Game of Thrones leads Emmy nominations
July 16, 2015
Game of Thrones - based on George R. R. Martin's fantasy novels - picked up 24 nominations for the 2015 Emmys on Wednesday.
The Oscars of the television industry once again shortlisted the HBO show for "Outstanding Drama Series,” a prize that has eluded it since it debuted in 2011.
The series is currently in production for Season 6, which will air in the US in 2016.
But critics warned that Emmys' voters rarely give sci-fi and similar genre shows the ultimate accolade.
Empire snubbed
“American Horror: Freak Show” and mini-series “Olive Kitteridge” were the second and third-highest with 19 and 13 nominations respectively.
Competing with “Game of Thrones” for top drama series are “Mad Men,” “Homeland,” “Downton Abbey” and “House of Cards.”
But the much-lauded hip-hop family drama “Empire” failed to get nominated for best series.
Top comedy nominations went to “Modern Family,” “Veep,” “Louie,” “Transparent” and the brand new “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”
Netflix surges
This year's Emmys reflected the rise of streaming video services like Netflix and Amazon because not one series aired by traditional, terrestrial broadcasters got a nomination for “Oustanding Drama.”
Netflix won 34 nominations, including for “House of Cards,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “Orange is the New Black.”
Amazon picked up 11 nominations, mostly for its transgender comedy series “Transparent.”
Half of this year's lead actor shortlisters were first-time nominees including Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”) and Kyle Chandler (“Bloodline”).
Audience favorites Kevin Spacey and Jeff Daniels were also nominated for the lead actor gong.
Best drama actress nods were given to Taraji P. Henson (“Empire”), and Viola Davis for (“How to Get Away with Murder”) along with Queen Latifah ("Bessie") and Jessica Lange ("American Horror Story: Freak Show") for best actress in a mini-series or movie.
David Letterman, who retired from "Late Show," and Stephen Colbert, who quit "The Colbert Report" to succeed Letterman later this year, both received variety talk show nominations for their former shows.
mm/jil (AP, Reuters)