Game Of Thrones leads the Emmy nominations with 24 nods as Mad Men, Transparent, and Orange Is The New Black vie for TV gold
- Game Of Thrones goes head-to-head with drama heavyweight Mad Men, which said farewell after seven seasons this spring
- Transparent is in competition with VEEP and Silicon Valley for best comedy series
- Claire Danes and Taraji P Henson vie for lead actress in a drama series
- Jon Hamm goes against House Of Card's Kevin Spacey in the lead actor category for a dramatic series
- Game Of Thrones stars Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke are in competition for Best Supporting Actress
Game Of Thrones led the Emmy Award nominations, which were announced on Thursday morning, with 24 nods.
While Mad Men may pick up its fifth Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, after airing its seventh and final season earlier this year.
The 2015 Emmy Award nominations were announced in Los Angeles by Cat Deeley and Uzo Aduba.
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Taking the lead: Game Of Thrones led the Emmy Award nominations announcement on Thursday morning with 24 nods
Competing for Outstanding Drama was Better Call Saul, Downton Abbey, Game Of Thrones, Homeland, House Of Cards, and Orange Is The New Black.
Uzo and Cat gathered at the SilverScreen Theater in LA's Pacific Design Center. Deeley is best known for her reality show So You Think You Can Dance and Aduba is a star on Orange Is The New Black.
Both women were announced as nominees - Uzo for OITNB and Deeley for So You Think You Can Dance - at the press conference.
Leading ladies: The 2015 Emmy Award nominations were announced on Thursday morning by Cat Deeley and Uzo Aduba
Nominees as well: Cat and Uzo both were acknowledged for their TV work during the announcements
Fantasy saga Game Of Thrones received a leading 24 Emmy Awards nominations on Thursday, its stature apparently untouched by backlash over a female character's rape scene.
The series is a contender again for top drama honours, an award that has eluded it since it debuted in 2011. TV academy voters rarely give shows in the sci-fi or other genres the ultimate accolade, with Lost among the rare exceptions.
Emmy-nominee Julia Louis-Dreyfus joked upon the announcement of this year's nominees that she doesn't have time to watch television, but she's clearly a Mad Men fan.
'As President, my staff and I are too busy doing the people's business to watch television,' Louis-Dreyfus wrote in a statement issued roughly 10 minutes after the nominations were announced.
'Nonetheless, we are thrilled to be a part of this celebration of creativity. (Go Jon Hamm!)'.
Fitting end: Mad Men may pick up its fifth Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, after airing its seventh and final season earlier this year
In competition: Claire Danes (Homeland) and Taraji P. Henson (Empire) go head-to-head for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
Better Call Saul: Bob Odenkirk is nominated for best actor in a dramatic series
As soon as the Emmy nominations were announced, a love fest erupted on Twitter between first-time nominees Amy Schumer and Tatiana Maslany.
Schumer, nominated for lead actress in a comedy series for Inside Amy Schumer, started it. She tweeted to Maslany, 'ahhhhhhh!!! #notsnubbed.'
Maslany, up for lead actress in a drama series for her work on Orphan Black, responded with, 'YOU!!! YOU CONGRATULATIONS! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!! You're my favourite one :),' followed by an unpublishable hashtag.
Leading the way: Jeffrey Tambor was nominated for his role in Transparent, which also got a nod for best comedy series
Woman in charge! Julia Louis-Dreyfus got a nod for her role in VEEP, which also nabbed a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series
The TV academy took a step toward recognizing television's increasing embrace of diverse talent, giving best actress nods to black stars Taraji P. Henson for Empire and Viola Davis for How To Get Away With Murder.
That sets up a possibility of a history-making win: An African-American actress has never won the top drama acting award. However, two-time nominee Kerry Washington of Scandal was left out this year.
‘I gotta win! I gotta win for history!’ an exuberant Henson said in May when asked about the prospect during an Empire panel.
We are all ecstatic about the #EmmyNoms for #InsideAmy I am celebrating! #giammati #12angrymen #directing #writing pic.twitter.com/SRZf5KC88v
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) July 16, 2015
No to Fox Hunting and Yes to Emmy nomination. My bestest week ever! #Derek pic.twitter.com/0AysUlMgie
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) July 16, 2015
#CloneClub & #clonesbians, this bud's for you. Thanks buddies :)
— Tatiana Maslany (@tatianamaslany) July 16, 2015
However, two-time nominee Kerry Washington, the black star of Scandal, was left out this year.
Also snubbed: freshman hit hip-hop-family drama Empire, which was left out of the best drama series category, and series star Terrence Howard, who failed to get a best drama actor bid.
Instead, voters gave nods to favourites such as Mad Men star Jon Hamm, Spacey of House of Cards and newcomer Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul. The prequel to the now-concluded Breaking Bad earned a best drama bid in its first season out.
Gina Rodriguez, the standout Latina star of Jane the Virgin, failed to get a comedy acting nod - despite winning a Golden Globe award for her performance.
He's taking over the world: Kevin Spacey is vying for TV gold with his Netflix series House Of Cards
Breakout: Amy Schumer's Inside Amy Schumer was given a nod by the prestigious awards show
The relatively expansive ethnic diversity that TV offers - compared to movies, which honoured only white actors this year - also is in play when it comes to sexuality. Transparent and Jeffrey Tambor's portrayal of a transsexual's life received best comedy series and acting bids.
Other top awards are American Horror Story: Freak Show, with 19 nominations; TV movies Olive Kittridge and Bessie, with 13 and 12 bids, respectively; and House of Cards, Mad Men and Transparent with 11 nominations.
Programs getting a last chance for Emmy glory include best drama series nominee Mad Men, a four-time winner in the category that would be the most-honoured drama ever with a fifth trophy. For star Hamm's portrayal of Don Draper, it's a final shot after seven previous nominations.
Top of the comedies: Anthony Anderson is nominated for his lead role in Blackish
Special nod: Ricky Gervais' limited series Derek Special was also acknowledged
David Letterman, who retired from Late Show, and Stephen Colbert, who left The Colbert Report to succeed Letterman this fall, both received variety talk show nominations for their former shows.
Late Show was last nominated in 2009 as best variety, music or comedy series and last won in 2002. Colbert's show won in 2014.
They're both getting a break: the TV academy split the variety series category into two, one for variety talk shows and one for variety or sketch series like Saturday Night Live, making space for more contenders in each.
First timer: Tina Fey's new show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt got a nod
Favourite: Modern Family is nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, after airing its final season
On the comedy series side, perennial TV academy favourite Modern Family is nominated again, along with Louie, Silicon Valley, Transparent, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Veep.
Modern Family has won in the category a record-tying (with Frasier) five times.
Besides Hamm and Odenkirk, others vying for best drama actors are Kyle Chandler of Bloodline, Spacey in House of Cards, Jeff Daniels from The Newsroom and Liev Schreiber in Ray Donovan.
In the drama actress field, Henson and Davis will compete with Robin Wright of House of Cards, Claire Danes in Homeland, Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men, and Tatiana Maslany of Orphan Black.
Will she take the gold? Elisabeth Moss is in the best actress category for Mad Men
She earned it: Lena Headey got a Best Supporting actress nod for Game Of Thrones
The presentation began at 8:30 am PST, which is a big change from previous years when the nominations were read at 5:30 am.
The Emmy Awards honour the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2014 until May 31, 2015, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
The ceremony will air live on Fox on September 20 from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Andy Samberg, SNL alum, music satirist, and Brooklyn Nine Nine star, will be the host the star-studded show.
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