Emmy nominations 2015: 'Mad Men,' 'Game of Thrones,' and 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' score nods

'Game Thrones,' 'Transparent,' and 'Parks and Recreation' received recognition from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The winners for the Emmy Awards will be determined this September.

'Mad Men' stars Elisabeth Moss (l.), Jon Hamm (center), and Rich Sommer (r.) appear in a scene from the Emmy-nominated show. Ms. Moss and Mr. Hamm were both nominated for acting awards.

Jaimie Trueblood/AMC/AP

By Molly Driscoll, Staff writer

July 16, 2015

The nominations for this year’s Emmy Awards have been announced.

This year’s contenders for the best drama series prize are PBS’s “Downton Abbey,” HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” AMC’s “Better Call Saul” and “Mad Men,” Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black” and “House of Cards,” and Showtime’s “Homeland.”

Last year’s winner for this award, “Breaking Bad,” gave its slot to “Bad” spin-off “Better Call Saul.” “Homeland” was added back to the list after being absent and “Orange Is the New Black” jumped from the comedy category to drama.

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The nominees for best comedy series are HBO’s “Veep” and “Silicon Valley,” Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Amazon’s “Transparent,” NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” ABC’s “Modern Family,” and the FX show “Louie.”

“Unbreakable,” a new series, is here for the first time, as is “Transparent.” “Parks” returned to the list after an absence.

Actors competing for the best lead actor in a drama series prize are Kevin Spacey for “House of Cards,” Bob Odenkirk for “Better Call Saul,” Kyle Chandler for the Netflix show “Bloodline,” Jon Hamm for “Mad Men,” Jeff Daniels for “The Newsroom,” and Liev Schreiber for “Ray Donovan.”

This is Mr. Hamm’s last chance to win for “Mad Men.” Mr. Chandler’s presence is somewhat unexpected, as “Bloodline” hasn’t gotten as much attention as fellow Netflix shows “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “House of Cards.”

The contenders for best lead actress in a drama series are Taraji P. Henson for the Fox show “Empire,” Robin Wright for “House of Cards,” Claire Danes for “Homeland,” Viola Davis for ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder,” Elisabeth Moss for “Mad Men,” and Tatiana Maslany for “Orphan Black.”

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That cheer you hear is “Orphan Black” fans rejoicing – Ms. Maslany, despite playing multiple parts on the sci-fi show, has never been nominated for an Emmy. Ms. Davis is a first-time nominee for the debut show “Murder,” as is Ms. Henson for the new music drama “Empire.”

Those nominated for best supporting actor in a drama series are Jonathan Banks for “Better Call Saul,” Jim Carter for “Downton Abbey,” Michael Kelly for “House of Cards,” Ben Mendelsohn for “Bloodline,” Alan Cumming for CBS’s “The Good Wife,” and Peter Dinklage for “Game of Thrones.” Best supporting actress contenders are Lena Headey for ”Game of Thrones,” Christina Hendricks for “Mad Men,” Christine Baranski for “The Good Wife,” Joanne Froggatt for “Downton Abbey,” Emilia Clarke for “Game of Thrones,” and Uzo Aduba for “Orange Is the New Black."

Mr. Mendelsohn’s nod shows more love for “Bloodline."

Actors nominated for best lead actor in a comedy series are Anthony Anderson in “Black-ish,” Don Cheadle for the Showtime show “House of Lies,” William H. Macy for “Shameless,” Jeffrey Tambor for “Transparent,” Matt LeBlanc for the Showtime series “Episodes,” Louis C.K. for “Louie,” and Will Forte for the Fox program “The Last Man on Earth.” Lead actress contenders are Lily Tomlin for the Netflix show “Grace And Frankie,” Edie Falco for the Showtime series “Nurse Jackie,” Lisa Kudrow for HBO’s “The Comeback,” Amy Schumer for Comedy Central’s “Inside Amy Schumer,” Amy Poehler for “Parks and Recreation,” and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for “Veep.”

Mr. Anderson gets his first nod for the debut comedy series “Black-ish,” while Mr. Tambor gets his first for new show “Transparent,” as does Mr. Forte for new show “Earth.”

Mr. Tomlin’s nod is her first for the debut comedy “Grace,” while Ms. Schumer is also nominated for the first time.

Best supporting actor in a comedy series contenders are Adam Driver in the HBO series “Girls,” Ty Burrell in “Modern Family,” Tony Hale in “Veep,” Andre Braugher in the Fox series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” Keegan-Michael Key for the Comedy Central show “Key & Peele,” and Tituss Burgess for “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” Those competing for the best supporting actress prize are Niecy Nash for the HBO show “Getting On,” Allison Janney for the CBS show “Mom,” Mayim Bialik for CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory,” Julie Bowen for “Modern Family,” Kate McKinnon for the NBC program "Saturday Night Live,” Gaby Hoffmann for “Transparent,” Anna Chlumsky for “Veep,” and Jane Krakowski for “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

Mr. Key and Mr. Burgess are both first-timers on this list, though Key’s program has been on for multiple seasons and Burgess’s debuted this year. Ms. Nash is also a first-time nominee for the under-the-radar show “Getting On,” and Ms. Hoffmann appears on the list for the first time for the Amazon drama “Transparent.”

While networks did well in the comedy series category, the drama series category was dominated by cable and streaming services. These nominations show the continued ascension of streaming services as well: Netflix had multiple shows receive recognition and Amazon’s “Transparent” got various nods.

The Emmys will air this September.

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