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It’s the official start of TV’s Oscar season with the 66th annual Emmy nominations out this morning. The Emmys — much like the PromaxBDA Awards do for TV marketers — give networks, studios and programmers the opportunity to promote their creative excellence and thus drive viewers to their shows.
HBO was again the most-nominated network, with 99 total nominations, down from last year’s 108, followed by CBS with 47, NBC with 46 and FX with 45.
With the proliferation of TV platforms and on-demand programming, the competition for Emmy nominations and awards is tighter than ever. This year, even with several new possibilities in the mix, Emmy mostly went with established favorites. Below Brief lists the key nominations and handicaps the major races.
Outstanding Drama Series
“Breaking Bad”
“Downton Abbey”
“Game of Thrones”
“House of Cards”
“Mad Men”
“True Detective”
Possibly the toughest category in television. The only new show on this list is HBO’s “True Detective,” which has a real possibly to take it all. AMC’s “Breaking Bad” is the incumbent, and with its triumphant five seasons now in the can (and AMC rerunning the whole series right as the Academy is voting), it has a great chance of repeating.
One possible upset: HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” which had the most nominations of any series, 19, after its most successful season yet. That said, “Game of Thrones” wasn’t strong in the acting acting categories, although past winner Peter Dinklage and past nominee Lena Headey are both nominated in supporting actor categories.
Because this category is so competitive, several critical favorites were overlooked, including FX’s “The Americans,” which also failed to garner noms in the main acting categories; CBS’ “The Good Wife,” widely considered to have just concluded its best season yet; and Showtime’s past winner, “Homeland.”
Outstanding Comedy Series
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Louie”
“Modern Family”
“Orange is the New Black”
“Silicon Valley”
“Veep”
Comedy is perhaps the category most in need of shaking-up, considering that ABC’s “Modern Family” has won for the past four years in a row. As a sign of “Modern Family’“s weakness, only three of its cast members were nominated in supporting actor categories this year, instead of five or six, as has been the case in past years.
While Lena Dunham and Adam Driver were nominated for HBO’s “Girls,” the show itself was not. Instead, the Academy voted in another HBO comedy, newcomer “Silicon Valley.” Other snubs in this category include NBC’s “Parks and Rec,” Fox’s “Brooklyn 99,” and Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” and “Shameless,” which lobbied the Academy this year to change categories.
Netflix opted to enter hour-long series, “Orange is the New Black,” as a comedy, and that choice already paid off, with the show receiving 12 nominations, including lead actress in a comedy.
Outstanding Miniseries
“American Horror Story: Coven”
“Bonnie & Clyde”
“Fargo”
“Luther”
“Treme”
“The White Queen”
With the resurgence of limited and mini-series on TV, The TV Academy this year elected to split movies from mini-series. For the past three years, the two categories have been combined because there were not enough entries to justify two categories.
While FX was shut-out in the drama category, it made up a lot of ground here, with “Fargo” receiving 18 nominations and “American Horror Story: Coven” receiving 17.
“Fargo,” with excellent performances all-around and especially lead actor in a mini-series nominee Billy Bob Thornton, is the front-runner here.
Outstanding TV Movie
“Killing Kennedy”
“Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight”
“The Normal Heart”
“Sherlock: His Last Vow”
“The Trip to Bountiful”
HBO’s “The Normal Heart,” with acting nominations for the entire cast and 16 total nominations is the likely winner in this category, although “The Trip to Bountiful” also earned a nomination for Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Lead Actor in a Drama
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
Woody Harrelson, “True Detective”
Matthew McConaughey, “True Detective”
Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”
This category will end up being a battle between three-time Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston and this year’s Oscar winner, Matthew McConaughey. Cranston has nostalgia on his side, as well as the possibility that the TV Academy wants to give him an Emmy to recognize his amazing work over “Breaking Bad"’s five seasons. That said, McConaughey’s transformative turn on “True Detective,” combined with his overall stellar year, will hard to ignore. Heck, even his co-star, Woody Harrelson, is voting for him.
The rest of this list was to be expected, even if most critics would have much preferred to see “The Americans"’ Matthew Rhys in place of last year’s surprise winner, “The Newsroom"’s Jeff Daniels.
Lead Actress in a Drama
Lizzy Caplan, “Masters of Sex”
Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Michelle Dockery, “Downton Abbey”
Julianna Marguiles, “The Good Wife”
Kerry Washington, “Scandal”
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”
This category is harder to call than the men but Vegas odds are on “House of Cards"’ Robin Wright, who stole the show right out from under two-time Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey this season.
Danes has won this award twice, but “Homeland” was widely considered to be uneven last season and the Academy did not nominate either the show or Danes’ co-star Damien Lewis, both of which are also past winners.
Margulies has won before, and should be considered a contender here. While the Academy and audiences love Kerry Washington, “Scandal’“s soapiness overshadows her performance gets overshadowed. And repeat nominee Dockery, much like “Mad Men"’s Jon Hamm, turns in such an understated performance that she tends to get overlooked in favor of flashier roles.
A welcome addition in this category is “Masters of Sex"’s Lizzy Caplan, who was the heart of the Showtime drama. Critics are crying about the lack of recognition for two favorites: “Orphan Black"’s Tatiana Maslany and “The Americans”’ Keri Russell.
Lead Actor in a Comedy
Louis CK, “Louie”
Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”
Ricky Gervais, “Derek”
Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”
This category is arguably weak, with five of the six nominees coming from little-seen shows. Only this year’s two-time nominee, Jim Parsons, comes from a show that is actually widely watched - and that’s why Parsons is likely to win his third trophy for CBS’ blockbuster “The Big Bang Theory.”
Lead Actress in a Comedy
Lena Dunham, “Girls”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Melissa McCarthy, “Mike & Molly”
Amy Poehler, “Parks & Recreation”
Taylor Schilling, “Orange is the New Black”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the two-time winner in this category and season three of “Veep” was just as strong as seasons one and two, making her a strong bet to repeat.
Dunham, Falco, McCarthy and Poehler are all repeat nominees, with Falco and McCarthy both having won previously. Schilling is the only newcomer in this category.
For a full list of Emmy nominations, go here.
Image, of “Game of Thrones,” courtesy of HBO and Zap2It.
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