LOS ANGELES – The stars of “Desperate Housewives,” snubbed by the Emmy nominators this time around, will get a moment in the ceremony's spotlight anyway.

Marcia Cross, Dana Delany, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria Parker and Nicollette Sheridan were on the first list of presenters announced Thursday by the TV academy. The actresses will join together to hand out a trophy at the Sept. 21 ceremony airing on ABC.

Nominations or no nominations, the houswives' ABC drama remains popular with viewers, and the Emmys could use a ratings boost: Last year's ceremony posted its second-smallest audience on record, just under 13 million.

Other pairings: Emmy nominees Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) and Hugh Laurie (“House”) will present separately, and Tina Fey (”30 Rock”) and Amy Poehler (“Saturday Night Live”) will team up. Fey and Poehler worked together on “SNL” and co-starred in the movie “Baby Mama.”

“It's always fun to come up with unique pairings, cast reunions and surprising personalities as presenters on the Emmy show, and this year we've got a number of those,” said Emmy executive producer Ken Ehrlich. “And the good news is, we've got plenty more to come.”

Huffman won a best comedy series actress Emmy in 2005 and “Desperate Housewives” has received directing and other awards over the years. This year, guest actress nominations went to Polly Bergen and Kathryn Joosten and the show earned nods for costumes and hairstyling.

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