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Emmy nominations 2015: A look at the lesser-known shows that got nods

Wondering about less-seen shows like 'Bloodline' and 'Getting On'? Here's a look at some of the less-recognized shows that could get an Emmy this fall.

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Saeed Adyani/Netflix/AP
'Bloodline' stars Kyle Chandler.

Perennial critic and audience favorites like 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥 and 鈥淢ad Men鈥 made the cut when the 2015 Emmy nominations were recently announced, but some TV show names may have had the average viewer scratching their heads. What鈥檚 鈥淏loodline鈥? Or 鈥淕etting On鈥? Should we know what 鈥淩ay Donovan鈥 is?聽

鈥淏loodline,鈥 for which actor Kyle Chandler received a Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy nomination and Ben Mendelsohn received a Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series nod, is a Netflix show that debuted this past February. On the show, John Rayburn (Chandler) lives in the Florida Keys and works for the police department and his family is in charge of a hotel. Their lives are disrupted when John鈥檚 misfit brother Danny (Mendelsohn) returns. The show co-stars 鈥淎vengers: Age of Ultron鈥 actress Linda Cardellini, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, and Broadway actor Norbert Leo Butz.

The show was fairly well-received by critics, with calling the cast 鈥渟uperb鈥 and writing that it鈥檚 鈥渧ery good [and] extremely well-cast鈥 a lot of those who give 鈥楤loodline鈥 a chance will, pretty quickly, find themselves hooked."聽

Another nominated show that probably sounds unfamiliar to viewers is the Showtime series 鈥淩ay Donovan,鈥 for which actor Liev Schreiber was nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series. The Showtime program just debuted its third season and stars Schreiber as the title character, who works for a law firm in Los Angeles taking care of financial incentives that go to law enforcement or others in order to help perpetrators avoid jail time or other penalties. It co-stars 鈥淛onathan Strange & Mr. Norrell鈥 actor Eddie Marsan and Jon Voight.聽

Viewers may also be unaware of the HBO show 鈥淕etting On,鈥 for which actress Niecy Nash scored a Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy nod. 鈥淕etting鈥 concluded its second season this past December and centers on a hospital in California and its staff. The show co-stars Laurie Metcalf and Alex Borstein.聽

The nominations show an interesting contrast between the fortunes of cable and network shows. In terms of overall nominations, HBO scored the most, which is probably to be expected, but networks are hanging in there in terms of overall nods 鈥 ABC got the second-most, while CBS and NBC were close behind, getting the same amount. This ranking was just about the case last year, though CBS got the second-most in 2014 and NBC got the third-most, while the network FX came in fourth.聽

It鈥檚 in major categories like Best Drama Series where networks struggle. None of the four major networks have a show in the Best Drama Series nominee list 鈥 the shows came from PBS, AMC, HBO, Showtime, and Netflix. Similarly, only two actors out of 12 in the Best Lead Actor or Best Lead Actress in a Drama categories are from network shows: Viola Davis in 鈥淗ow to Get Away with Murder鈥 and Taraji P. Henson for Fox鈥檚 鈥淓mpire.鈥

Networks do slightly better in the comedy categories, however. Two of the six Best Comedy Series nominees are from networks, ABC鈥檚 鈥淢odern Family鈥 and NBC鈥檚 鈥淧arks and Recreation.鈥 Similarly, two of the Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nominees, 鈥淏lack-ish鈥 actor Anthony Anderson and Will Forte for 鈥淭he Last Man on Earth,鈥 are from networks (ABC and Fox, respectively), while one of the Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nominees, 鈥淧arks鈥 actress Amy Poehler, has her show air on NBC.

This is a decline in networks鈥 presence in the 2014 Emmy drama lead nominations, in which Kerry Washington got a Best Lead Actress in a Drama nod for ABC鈥檚 鈥淪candal鈥 and Julianna Margulies got a nomination for CBS's "The Good Wife." The networks' comedy performance is about the same, however, with two shows 鈥 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory鈥 and 鈥淢odern Family鈥 鈥 having been nominated in 2014 for Best Comedy Series, two actresses (Poehler and Melissa McCarthy for CBS鈥檚 鈥淢ike and Molly鈥) having been nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy and Jim Parsons having been nominated in the Best Lead Actor in a Comedy prize for CBS鈥檚 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory.鈥

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