Sopranos Rubbed Out by the Competition?

'The Sopranos' series finale became an instant cult classic after airing last June. (Hillary Clinton even paid homage to it in a presidential ad campaign.) After six years, the hit HBO series bid farewell with an ambiguous 'blackout' ending that left the audience wondering if Tony really got whacked.

After the results of the 2007 Emmy awards, however, die hard Soprano fans may think the academy is a little whack. Pre-event polling predicted 'The Sopranos' would dominate the Emmys, but the cast and crew only scored 3 awards out of 15 nominations.

James Gandolfini was favored to win best actor in a drama, which would have been his fourth for his role as the conflicted mob boss Tony Soprano, but it was James Spader of Boston Legal who took the prize and admitted during his acceptance speech that he felt like he just stole a bag of money from the mob.

Edie Falco was also up for her fourth Emmy Award for best lead actress playing Tony's wife, Carmela Soprano. However, it was acting legend Sally Fields, who won her third Emmy, this time for her role as Nora Walker on ABC's 'Brothers & Sisters.'

The supporting cast didn't fare much better. Although, Michael Imperioli was nominated for his supporting actor role as Christopher Moltisanti, it was Terry O'Quin (John Locke) of ABC's 'Lost' that walked away with the Emmy. And Katherine Heigl (who announced her own mother didn't think she had a shot in hell), beat out both Alda Turturro (Janice Soprano) and Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Jennifer Melfi) for outstanding supporting actress in a drama.

The Sopranos stacked the deck with three out of the five nominations for outstanding writing for a drama series, and David Chase did indeed take home the Emmy for the episode "Made in America." Alan Taylor also won for outstanding directing for his Episode "Kennedy and Heidi" Yet, despite two out of five nominations for outstanding single-camera picture editing for a drama series, 'The Sopranos' came up empty handed as the Showtime original 'Dexter' took the honor.

The academy did save the best for last though, the dramatic reveal of outstanding drama series went to --'The Sopranos.' The round center stage could barely contain the happy recipients. Not bad for a show that's already off the air.