The prime-time Emmy nominations were announced Thursday and leading the way was AMC’s Mad Men. The 1960s-set drama led in the scripted series category with 19 nominations. HBO’s miniseries Mildred Pierce with Kate Winslet led all nominees with 21 nominations.
Mad Men, which has already won Best Drama Series honors for three straight years, could make it four in a row. Last year’s Best Comedy winner, Modern Family, has a chance to repeat. It leads all comedy scripted programs with 17 nominations.
HBO once again shows its dominance in terms of original programming. Its Prohibition-era drama Boardwalk Empire got an impressive 18 nominations while the dark fantasy Game of Thrones got thirteen. Both are vying for Best Drama. Other nominees in this category include Showtime’s Dexter, The Good Wife, and Friday Night Lights.
NBC must have found a winning formula with its Thursday night comedy block, as three of the four programs are up for Best Comedy. The Office, Parks & Recreation and 30 Rock are all nominated, and they are joined by The Big Bang Theory and the musical comedy Glee.
Steve Carell in his swansong season of The Office and both Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki(of Big Bang) got recognized in the lead actor category for comedies.
A number of familiar faces also got Emmy nominations. Hugh Laurie picked up his sixth Emmy nomination for playing Dr. Gregory House on House (he’s never won). Edie Falco, who has won four Best Actress awards (including three for The Sopranos), is nominated again for her role on Showtime’s comedy Nurse Jackie, which she won last year. Michael C. Hall (Dexter) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men) are nominated again in the Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series category. This is the fourth time they been nominated for their respective shows.
Showing that there is life after Friends, Matt LeBlanc got a lead comedy actor bid for playing himself in the satirical series Episodes.
The Emmy nominations weren’t all about familiar faces getting nominated as a few fresh faces were included in the Best Actor/Actress races. Mireille Enos of The Killing and Timothy Olyphant of Justified are up for best drama actress and best drama actor respectively.
Justified also picked up supporting nominations for actor Walton Goggins and actress Margo Martindale.
Melissa Leo, who picked up an Oscar for her performance in The Fighter, is in contention for an Emmy as well. She received a supporting actress nomination for the miniseries Mildred Pierce.
For a complete listing of Emmy nominations head on over to the official website.