Emmy nominations are out, and it looks as if voters are thinking outside the box.
In finally nominating Tatiana Maslany of BBC America’s “Orphan Black” in the best actress category,the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences caught up with viewers in recognizing a marvelous performance in a genre series that isn’t on a major network.
Voters also showed an increased love for fantasy, showering HBO’s “Game of Thrones” with 24 nominations. Even though “Thrones” has earned noms in the past, its domination of the 67th Primetime Emmy Award nominations Thursday is an amazing feat for a fantasy series. FX’s “American Horror Story: Freak Show” had the second highest number of nods with 19.
The honor for Maslany is well-deserved. The Canadian actress plays multiple roles in the series about a sisterhood of clones, giving each character such a distinct personality and traits viewers often forget its the same actress in the roles.
Maslany likely will have to settle for being nominated for the first time. The Lead Actress-Drama category is one of the toughest this year. Viola Davis (“How to Get Away with Murder”) and Taraji P. Henson (“Empire”) gave the most buzz-worthy performances of the year. Besides Maslany, others nominated in the category are past winner Claire Danes (“Homeland”) and past nominees Elisabeth Moss (“Mad Men”) and Robin Wright (“House of Cards”).
With “Thrones” leading its charge, HBO ruled the nominations with 126. ABC earned 42 nods, the second highest number, while CBS and NBC each earned 41.
In another apparent sign voters are looking beyond traditional TV, streaming services made a strong showing Thursday. Netflix earned 34 nominations, seventh overall. Amazon Instant Video received 12 nominations, 11 of those coming from its wonderful comedy “Transparent.”
For all its nominations worthy of applause this time around—Lisa Kudrow, Amy Schumer and “Parks and Recreation” also earned nods—the Academy did miss a few no-brainers.
“The Americans” and its fine lead actors Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys were shut out. Speaking of FX shows, “Justified” and “Sons of Anarchy” were shunned in their final seasons. Boo-HISS.
Vincent D’Onofrio was spooky fabulous as big bad Wilson Fisk in “Marvel’s Daredevil” on Netflix, but failed to earn a nomination.
Starz’s romantic epic and fan favorite “Outlander” was shut out. The real crime here is the brave work by actors Sam Heughan and Tobias Menzes, who were fearless in depicting male rape and its repercussions. leading lady Caitrione Balfe also did wonderful work.
“Jane the Virgin” and its Golden Globe-winning leading lady, Gina Rodriguez, saw no love Thursday. Julianna Margulies and “The Good Wife” also were overlooked. Another CBS show and personal favorite of mine, “Madam Secretary,” and its star Tea Leoni, were shut out.
And while the final movie in the “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” series, titled “Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case,” was nominated through its Acorn TV premiere, the final season of “Foyle’s War” was not. David Suchet, who played famous detective Hercule Poirot in 70 productions over 25 years, and Michael Kitchen, as retired cop Christopher Foyle, also missed out.
How much can we complain, though? The Emmys become ever more competitive each year with so many programs on traditional TV and streaming services. It’s impossible to see, let alone recognize, all the good work. The best thing viewers can do is support their favorites by watching and showing love through social media. For many creating great TV, that’s reward enough.
The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony will air live Sept. 20 on Fox from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star Andy Samberg will host.
Emmy nominations
Here are select categories for the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards. Click here for a complete list Emmy nominees.
DRAMA
Series
- “Better Call Saul”
- “Downton Abbey”
- “Game of Thrones”
- “Homeland”
- “House of Cards”
- “Mad Men”
- “Orange is the New Black”
Lead actor
- Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
- Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”
- Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
- Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”
- Kyle Chandler, “Bloodline”
- Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”
Lead actress
- Claire Danes, “Homeland”
- Viola Davis, “How to Get Away With Murder”
- Taraji P. Henson, “Empire”
- Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black”
- Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”
- Robin Wright, “House of Cards”
Supporting actor
- Jonathan Banks, “Better Call Saul”
- Ben Mendelsohn, “Bloodline”
- Jim Carter, “Downton Abbey”
- Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”
- Alan Cumming, “The Good Wife”
- Michael Kelly, “House of Cards”
Supporting actress
- Joanne Froggatt, “Downton Abbey”
- Lena Headey, ‘Game of Thrones’ as Cersei Lannister
- Emilia Clarke, “Game of Thrones”
- Christine Baranski, “The Good Wife”
- Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”
- Uzo Aduba, “Orange Is the New Black”
Guest actor
- Alan Alda, “The Blacklist”
- Michael J. Fox, “The Good Wife”
- F. Murray Abraham, “Homeland”
- Reg E. Cathey, “House of Cards”
- Beau Bridges, “Masters of Sex”
- Pablo Schreiber, “Orange Is the New Black”
Guest actress
- Margo Martindale, “The Americans”
- Diana Rigg, “Game of Thrones”
- Rachel Brosnahan, “House of Cards”
- Cicely Tyson, “How To Get Away With Murder”
- Allison Janney, “Masters of Sex”
- Khandi Alexander, “Scandal”
Writing
- Joshua Brand, “The Americans”
- Gordon Smith, “Better Call Saul”
- David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, “Game of Thrones”
- Matthew Weiner, “Mad Men”
- Matthew Weiner,”Mad Men”
Directing
- Tim Van Patten, “Boardwalk Empire”
- David Nutter, “Game of Thrones”
- Jeremy Podeswa, “Game of Thrones”
- Lesli Linka Glatter, “Homeland”
- Steven Soderbergh, “The Knick”
COMEDY
Series
- “Louie”
- “Modern Family”
- “Parks and Recreation”
- “Silicon Valley”
- “Transparent”
- “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
- “Veep”
Lead actor
- Louis C.K., “Louie”
- Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”
- Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”
- Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
- Will Forte, “The Last Man on Earth”
- Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes”
Lead actress
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
- Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
- Lisa Kudrow, “The Comeback”
- Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”
- Amy Schumer, “Inside Amy Schumer”
- Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie”
Supporting actor
- Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
- Adam Driver, “Girls”
- Keegan-Michael Key, “Key & Peele”
- Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
- Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
- Tony Hale, “Veep”
Supporting actress
- Mayim Bialik, “The Big Bang Theory”
- Niecy Nash, “Getting On”
- Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
- Allison Janney, “Mom”
- Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
- Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent”
- Jane Krakowski, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
- Anna Chlumsky, “Veep”
Guest actor
- Mel Brooks, “The Comedians”
- Paul Giamatti, “Inside Amy Schumer”
- Bill Hader, “Saturday Night Live”
- Louis C.K., “Saturday Night Live”
- Bradley Whitford, “Transparent”
- Jon Hamm, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Guest actress
- Christine Baranski, “The Big Bang Theory”
- Gaby Hoffmann, “Girls”
- Pamela Adlon, “Louie”
- Elizabeth Banks, “Modern Family”
- Joan Cusack, “Shameless”
- Tina Fey, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Writing
- David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, “Episodes”
- Will Forte, “The Last Man On Earth”
- Louis C.K.,”Louie”
- Alec Berg, “Silicon Valley”
- Jill Soloway, “Transparent”
- Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche, “Veep”
Directing
- Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, “The Last Man On Earth”
- Louis C.K., “Louie”
- Mike Judge,”Silicon Valley”
- Jill Soloway, “Transparent”
- Armando Iannucci, “Veep”
LIMITED SERIES or TV MOVIE
Television movie
- “Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Curtain, Poirot’s Last Case”
- “Bessie”
- “Grace Of Monaco”
- “Hello Ladies: The Movie”
- “Killing Jesus”
- “Nightingale”
Limited series
- “American Crime”
- “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
- “The Honorable Woman”
- “Olive Kitteridge”
- “Wolf Hall”
Lead actor
- Richard Jenkins, “Olive Kitteridge”
- David Oyelowo, “Nightingale”
- Adrien Brody, “Houdini”
- Mark Rylance, “Wolf Hall”
- Ricky Gervias, “Derek”
Lead actress
- Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Honorable Woman
- Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story: Freak Show
- Felicity Huffman, “American Crime
- Queen Latifah, “Bessie
- Frances McDormand, “Olive Kitteridge
- Emma Thompson, “Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Live from Lincoln Center”
Supporting actor
- Richard Cabral, “American Crime”
- Denis O’Hare, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
- Finn Wittrock, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
- Michael Kenneth Williams, “Bessie”
- Bill Murray, “Olive Kitteridge”
- Damian Lewis, “Wolf Hall”
Supporting actress
- Regina King, “American Crime”
- Sarah Paulson, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
- Angela Bassett, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
- Kathy Bates, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
- Mo’Nique, “Bessie”
- Zoe Kazan, “Olive Kitteridge”
Writing
- John Ridley, “American Crime”
- Dee Rees, Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois and Horton Foote, “Bessie”
- Stephen Merchant, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, “Hello Ladies: The Movie”
- Hugo Blick, “The Honorable Woman”
- Jane Anderson, “Olive Kitteridge”
- Peter Straughan, “Wolf Hall”
Directing
- Ryan Murphy, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
- Dee Rees, “Bessie”
- Hugo Blick, “The Honorable Woman”
- Uli Edel, “Houdini”
- Tom Shankland, “The Missing”
- Lisa Cholodenko, “Olive Kitteridge”
- Peter Kosminsky, “Wolf Hall”
VARIETY
Variety series
- “The Colbert Report”
- “The Daily Show”
- “Jimmy Kimmel Live”
- “Last Week Tonight”
- “Late Show with David Letterman”
- “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”
Variety sketch series
- “Drunk History”
- “Inside Amy Schumer”
- “Key & Peele”
- “Portlandia”
- “Saturday Night Live”
REALITY
Reality competition program
- “The Voice”
- “Top Chef”
- “Dancing With the Stars”
- “The Amazing Race”
- “So You Think You Can Dance”
- “Project Runway”
Host for reality or reality-competition program
- Tom Bergeron, “Dancing With The Stars”
- Jane Lynch, “Hollywood Game Night”
- Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, “Project Runway”
- Cat Deeley, “So You Think You Can Dance”
- Anthony Bourdain, “The Taste”