‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Mr. Robot’ Lead 2016 Emmy Nominations

Game of Thrones, The People Vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story and Fargo received multiple nominations in major categories for the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards. Other notable nods include Mr. Robot‘s for Outstanding Drama Series and for actor Rami Malek, The People Vs. OJ Simpson for Outstanding Limited Series and recognitions for Cuba Gooding Jr., Courtney B. Vance and Sarah Paulson; The Americans for Outstanding Drama Series and for Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell; and Veep for Outstanding Comedy Series and for Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The awards ceremony, which Jimmy Kimmel will host, will be broadcast live from Los Angeles on ABC at 7 p.m. EST on September 18th.

Game of Thrones earned 23 nominations this year, one shy of its record-breaking year last year with 24. The People Vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story received the second most nominations (22), followed by Fargo (18).

Interesting snubs in major categories this year include ratings favorite The Big Bang Theory, Empire (save a nod for Taraji P. Henson), Orange Is the New Black, Lady Dynamite and Broad City. Also notable is the absence of Horace and Pete, Louis C.K.’s revolutionary website-only pay-per-view series; it received only a nomination for Laurie Metcalf’s guest appearance and one for editing.

As with recent years, the nominations reflect the changing television landscape. Premium cable channels and streaming services with buzzed-about prestige programming imbued many of the categories, while traditional over-the-air networks were comparatively hardly represented. In the Outstanding Comedy Series category, only Black-ish and Modern Family represented traditional networks. Meanwhile, only PBS was represented in drama for Downton Abbey.

Also notable is the number of high-quality shows nominated in the limited-series categories, making them some of the tightest competitions. Critical and popular favorites that cross genres, like The People Vs. OJ Simpson, Fargo, The Night Manager and the Roots revival, will all have to compete with one another.

The Television Academy named its nominations today at an event in Los Angeles. Black-ish star Anthony Anderson (who screamed when his nomination and co-star Tracee Ellis Ross’ nominations were announced) and Gilmore Girls alumna Lauren Graham announced nominations in each of the categories. This year’s nods cover shows that aired between June 1st, 2015 through May 31st of this year.

This year will mark the second time Jimmy Kimmel serves as the Emmys master of ceremonies, following his 2012 turn at the mic. “I am excited to be hosting the Emmys again,” he said in a statement. “I have a feeling I’m going to be great.”

Here are the nominations for the major categories of the 2016 Emmys:

The Nominees:
Outstanding Comedy Series

Black-ish

Master of None

Modern Family

Silicon Valley

Transparent

Veep

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Outstanding Drama Series

Homeland

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Mr. Robot

The Americans

Better Call Saul

Outstanding Miniseries

The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

American Crime

Roots

Fargo

The Night Manager


Outstanding Television Movie

All the Way

A Very Murray Christmas

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

Luther

Confirmation

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth

Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish

William H. Macy, Shameless

Aziz Ansari, Master of None

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer

Laurie Metcalf, Getting On

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Tracce Ellis Ross, Black-ish

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul 

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Kyle Chandler, Bloodline

Matthew Rhys, The Americans

Rami Malek, Mr. Robot

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder

Taraji P. Henson, Empire

Claire Danes, Homeland

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

Keri Russell, The Americans

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Bryan Cranston, All the Way

Courtney B. Vance, The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Idris Elba, Luther

Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager

Cuba Gooding Jr., The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Bendict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Felicity Huffman, American Crime

Sarah Paulson, The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Kerry Washington, Confirmation

Kirsten Dunst, Fargo

Lili Taylor, American Crime

Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul 

Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Kit Harrington, Game of Thrones

Michael Kelly, House of Cards

Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones

Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones

Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

Lena Headey, Game of Thrones

Maura Tienery, The Affair

Constance Zimmer, UnREAL

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Louis Anderson, Baskets

Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele

Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Matt Walsh, Veep

Tony Hale, Veep

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Niecy Nash, Getting On

Judith Light, Transparent

Allison Janney, Mom

Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent

Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Variety Talk Show

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Real Time With Bill Maher

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

The Late, Late Show With James Corden

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

The Amazing Race

Dancing With the Stars

Project Runway

American Ninja Warrior

Top Chef

The Voice