Big Four networks stacked up compared to the cable networks. HBO, in recent years giving NBC a run for its money with several of its own critically lauded original series, is hoping for nods for the comedy series "Sex in the City," in which Sarah Jessica Parker investigates the New York dating scene, and for the mafia drama "The Sopranos."

The nominations are determined by a broad popular vote, then narrowed down by panels composed of six to 75 established TV professionals. Their final decisions are scheduled to be announced at the 51st Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on September 12 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.