Game of Thrones leads this year’s Emmy nominations with a record 32 nods, with The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Chernobyl close behind.
The final season of HBO’s fantasy hit received mixed reviews from critics but America’s television academy placed it at the top of this year’s long list of shows, with recognition for actors Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke in the categories of lead actor and actress in a drama series as well as seven further actors in the two support categories. Last year the show reigned supreme with seven awards, including for best drama.
The previous record for most nominations in a single year was held by NYPD Blue. HBO has also scored another record this year with 137 nominations, beating Netflix who scored 117 across the board.
Game of Thrones will be battling it out to be named best drama alongside Better Call Saul, Bodyguard, Ozark, Pose, Succession, This is Us and Killing Eve. The acclaimed BBC drama about an assassin and the agent tracking her down also received nominations for its two stars, recent Bafta winner Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh, as lead actress in a drama series. As well as the aforementioned Clarke, the two will face off against Viola Davis, Laura Linney, Mandy Moore and Robin Wright, nominated for her role in the final season of House of Cards.
Last year’s big winner The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is the year’s second-most-nominated show with 20 nods, including for outstanding comedy series and lead actress in a comedy series. Rachel Brosnahan will compete against Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has won six times before for her role in HBO’s political comedy. The category also found room to recognise talent in new shows, including Dead to Me’s Christina Applegate and Russian Doll’s Natasha Lyonne.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge also received a nod for lead actress in a comedy for the second season of Fleabag, as well as a nod in the category of outstanding writing in a comedy series. The show, which received 11 nominations in total, will also compete for the title of the year’s best comedy. The first season failed to receive a single mention.
The fact-based drama Chernobyl also received 19 nominations, including recognition for actors Jared Harris and Emily Watson. Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us, based on the story of the Central Park Five, was Netflix’s most-nominated show with 16 across the board. The two shows will compete in the category of outstanding limited series alongside Sharp Objects, Fosse/Verdon and Escape at Dannemora.
This year has seen a strong showing for British talent with both Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw nominated for their roles in BBC’s drama A Very English Scandal as well as nods for Fiona Shaw and Kristin Scott Thomas for their guest spots in Fleabag.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest comedy series, Who is America?, also received three nominations and in a series of tweets the star has thanked Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney and Donald Trump. “I want to thank my crack team of researchers told to uncover bigotry, racism and hate in the US,” he wrote. “That took them about 30 seconds … they just started following the President.”
Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby received two nominations for her Netflix stand-up special Nanette, which is competing with Beyonce’s Homecoming, James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke and Wanda Sykes’ Not Normal in both categories.
Nominated for an Emmy! Well I’m pretty chuffed. Hard to know what the boys make of it. I reckon they want Emmy to mean ‘food’ or ‘park’. Time will tell. pic.twitter.com/RkoRG5u96G
— Hannah Gadsby (@Hannahgadsby) July 16, 2019
There were, however, a number of notable snubs with the heavily predicted Julia Roberts failing to receive a nomination for her role in the Hitchcockian thriller series Homecoming, her first small-screen performance to date. The Amazon show was only recognised for its cinematography and in total, the company flagged way behind rival Netflix with just 47 nods overall.
Emma Stone and Jonah Hill were also left off the list for the Netflix drama Maniac and while Bodyguard was picked for best drama series, its Golden Globe-winning star Richard Madden didn’t make the cut.
The ceremony is yet to have a host attached, with reports suggesting it might follow in the footsteps of this year’s host-less Oscars. The 71st Emmys will take place on 22 September in Los Angeles.
