William Shatner has a chance to take home his third Emmy in a row, plus Patrick Stewart and many other Star Trek alumni are named in the 58th annual Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy nominations, announced Thursday morning by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Once again, Shatner has been nominated for television's most prestigious honor for his portrayal of "Denny Crane." Two years ago he won the trophy on behalf of The Practice as "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series." Last year when his character became a principal in Boston Legal, he won as "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series." This year's potential win is a repeat of that.

And though he is not personally named as a nominee, his History Channel special "How William Shatner Changed the World" received two nominations, for "Outstanding Nonfiction Special" and "Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming."

"I'm thrilled to pieces about being nominated for the third time," Shatner writes on his website. "Boston Legal is such a great show; I love everybody in it and the pleasure of going to work is enormous. And then of course, my show 'How William Shatner Changed the World' has been nominated for two Emmys, so add it all together, it's beyond belief and I'll wait in great anticipation for the ceremonies."

As far as acting nods, this actually marks Shatner's fourth Emmy nomination. In 1999, he got one for playing "The Big Giant Head" in 3rd Rock from the Sun, in the category "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series."

It's in that very category that Patrick Stewart is also vying for an Emmy this year. He was nominated for playing himself (or more accurately, making fun of himself) in an episode of HBO's Extras starring Ricky Gervais. This is Stewart's third Emmy nom — he got one as an actor in 1998 for "Moby Dick" and one as a producer in 2004 for "The Lion in Winter." Let's hope the third time is a charm!

Competing with Shatner in the dramatic supporting actor category is Gregory Itzin, for his portrayal of the villainous "President Logan" in 24. Itzin has played several roles in Star Trek, the most recent being the mirror universe "Admiral Black" in "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II." He was also "Captain Sopek" in "Shadows of P'Jem," "Dr. Dysek" in "Critical Care," "Hain" in "Who Mourns for Morn?" and "Ilon Tandro" in "Dax."

Alfre Woodard, who played "Lily Sloane" in "Star Trek: First Contact," has added two more nominations to her extensive awards résumé. She is up for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series" for her role as "Betty Applewhite" in Desperate Housewives, and also for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie" for Hallmark's "The Water is Wide."

Joanna Cassidy, who portrayed T'Pol's mother "T'Les" in Enterprise, may be the logical choice for "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series," for her recurring role as "Margaret Chenowith" in Six Feet Under.

In behind-the-scenes categories, Seth MacFarlane — who made two cameos in Enterprise — and David A. Goodman — writer/producer for two seasons of Enterprise (and writer of the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before") — were nominated as executive producers of an episode of Family Guy in the category "Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)."

Travis Payne, who choreographed the Orion Slave Girl dance in "Bound," got an "Outstanding Choreography" nod for Disney Channel's The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody.

Junie Lowry Johnson, who has been casting director on several Star Trek movies and TV shows, picked up three nominations in various casting categories, on behalf of Desperate Housewives and two HBO productions, Big Love and "Mrs. Harris." The latter two nominations she shares with Libby Goldstein, who also did casting on Enterprise and Voyager.

Damon Lindelof, one of the producers of the upcoming "Star Trek XI" project, is up for "Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series" for his Lost script "The 23rd Psalm."

In the Visual Effects categories, numerous former Trek wizards are competing for awards. Among them are Doug Drexler, Gary Hutzel and Chris Zapara for Battlestar Galactica, Mitch Suskind and Eric Hance for Surface, and Mitch Suskind again for Lost, in "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series." In the similar category for "Miniseries, Movie or a Special," Liz Castro is nominated for the Sci-Fi Channel's "Mammoth." (We apologize if we missed anybody!)

The awards in the technical categories will be handed out at the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony on Saturday, August 19, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. That presentation will be telecast on the E! cable network.

The Primetime Emmys — where Shatner will be — will take place Sunday, August 27, at the Shrine, and will be broadcast live on NBC starting at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, 7:00 CT.

Congratulations to all the nominees, and best of luck in August!