Stranger Things, Atlanta and The People Vs OJ Simpson duke it out in Directors Guild TV nominations while HBO dominates remaining main slots

HBO nabbed more than half of the top slots in the Director's Guild TV nominations unveiled on Thursday.

Episodes of Game Of Thrones, Westworld, Silicon Valley and Veep took up eight of the 15 main category nods.

The epic penultimate episode of GOT which saw the resurrected Jon Snow take on Ramsay Bolton for control of Winterfell - The Battle Of The Bastards - was named for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Drama Series.

Battle of the Bastards: HBO accounted for more than half of the top slots in the Director's Guild TV nominations unveiled on Thursday, including Game Of Thrones for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series

HBO also scored a slot for its introductory episode - The Original - to Westworld.

The Duffer brothers also scored a nom for Netflix, for Chapter One of Stranger Things: The Vanishing of Will Byers.

FX and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story meanwhile has two cracks at the Drama Series title; for its opening episode (From the Ashes of Tragedy) and episode five (The Race Card).

 HBO meanwhile owned all but on slot in the Comedy Series category, with two episodes each of Veep and Silicon Valley slurping up four nominations.

Duel: HBO also scored a slot for its introductory episode - The Original - to Westworld

Retro: The Duffer brothers also scored a nom for Netflix, for Chapter One of Stranger Things: The Vanishing of Will Byers

FX's Atlanta grabbed the remaining slot for creator, executive producer and star Donald Glover, for one of the just two episodes he also directed.

HBO also snagged two of the five slots in Movies For Television and Mini Series: for the first episode of The Night Of; and for All The Way - which saw Bryan Cranston play Lyndon B. Johnson in his tumultuous first year as president.

They run against ABC's Madoff, Fox's Grease Live! and NBC's Hairspray Live!

Twofer: FX and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story meanwhile has two cracks at the Drama Series title; for its opening episode (From the Ashes of Tragedy) and episode five (The Race Card)

Busy: FX's Atlanta grabbed the remaining slot for creator, executive producer and star Donald Glover, for one of the just two episodes he also directed

NBC also received a nod in the Regularly Scheduled Programming category for Dave Chappelle's long-awaited return to TV when he hosted Saturday Night Live's post-election show.

While in the Specials, James Corden's Late Late Show Karaoke Primetime Special was also named.

Amazon managed to wrap up three of the five nominations in the Children's Programming section; while The Eagle Huntress, Weiner and OJ: Made In America were among the Documentaries named. 

Owned it: HBO meanwhile owned all but on slot in the Comedy Series category, with two episodes each of Veep and Silicon Valley slurping up four nominations.

On a roll: Veep also won Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Drama Series last year

Last year HBO swept all three main awards with Game Of Thrones, Veep and the TV movie Bessie.

The 69th annual DGA Awards take place on February 4 at the Beverly Hilton, where Alien, Gladiator and Blade Runner director Ridley Scott will be presented with the lifetime achievement award.

The  Director's Guild will unveil its movie nominations on Friday. 

Honoured: The 69th annual DGA Awards take place on February 4 at the Beverly Hilton, where Alien, Gladiator and Blade Runner director Ridley Scott will be presented with the lifetime achievement award

The Directors Guild of America TV Awards nominations

DRAMA SERIES

Matt and Ross Duffer - Stranger Things (Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers) - Netflix

Ryan Murphy - The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (From the Ashes of Tragedy) - FX

Jonathan Nolan - Westworld (The Original) - HBO

Miguel Sapochnik - Game of Thrones (The Battle of the Bastards) - HBO

John Singleton - The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (The Race Card) - FX 

 

COMEDY SERIES

Alec Berg - Silicon Valley (Daily Active Users) - HBO

Donald Glover - Atlanta (B.A.N.) - FX

Mike Judge - Silicon Valley (Founder Friendly) - HBO

Becky Martin - Veep (Inauguration) - HBO

Dale Stern - Veep (Mother) - HBO 

 

MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINI SERIES

Raymond De Felitta - Madoff - ABC

Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski - Grease Live! - Fox

Kenny Leon and Alex Rudzinski - Hairspray Live! - NBC

Jay Roach - All the Way - HBO

Steven Zaillian - The Night Of (The Beach) - HBO 

 

VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

Paul G. Casey - Real Time With Bill Maher (Show #1437) - HBO

Nora Gerard - CBS Sunday Morning (Charles Osgood Farewell Broadcast) - CBS

Jim Hoskinson - The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Episode #0179) - CBS

Don Roy King - Saturday Night Live (Host: Dave Chappelle) - NBC

Paul Pennolino - Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (Episode #1030) - TBS 

 

VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – SPECIALS

 Jerry Foley - Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 – The Best is Yet to Come - NBC

Tim Mancinelli - The Late Late Show with James Corden (The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special) - CBS

Linda Mendoza - Smithsonian Salutes Ray Charles: In Performance at the White House - PBS

Paul Myers - Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (A Very Special Full Frontal Special) - TBS

Glenn Weiss - The 70th Annual Tony Awards - CBS 

 

REALITY PROGRAMS

Ken Fuchs - Shark Tank (801) - ABC

John Gonzalez - Live PD (Episode 5) - A&E

Brian Smith - STRONG (Welcome to STRONG) - NBC

J. Rupert Thompson - American Grit (The Finale, Over the Falls) - Fox

Bertram Van Munster - The Amazing Race (We’re Only Doing Freaky Stuff Wednesday) - CBS 

 

DOCUMENTARY

Otto Bell - The Eagle Huntress

Ezra Edelman - O.J.: Made in America

Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg - Weiner

Raoul Peck - I Am Not Your Negro

Roger Ross Williams - Life, Animated

 

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS

Liz Allen - The Kicks (Pilot) - Amazon

Alethea Jones - Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street (Gortimer and the Jacks of All Trades) - Amazon

Michael Lembeck - A Nutcracker Christmas - Hallmark Channel

Tina Mabry - An American Girl Story (Melody 1963: Love Has to Win) - Amazon

John Schultz - Adventures in Babysitting - Disney Channel

 

COMMERCIALS

Lance Acord - Frankie’s Holiday (Apple) / Movie Night (Kohl’s)

Dante Ariola - Hold Your Breath (SunTrust) / Riding is the New Driving (Lyft) / Tell Me When To Go (Beats)

Fredrik Bond - Dive (Apple) / Everyday Hero (Philips) / World of Play (LG)

Derek Cianfrance - Chase (Nike Golf) / Doubts (Powerade) / Expectations (Powerade) / Manifesto (Squarespace)

AG Rojas - The Best Planet (S7 Airlines) / The Snail (Samsung)

 

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