Nominations For the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
The nominations for the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards have just been announced, and as usual, there are a few unexpected surprises to be found in the extensive list of nominees. What's not unexpected however is that "Game of Thrones" has dominated with a whopping 23 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, two nods for Best Director (Drama), Best Writing (Drama), two nods for Supporting Actor in a Drama (Peter Dinklage and Kit Harington), and three nods for Supporting Actress in a Drama (Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, and Maisie Williams).
As we look at the rest of the Drama nominees, we find that "The Americans" has finally managed to snag a space in the very crowded field, in addition to newcomer "Mr. Robot." The rest of them are ones that were fully expected to make a return to the category, especially "Downton Abbey," which recently finished its final season.
As for the Comedy Series nominations, ""black-ish" and "Master of None" are the newcomers here among the usual shows like "Veep," "Modern Family," and "Silicon Valley." Can we expect "Veep" to continue its reign here, or will one of the newbies take control their first time out?
Once more I'll be rooting for "Game of Thrones" to dominate its categories all the way, and while I believe it has a great chance at taking Outstanding Drama Series, Best Director (Drama), and perhaps the Supporting Acting categories, I'm still left puzzled by HBO's bizarre decision to submit only the "Battle of the Bastards" episode for writing. Common sense says that an episode that is almost entirely battles doesn't have much of a chance when it comes to writing, so its chances here don't appear to be strong (unless the Television Academy just wants to vote for any episode of the show they can). A much more logical choice would have been to submit the brilliantly written season finale, "The Winds of Winter," which would have practically guaranteed a win for the category.
That being said, it's merely a small complaint among the ton of nods it received. Celebrations are in order for the unexpected nominations for Kit Harington, Maisie Williams, and Max Von Sydow (Guest Actor). Will we once again be celebrating a "Game of Thrones" victory this year? We'll just have to wait until the ceremony on Sunday, September 18th to find out!
Until then, you can find a list of the major nominations below, and you can download a PDF of the complete nominations right here.
Outstanding Drama Series
The Americans
Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mr. Robot
Outstanding Comedy Series
black-ish
Master of None
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
Lead Actor in a Drama
Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Lead Actress in a Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Keri Russell, The Americans
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Supporting Actor in a Drama
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Kit Harington, Game of Thrones
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
Supporting Actress in a Drama
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Dame Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Maura Tierney, The Affair
Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones
Constance Zimmer, UnREAL
Lead Actor in a Comedy
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
William H. Macy, Shameless
Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Lead Actress in a Comedy
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Laurie Metcalf, Getting On
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Louie Anderson, Baskets
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tony Hale, Veep
Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele
Matt Walsh, Veep
Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent
Allison Janney, Mom
Judith Light, Transparent
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Niecy Nash, Getting On
Follow me on Twitter @BeckFilmCritic and be sure to subscribe for the latest updates.