By BILL HIGGINS

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'Desperate Housewives' ' Eva Longoria looks all grown up next to 'Entourage's' Jeremy Piven.

Emmy arrivals braved some serious traffic and were quick to praise what seems like the return of network television.

" 'Lost' and 'Desperate Housewives' brought viewers back," said Warner's TV topper Peter Roth. "I applaud them." But, he said, "I'm still partial to 'The West Wing.' "

"What makes this year unusual is we're coming into this show with two bona fide hits," said UTA's Jay Sures. "This is great for the TV business."

Emmy arrivals took place after what seemed like more traffic problems than usual. Many guests coming just before showtime walked the last few blocks.

"We got out on Flower," said John Wells just before 5 p.m. "There were hundreds of cars out there."

Lewis Black said the traffic problems made him realize "what went wrong in Louisiana. If you can't deliver rich people in limos on time, how are you going to deal with chaos?"

If there's one significant difference between the Emmys and other award shows, it's the seemingly never-ending flow of invitees walking down the red carpet. There are times when the scene looks like a mix between a black-tie Woodstock and a human cattle drive.

A few times a frustrated announcer resorted to saying, "Your seat fillers are eyeing your seats enviously," and "There's free ice cream inside the theater! And it's beginning to melt!" as a way to keep the crowd moving.

ATAS prexy Todd Leavitt said Saturday that not all the Shrine's top tier seats would be occupied, but the event is "substantially sold-out." This in a building with a capacity of 6,300. In comparison, the Oscars at the Kodak Theatre top out at 3,300 guests; and the Golden Globes at the BevHilton maxes at 1,250 (or at least that's what the fire marshal is told).

Leavitt said the guest list was valid for his large membership ("We don't paper the house"); that it's not open to the general public; and ATAS is "policing eBay to make sure no one is selling tickets."

Of more concern to him were the ratings. "The numbers last year were a problem," he said. (The show averaged 14 million viewers -- the smallest aud since 1990.)

Leavitt said one challenge to this year's ratings was CBS' decision not to go with a pre-show on the East Coast because it would have preempted "60 Minutes."

"We had to hammer tune-in promotion," Leavitt said. "A pre-show gives you a lot of traffic. We had to build awareness and we used everything from in-flight promos on United Airlines to ads in People magazine."

As for not bumping "60 Minutes" (on the West coast) Dan Rather said with a smile: "Maybe they wanted the lead-in."

Another news man on the red carpet was Tom Brokaw, who said he felt "slightly alienated" being there.

"This is for the entertainment and sitcom side of the business," Brokaw said. "We're at the other end of the spectrum. We're the 'eat your spinach' crowd."

Certainly the intense focus on fluff did not change at this year's Emmys. One TV producer said: "All we care about is what they wore and who they arrive with."

"If we wanted a monarchy in this country, why don't we have it?" Black asked rhetorically. "This is what we do instead."