The 66th annual Primetime Emmys nominees were announced in Hollywood this morning by the Television Academy, who woke up Carson Daly and Mindy Kaling to list the names. As expected, Breaking Bad dominated drama categories for its final season and will get the best going away party in television history.
The Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama category is headlined by mostly returning nominees, with Masters of Sex’s Lizzy Caplan joining. The other nominees are Robin Wright (House of Cards); Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey); Claire Danes (Homeland); Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife); and Kerry Washington (Scandal).
On the actor side, there’s Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad); Kevin Spacey (House of Cards); Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom); and Jon Hamm (Mad Men). Both True Detective stars - Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson - were nominated as well.
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series shows that the TV Academy is finally taking the actors of Game of Thrones seriously. Lena Headey scored a nomination in the category, but she has tough competition. The other nominees are Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad); Joanne Froggatt and Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey); Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Christine Baranski (The Good Wife).
The top supporting actors are Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad); Jim Carter (Downton Abbey); Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones); Mandy Patinkin (Homeland); Jon Voight (Ray Donovan); and Josh Charles (The Good Wife).
The Outstanding Drama series nominees are mostly obvious picks. There’s Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Mad Men, Game of Thrones and House of Cards. True Detective is the only new show competing in the category. Also, there’s not a single network show nominated this year.
On the comedy side, the Outstanding Series nominees are Louie, Orange is the New Black, Modern Family, Silicon Valley, Veep and The Big Bang Theory.
Nominees for lead actor in a comedy are Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory); Louis C.K. (Louie); Matt LeBlanc (Episodes); William H. Macy (Shameless); Don Cheadle (House of Lies); and, surprisingly, Ricky Gervais (Derek).
The lead actress in a comedy nominees are Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep); Amy Poehler (Parks & Recreation); Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie); Lena Dunham (Girls); Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly); Taylor Schilling (OITNB).
Kate McKinnon was nominated in the supporting actress in a comedy category for Saturday Night Live. Her competition includes Anna Chlumsky (Veep); Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory); Kate Mulgrew (OITNB); Allison Janney (Mom); and Julie Bowen (Modern Family).
The top supporting actors are Adam Driver (Girls); Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine); Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Ty Burrell (Modern Family); Fred Armisen (Portlandia) and Tony Hale (Veep).
The people at Fox are going to be scratching their heads over Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s absence. After winning two Golden Globes, the freshman comedy’s only Emmy nod was for Braugher.
You can check out the other nominees at Emmys.com. The ceremony airs live on NBC on Aug. 25.
image courtesy of ACE/INFphoto.com