Earlier this morning, the 2015 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations were announced. Surprisingly, HBO’s Game of Thrones garnered the most nominations with 24 total, including Best Drama series and supporting actor and actress nominations for Peter Dinglage, Lena Headey, and Emilia Clarke.
But does this mean that the Emmy tide has turned and Game of Thrones will finally walk away with the biggest prize in television? Probably not. Emmy voters have an annoying tendency to vote for the same shows over and over again. And while Breaking Bad may be gone, its prequel spinoff series, Better Call Saul may be the preferred show of Emmy voters. Also competing for Best Drama are House of Cards, Downton Abbey, Homeland, and Orange is the New Black; which has successfully transitioned from the Best Comedy category after it was ruled ineligible this year.
Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany finally scored an Emmy nomination for Best Lead Actress in a drama for playing several characters on that show. Maslany will be going up against Emmy veterans Robin Wright (House of Cards), Claire Danes (Homeland), and Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) addition to Emmy newcomers Viola Davis (How To Get Away With Murder) and Taraji P. Henson (Empire).
For Outstanding Lead Actor, Kyle Chandler returned to the category for his Netflix drama, Bloodlines opposite Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Kevin Spacey (House of Cards), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom), and Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan).
In the Best Comedy category, Modern Family will defend its crown against Louie, Parks and Recreation, Silicon Valley, Transparent, Veep, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Anthony Anderson was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy for Black-ish; alongside Matt LeBlanc (Episodes), Don Cheadle (House of Lies), Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth), Louis C.K. (Louie), William H. Macy (Shameless), and Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent).
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) will probably walk away with the Best Lead Actress in a Comedy award once again. But to take home her sixth Emmy award, Louis-Dreyfus will have to get past Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback), Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie), Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer), Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), and Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation).
The complete list of the 2015 Emmy Nominees is reproduced on the next page. Fair warning, it’s a very long list!
