Nominations For the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

The nominations for the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards have just been announced, and as usual, there are a few unexpected surprises to be found in the extensive list of nominees. What's not unexpected however is that "Game of Thrones" has dominated with a whopping 23 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, two nods for Best Director (Drama), Best Writing (Drama), two nods for Supporting Actor in a Drama (Peter Dinklage and Kit Harington), and three nods for Supporting Actress in a Drama (Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, and Maisie Williams).

As we look at the rest of the Drama nominees, we find that "The Americans" has finally managed to snag a space in the very crowded field, in addition to newcomer "Mr. Robot." The rest of them are ones that were fully expected to make a return to the category, especially "Downton Abbey," which recently finished its final season.

As for the Comedy Series nominations, ""black-ish" and "Master of None" are the newcomers here among the usual shows like "Veep," "Modern Family," and "Silicon Valley." Can we expect "Veep" to continue its reign here, or will one of the newbies take control their first time out?

Once more I'll be rooting for "Game of Thrones" to dominate its categories all the way, and while I believe it has a great chance at taking Outstanding Drama Series, Best Director (Drama), and perhaps the Supporting Acting categories, I'm still left puzzled by HBO's bizarre decision to submit only the "Battle of the Bastards" episode for writing. Common sense says that an episode that is almost entirely battles doesn't have much of a chance when it comes to writing, so its chances here don't appear to be strong (unless the Television Academy just wants to vote for any episode of the show they can). A much more logical choice would have been to submit the brilliantly written season finale, "The Winds of Winter," which would have practically guaranteed a win for the category.

That being said, it's merely a small complaint among the ton of nods it received. Celebrations are in order for the unexpected nominations for Kit Harington, Maisie Williams, and Max Von Sydow (Guest Actor). Will we once again be celebrating a "Game of Thrones" victory this year? We'll just have to wait until the ceremony on Sunday, September 18th to find out!

Until then, you can find a list of the major nominations below, and you can download a PDF of the complete nominations right here.

Outstanding Drama Series

The Americans

Better Call Saul

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

Homeland

House of Cards

Mr. Robot

Outstanding Comedy Series

black-ish

Master of None

Modern Family

Silicon Valley

Transparent

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Veep

Lead Actor in a Drama

Kyle Chandler, Bloodline

Rami Malek, Mr. Robot

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Matthew Rhys, The Americans

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Lead Actress in a Drama

Claire Danes, Homeland

Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder

Taraji P. Henson, Empire

Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

Keri Russell, The Americans

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Supporting Actor in a Drama

Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul

Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

Kit Harington, Game of Thrones

Michael Kelly, House of Cards

Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline

Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Supporting Actress in a Drama

Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones

Lena Headey, Game of Thrones

Dame Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

Maura Tierney, The Affair

Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones

Constance Zimmer, UnREAL

Lead Actor in a Comedy

Anthony Anderson, black-ish

Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth

Aziz Ansari, Master of None

William H. Macy, Shameless

Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Lead Actress in a Comedy

Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Laurie Metcalf, Getting On

Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Louie Anderson, Baskets

Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Tony Hale, Veep

Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele

Matt Walsh, Veep

Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent

Allison Janney, Mom

Judith Light, Transparent

Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live

Niecy Nash, Getting On

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