“Game of Thrones” reigned in the Emmy nominations Thursday with 24; “American Horror Story: Freak Show” got 19 with “House of Cards,” “Mad Men” and “Transparent” each getting 11.
“Thrones” is from the premium cable network HBO, which led all networks with 126 nominations; “Horror Story” is from FX, which led all commercial-supported cable with 38 nominations overall. “Mad Men” was from AMC, which got a respectable 24 nominations — and both “House of Cards” and “Transparent” are on Netflix, which is neither broadcast nor cable.
This was another year when broadcast networks, which have the most money and biggest reach, did relatively poorly in their Emmy bids, with no network represented among the prestigious best drama category for the fourth year running. Instead, the category features cable’s “Game of Thrones,” “Mad Men,” “Homeland” and newcomer “Better Call Saul” against Netflix entries “House of Cards and “Transparent” and PBS’ “Downton Abbey.”
Networks did slightly better at comedy, with “Modern Family” and the final season of “Parks and Recreation” up against two HBO comedies, “Veep” and “Silicon Valley” as well as “Louie,” Netflix’ “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and Amazon Prime’s “Transparent.” That meant a big bust for “Big Bang Theory,” the perennial CBS nominee; its Jim Parsons was also shut out after receiving the Emmy for lead actor in a comedy after winning four times, including last year.
HBO’s miniseries “Olive Kitteridge” earned 13 nominations; its film on Bessie Smith’s life, “Bessie,” got 12.
With favorites like “The Good Wife” shut out, ABC’s first season “American Crime” did the best of any broadcast drama with 10 nominations, listed not under drama but as a “limited series.” “Empire” disappointed some by earning only three nominations; “Boardwalk Empire,” by contrast, got 10.
Here’s the full list:
Outstanding Drama Series
- “Better Call Saul,” FX
- “Downton Abbey,” PBS
- “Game of Thrones,” HBO
- “Homeland,” Showtime
- “House of Cards,” Netflix
- “Mad Men,” AMC
- “Orange is the New Black,” Netflix
Outstanding Comedy Series
- “Louie,” FX
- “Modern Family,” ABC
- “Parks and Recreation,” NBC
- “Silicon Valley,” HBO
- “Transparent,” Amazon
- “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Netflix
- “Veep,” HBO
Lead Actor in a Drama
- Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul,” AMC
- Kyle Chandler, “Bloodline,” Netflix
- Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards,” Netflix
- Jon Hamm, “Mad Men,” AMC
- Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom,” HBO
- Live Schreiber, “Ray Donovan,” Showtime
Lead Actress in a Drama
- Taraji P. Henson, “Empire,” Fox
- Claire Danes, “Homeland,” Showtime
- Robin Wright, “House of Cards,” Netflix
- Viola Davis, “How to Get Away with Murder,” ABC
- Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men,” AMC
- Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black,” BBC America
Lead Actor in a Comedy
- Anthony Anderson, “blackish,” ABC
- Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes,” Showtime
- Don Cheadle, “House of Lies,” Showtime
- Will Forte, “The Last Man on Earth,” Fox
- Louis C.K., “Louie,” FX
- William C. Macy, “Shameless,” Showtime
- Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent,” Amazon
Lead Actress in a Comedy
- Lisa Kudrow, “The Comeback,” HBO
- Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie,” Netflix
- Amy Schumer, “Inside Amy Schumer,” Comedy Central
- Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie,” Showtime
- Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation,” NBC
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep,” HBO