'Americans,' 'Game of Thrones,' 'Downton' on Emmy Short List for Best Drama

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The Emmy nominations were announced in Los Angeles this morning, with Outstanding Drama noms for FX’s The Americans, AMC’s Better Call Saul, PBS’ Downton Abbey, HBO’s Game of Thrones, Showtime’s Homeland, Netflix’s House of Cardsand USA’s Mr. Robot.

The Outstanding Comedy short list includes ABC’s black-ish and Modern Family, Netflix’s Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, HBO’s Silicon Valley and Veep, and Amazon’s Transparent.

This year’s awards telecast, the 68th Emmys, airs Sept. 18 on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel hosts.

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Anthony Anderson and Lauren Graham announced the nominees.

HBO’s Game of Thrones tallied the most nominations (23), while FX limited series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and Fargo received 22 and 18 nominations, respectively.

Best actor, drama is between Kyle Chandler of Netflix’s Bloodline, Rami Malek of USA’s Mr. Robot, Bob Odenkirk of AMC’s Better Call Saul, Matthew Rhys of FX’s The Americans, Kevin Spacey of Netflix’s House of Cards and Liev Schreiber of Showtime’s Ray Donovan.

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Best actress, drama is between Claire Danes of Showtime’s Homeland, Viola Davis of ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder, Taraji P. Henson from Fox’s Empire, Tatiana Maslany of BBC America’s Orphan Black, Keri Russell from The Americans and Robin Wright from House of Cards.

Best limited series is between ABC’s American Crime, FX’s Fargo, AMC’s The Night Manager, FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson and History’s Roots.

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Best actor, comedy is between Anthony Anderson of black-ish, Aziz Ansari of Master of None, Will Forte from Fox’s The Last Man on Earth, William H. Macy from Showtime’s Shameless, Thomas Middleditch from Silicon Valley and Jeffrey Tambor of Transparent.

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Best actress, comedy is between Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Veep, Laurie Metcalf of HBO’s Getting On, Ellie Kemper of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Tracee Ellis Ross from black-ish, Amy Schumer from Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer and Lily Tomlin from Netflix’s Grace and Frankie.

"Television dominates the entertainment conversation and is enjoying the most spectacular run in its history with breakthrough creativity, emerging platforms and dynamic new opportunities for our industry's storytellers," said Bruce Rosenblum, Television Academy president and CEO.

Best actor, limited series or TV movie lists Bryan Cranston from HBO’s All the Way, Benedict Cumberbatch from PBS’ Sherlock, Idris Elba of BBC America’s Luther, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Courtney B. Vance from The People v. O.J. Simpson and Tom Hiddleston of AMC’s The Night Manager.

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Best actress in that category includes Kirsten Dunst of Fargo, Felicity Huffman and Lili Taylor from ABC’s American Crime, Audra McDonald from HBO’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Sarah Paulson from The People v. O.J. Simpson and Kerry Washington from HBO’s Confirmation.

Best reality competition features The Amazing Race on CBS, American Ninja Warrior on NBC, Dancing With the Stars on ABC, Project Runway on Lifetime, Top Chef on Bravo and The Voice on NBC.

Best variety or talk show is between Crackle’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, CBS’ Late Late Show with James Corden, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

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Outstanding TV movie is between A Very Murray Christmas on Netflix, All the Way, Confirmation, Luther and Sherlock the Abominable Bride on PBS.

Best variety sketch series includes Documentary Now! and Portlandia on IFC, Drunk History, Inside Amy Schumer and Key & Peele on Comedy Central, and Saturday Night Live on NBC.

Best supporting actor in a drama includes Jonathan Banks of Better Call Saul, Peter Dinklage and Kit Harington of Game of Thrones, Michael Kelly of House of Cards, Ben Mendelsohn on Bloodline and Jon Voight on Ray Donovan.

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Best supporting actress brings together Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams and Lena Headey of Game of Thrones, Maggie Smith from Downton Abbey, Maura Tierney on Showtime’s The Affair and Constance Zimmer from Lifetime’s UnReal.

HBO grabbed 94 nominations—down from last year’s 126 but still easily tops in the field. FX was next at 56, up from 38, while Netflix landed 54 noms, up from last year’s 34.

NBC was tops among broadcasters at 41.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.