Sunday's Best Bets on TV

Sunday, August 27, 2006 "The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards" (8 p.m., NBC): Maybe the comedic antics of host Conan O'Brien will help to ease the lingering resentment we have for this year's mind-boggling list of nominees — you know, the one that doesn't include "Lost" in the Best Drama category, or Edie Falco, James Gandolfini, Hugh Laurie, Marcia Cross and several other worthy performers. On the positive side, there's a good chance that we'll see several fresh faces delivering acceptance speeches tonight. Look for at least some of the hardware to go to the dramas "24" and "Grey's Anatomy," which come in with 12 and 11 nominations respectively. As for Conan, the riotous redhead will be handling the Emmy gig for the first time since his debut in 2002. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (7 p.m., ABC): Even though the sequel is raking in the box-office booty at an amazing rate, we'll walk the plank before ever agreeing that it stands up to the original — "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." This is the adventure-filled flick that introduced us to the staggering, swaggering Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). The cast also includes Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Geoffrey Rush. "Surviving Katrina" (9 p.m., Discovery): This new two-hour special relies on remarkable home-video footage, emergency phone recordings and vivid firsthand impressions to recount last year's devastating storm and the nightmarish aftermath. One of the most harrowing moments: A doctor performed open-chest surgery by flashlight and no anesthesia. "Deadwood" (9 p.m., HBO): We're spewing a stream of curse words because one of our favorite dramas, "Deadwood," closes out its final full season tonight with the townspeople all set to vote. Fortunately, the gritty Western is scheduled to return sometime in the future to provide some closure via a pair of two-hour movies. "Inside 9/11 Updated" (7 p.m., National Geographic): An update of the "Inside 9/11" miniseries is the first of three specials on the National Geographic Channel marking the upcoming fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Sunday's four-hour presentation spans decades and continents to trace the events leading to the attacks. "The 4400" (9 p.m., USA): The alien-abduction drama has world-threatening plots in the third-season finale. "Entourage" (10 p.m., HBO): Will Vince look for a new agent? Maybe. This is, after all, the season finale for 2006. (Look for new episodes in early 2007.) "The Dead Zone" (10:01 p.m., USA): This time around it's the vice president who gets shot on a hunting trip.