FX’s perpetually miscategorized recurring miniseries “American Horror Story” and HBO’s epic fantasy series “Game of Thrones” were atop the list of nominees for the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, while nobody could compete with with Louis C.K. for individual nods.
The nominations were announced on Thursday (July 18) morning in Hollywood by Aaron Paul and Emmy host Neil Patrick Harris, who was a last-minute fill-in for the indisposed Kate Mara.
In total, FX’s “American Horror Story” picked up 17 nominations, including a nomination for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, where it will go up against “Behind the Candelabra,” “The Bible,” “Phil Spector” and “Top of the Lake.”
“AHS: Asylum” also earned acting nominations for James Cromwell, Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson and Jessica Lange.
“Behind the Candelabra” wasn’t far behind in the nomination count with 15, including nods for stars Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, co-star Scott Bakula and for Steven Soderbergh as director and (under the name Peter Andrews) cinematographer.
“Game of Thrones” had the most nominations of any drama series, as the HBO hit boosted its nomination total to 16 and will go up against “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” “Downton Abbey,” last year’s winner “Homeland” and, in a history maker, Netflix’s “House of Cards.”
In addition to the usual acting nomination for former winner Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones” expanded its acting nomination reach to include Emilia Clarke and Diana Rigg, while series showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were nominated for writing “The Rains of Castamere”
“Breaking Bad” was close behind with 13 nominations, including nods for a wide swath of its stars.
Multiple winner Bryan Cranston will be up for Lead Actor in a Drama against Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Daniels, Hugh Bonneville and last year’s winner Damian Lewis.
Both Aaron Paul and Jonathan Banks are up for Supporting Actor in a Drama, against Dinklage, Jim Carter, “Homeland” co-star Mandy Patinkin and Bobby Cannavale for “Boardwalk Empire,” while Anna Gunn will take on Clarke, Christine Baranski, Morena Baccarin, Christina Hendricks and last year’s winner Maggie Smith.
Last year’s winner Claire Danes of “Homeland” will be up for Lead Actress in a drama against Michelle Dockery, Robin Wright for “House of Cards,” Elisabeth Moss, Connie Britton for “Nashville,” Kerry Washington for “Scandal” and Vera Farmiga for “Bates Motel.” Yes, that’s a seven-actress field, but it couldn’t find room for Tatiana Maslany of “Orphan Black” or former winners Julianna Margulies and Glenn Close.
On the drama side, “Downton Abbey” and “Mad Men” received 12 nominations and “Homeland” picked up 11. HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” earned 10 nods, though it fell out of the Drama Series category and saw Steve Buscemi fail to get a Lead Actor nod for the first time.
Your leading comedy nominee was “30 Rock,” which picked up 13 nods for its final season, including Comedy Series, where it will go against “Modern Family,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Girls,” “Louie” and “Veep.”
Tina Fey will go up against Amy Poehler, Lena Dunham, “Enlightened” star Laura Dern and former winners Edie Falco and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, while her co-star Alec Baldwin guns for another win against Don Cheadle, Matt LeBlanc, Jim Parsons, Jason Bateman for “Arrested Development” and Louis C.K.
Now would be a good place to mention that Louis C.K. earned a whopping nine individual nominations (or will be up to nine once producers are listed for series nominations). In addition to his acting and producing nods on “Louie,” he snagged writing and directing nominations. He earned a Guest Actor in a Comedy nod for his appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” while his HBO special “Oh My God” is up for Variety Special, writing, directing and editing. That’s a lot.
Perennial comedy favorite “Modern Family” slipped to a comparatively meager 12 nominations this year.
No, you shouldn’t cry for “Modern Family,” but Eric Stonestreet dropped out of the Comedy Supporting Actor field, where his co-stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ed O’Neill and Ty Burrell are up against Adam Driver for “Girls,” Bill Hader for “SNL” and Tony Hale for “Veep.”
“Veep” showed added strength in its second season with Anna Chlumsky going against “Modern Family” co-stars Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara, “Big Bang Theory” favorite Mayim Bialik, returnee Jane Lynch for “Glee,” Jane Krakowski for “30 Rock” and “Nurse Jackie” co-star Merritt Wever in another seven-actress field.