‘Game of Thrones’ earns a leading 22 Emmy Award noms
Los Angeles — Game of Thrones” roared back onto the Emmy battlefield, topping Thursday’s nominations with 22 bids but with a formidable opponent in last year’s winner “The Handmaid’s Tale,” while a streaming platform made history by earning the most bids for the first time.
Netflix’s 112 nominations took away the front-runner title that HBO held since 2001, giving cable and broadcast networks more reason to fear their future in viewers as well as honors. HBO is no piker: It claimed 108 bids.
“Game of Thrones” helped boost the premium cable service’s total and became the most-nominated series of all time, with its 129 nods topping the 124 nominations earned by “ER.”
Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” was the top comedy series nominee the with 16 bids, poised to take advantage of the absence this time around of three-time winner “Veep.” “Atlanta” will face newcomers including “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Glow” and “Barry.” Others in the category include “black-ish,” “Silicon Valley,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”
The newbie comedies aced out long-time Emmy favorite “Modern Family,” a five-time winner and perennial nominee since it debuted in 2009 on ABC. Its absence leaves just one network contender for best comedy, ABC’s “black-ish,” which also earned nods for Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson, who noted his urban California roots.
“Being a kid from Compton, one could only dream of moments like this, so it’s truly a humbling experience right now,” Anderson said.
The short-lived revival of “Roseanne,” canceled because of star Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet, drew only one major nomination, a supporting actress nod for Laurie Metcalf. Another revival, “Will & Grace,” got Emmy love for nominees Megan Mullally and Molly Shannon but the main stars and series itself were snubbed.
“Killing Eve” star Sandra Oh made history of her own, becoming the first actress of Asian descent to be nominated for lead acting honors in a drama series. Oh had earned five supporting bids for “Grey’s Anatomy.”
The late Anthony Bourdain’s CNN series, “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” received a nomination in the category for best information series or special, which also includes shows with Leah Remini and David Letterman.
Among the notable first-time nominees: Issa Rae for “Insecure,” Darren Criss, Ricky Martin, Penelope Cruz and Edgar Ramirez for “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” Tiffany Haddish for “Saturday Night Live,” Letitia Wright for “Black Museum (Black Mirror)” and John Legend for “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.”
If Legend wins, he’ll join the rarified club of “EGOT” performers who’ve won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
“Saturday Night Live,” riding high with its relentless pillorying of the Trump administration, was rewarded with 21 nods.
HBO’s fantasy dragons-and-swords saga is a two-time best drama winner that sat out the last year’s awards because of its production schedule. Although it’s up for top series honors, it drew only three supporting actor bids for cast members Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Peter Dinklage.
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” the dystopian sci-fi series that claimed top drama honors last year, drew 20 bids, including one for last year’s best actress winner, Elisabeth Moss, and supporting bids for Alexis Bledel, Ann Dowd, Yvonne Strahovski and Joseph Fiennes.
“The reaction is beyond what you hoped, but in some ways it’s a testament to the alchemy that comes from a lot of people working together and putting their best work into it,” said “Handmaid’s” series executive producer Bruce Miller. “Everybody from the composer to the makeup people to everyone, so it’s such a team effort. That’s the wonderful thing about being recognized.
Other drama series contenders are “Westworld,” with an impressive 21 nods; “The Americans,” nominated for its final season and with nods for stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys; “The Crown,” “Stranger Things” and “This Is Us” from NBC, the only broadcast show to make the cut.
Shawn Levy, a producer of “Stranger Things,” got the good news after landing in New York following weeks of directing season three episodes in Georgia.
“We not only faced the burden of expectation given the show’s popularity, but we did want to top ourselves, we did not want to repeat ourselves,” he said. “Our deepest fear was complacency.”
Competing with Moss, Oh and Russell for lead drama actress are Claire Foy for “The Crown,” Tatiana Maslay of “Orphan Black” and Evan Rachel Wood of “Westworld.”
Rhys will be up against last year’s winner, Sterling K. Brown for “This Is Us,” along with his castmate Milo Ventimiglia; Jason Bateman for “Ozark” and Ed Harris and Jeffrey Wright for “Westworld.”
Brown is also nominated for guest actor for “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
The Emmys ceremony airs Sept. 17 on NBC with Colin Jost and Michael Che of “Saturday Night Live” as hosts.
Emmy Award nominees
Partial list of nominees for the annual Primetime Emmy Awards, announced Thursday by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. For the complete list, visit Emmys.com :
1. Comedy Series: “Atlanta,” “Barry,” “black-ish,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “GLOW,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Silicon Valley,” Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
2. Drama Series: “The Americans,” “The Crown,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Stranger Things,” “This Is Us,” “Westworld.”
3. Actor, Drama Series: Jason Bateman, “Ozark”; Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”; Ed Harris, “Westworld”; Matthew Rhys, “The Americans”; Milo Ventimiglia, “This Is Us”; Jeffrey Wright, “Westworld.”
4. Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, “Game of Thrones”; Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”; Joseph Fiennes, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; David Harbour, “Stranger Things”; Mandy Patinkin, “Homeland”; Matt Smith, “The Crown.”
5. Actress, Drama Series: Claire Foy, “The Crown”; Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black”; Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”; Keri Russell, “The Americans”; Evan Rachel Wood, “Westworld.”
6. Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Alexis Bledel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Millie Bobby Brown, “Stranger Things”; Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Lena Headey, “Game of Thrones”; Vanessa Kirby, “The Crown”; Thandie Newton, “Westworld”; Yzonne Strahovski, “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
7. Actor, Comedy Series: Anthony Anderson, “black-ish”; Ted Danson, “The Good Place”; Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; Donald Glover, “Atlanta”; Bill Hader, “Barry”; William H. Macy, “Shameless.”
8. Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Louie Anderson, “Baskets”; Alec Baldwin, “Saturday Night Live”; Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; Brian Tyree Henry, “Atlanta”; Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Kenan Thompson, “Saturday Night Live”; Henry Winkler, “Barry.”
9. Actress, Comedy Series: Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”; Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Allison Janney, “Mom”; Issa Rae, “Insecure”; Tracee Ellis Ross, “black-ish”; Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie.”
10. Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Zazie Beetz, “Atlanta”; Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Aidy Bryant, “Saturday Night Live”; Betty Gilpin, “GLOW”; Leslie Jones, “Saturday Night Live”; Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”; Laurie Metcalf, “Roseanne”; Megan Mullally, “Will & Grace.”
11. Limited Series: “The Alienist,” “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” “Genius: Picasso,” “Godless,” “Patrick Melrose.”
12. Actor, Limited Series or Movie: Antonio Banderas, “Genius: Picasso”; Darren Criss, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”; Benedict Cumberbatch, “Patrick Melrose”; Jeff Daniels, “The Looming Tower”; John Legend, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”; Jesse Plemons, “USS Callister (Black Mirrior)”
13. Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie: Jeff Daniels, “Godless”; Brandon Victor Dixon, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”; John Leguizamo, “Waco”; Ricky Martin, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”; Edgar Ramirez, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”; Michael Stuhlbarg, “The Looming Tower”; Finn Wittrock, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.”
14. Actress, Limited Series or Movie: Jessica Biel, “The Sinner”; Laura Dern, “The Tale”; Michelle Dockery, “Godless”; Edie Falco, “Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders”; Regina King, “Seven Seconds”; Sarah Paulson, “American Horror Story: Cult.”
15. Supporting Actress, Limited Series or Movie: Sara Bareilles, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”; Penelope Cruz, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”; Judith Light, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”; Adina Porter, “American Horror Story: Cult”; Merritt Wever, “Godless”; Letitia Wright, “Black Museum (Black Mirror).”
16. Guest Actor in a Comedy Series: Sterling K. Brown, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”; Bryan Cranston, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; Donald Glover, “Saturday Night Live”; Bill Hader, “Saturday Night Live”; Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; Katt Williams, “Atlanta.”
17. Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey, “Saturday Night Live”; Tiffany Haddish, “Saturday Night Live”; Jane Lynch, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Maya Rudolph, “The Good Place”; Molly Shannon, “Will & Grace”; Wanda Sykes, “black-ish.”
18. Guest Actor in a Drama Series: F. Murray Abramson, “Homeland”; Cameron Britton, “Mindhunter”; Matthew Goode, “The Crown,” Ron Cephas Jones, “This Is Us”; Gerald McRaney, “This Is Us”; Jimmi Simpson, “Westworld.”
19. Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Viola Davis, “Scandal”; Kelly Jenrette, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Cherry Jones, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Diana Rigg, “Game of Thrones”; Cicely Tyson, “How to Get Away With Murder”; Samira Wiley, “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
20. Television Movie: “Fahrenheit 451,” “Flint,” “Paterno,” “The Tale,” “USS Callister (Black Mirror).”
21. Variety Talk Series: “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah,” “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
22. Variety Sketch Series: “At Home With Amy Sedaris,” “Drunk History,” “I Love You, America With Sarah Silverman,” “Portlandia,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Tracy Ullman’s Show.”
23. Structured Reality Program: “Antiques Roadshow,” “Fixer Upper,” “Lip Sync Battle,” “Queer Eye,” “Shark Tank,” “Who Do You Think You Are?
24. Unstructured Reality Program: “Born This Way,” “Deadliest Catch,” “Intervention,” “Naked and Afraid,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked,” “United States of America with Kamau Bell.”
25. Reality-Competition Program: “The Amazing Race,” “American Ninja Warrior,” “Project Runway,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Top Chef,” “The Voice”