It's good to be the king. The 2012 Emmy Award nominations were announced
Thursday morning and four-time Drama Series winner
Mad Men and two-time
Comedy Series winner
Modern Family remained the top nominees.
But that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of fresh blood.
American Horror Story dominated the Miniseries and TV Movie categories with 17 nominations while
Downton Abbey made a huge splash in the Drama categories with 16 nominations (including six for acting).
On the Drama side, for the first time in history, all of the nominees for Outstanding Drama Series are cable shows (
The Good Wife got shut out). However, equally notable are the actors missing. Hugh Laurie was left out for the final season of
House and four-time nominee John Slattery for
Mad Men was snubbed (though co-star Jared Harris got in).
On the Comedy side, HBO's
Girls and
Veep made big splashes with major nominations for Series and Lead Actress. Somehow
Parks and Recreation was left off the list for Outstanding Comedy Series, but luckily
New Girl stars Zooey Deschanel and Max Greenfield scored nominations. In the "WTF?" category, Jon Cryer was nominated as a Lead Actor for
Two and a Half Men while people like Bill Hader for
Saturday Night Live and Merrit Wever for
Nurse Jackie scored nominations. There also no love for
Glee, which only picked up a measly three nominations for season 3 (for Make-Up, Cinematography and guest star Dot-Marie Jones).
The big story for reality is who was NOT nominated.
American Idol was snubbed for the first time as a Reality Competition while
Survivor's Jeff Probst, who has won the Emmy for Reality Host all four years it has existed, is left out in favor of Betty White.
As for the minor categories, I'm insanely happy to report that
Community's "Remedial Chaos Theory" (aka the episode that created six alternate time lines) was nominated for Writing while
Breaking Bad's mostly silent villain Tio Salamanca (Mark Margolis) scored a Guest Actor nomination where he'll compete against
Mad Men's oddball Ben Feldman (Ginsberg) and
Parenthood's Jason Ritter. Also,
Raising Hope's brilliant song from the start of season 2 ("Welcome Back to Hope") was nominated for Original Music and Lyrics.
Here are the major nominees.
Click HERE for a complete list.
DRAMA SERIESBoardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad MenDRAMA LEAD ACTORHugh Bonneville,
Downton AbbeySteve Buscemi,
Boardwalk EmpireBryan Cranston,
Breaking BadMichael C. Hall,
DexterJon Hamm,
Mad MenDamian Lewis,
HomelandDRAMA LEAD ACTRESSKathy Bates,
Harry's LawGlenn Close,
DamagesClaire Danes,
HomelandMichelle Dockery,
Downton AbbeyJulianna Margulies,
The Good WifeElisabeth Moss,
Mad MenDRAMA SUPPORTING ACTORPeter Dinklage,
Game of ThronesJared Harris,
Mad MenAaron Paul,
Breaking BadGiancarlo Esposito,
Breaking BadBrendan Coyle,
Downton AbbeyJim Carter,
Downton AbbeyDRAMA SUPPORTING ACTRESSAnna Gunn,
Breaking BadMaggie Smith,
Downton AbbeyJoanna Froggatt,
Downton AbbeyChristina Hendricks,
Mad MenChristine Baranski,
The Good WifeArchie Panjabi,
The Good WifeCOMEDY SERIESThe Big Bang Theory
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Girls
Modern Family
30 Rock
VeepCOMEDY LEAD ACTORAlec Baldwin,
30 RockDon Cheadle,
House of LiesLouis C.K.,
LouieJon Cryer,
Two and a Half MenLarry David,
Curb Your EnthusiasmJim Parsons,
The Big Bang TheoryCOMEDY LEAD ACTRESSZooey Deschanel,
New GirlLena Dunham,
GirlsEdie Falco,
Nurse JackieTina Fey,
30 RockJulia Louis-Dreyfus,
Veep
Melissa McCarthy,
Mike and MollyAmy Poehler,
Parks and RecreationCOMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOREd O'Neill,
Modern FamilyJesse Tyler Ferguson,
Modern FamilyEric Stonestreet,
Modern FamilyTy Burrell,
Modern FamilyMax Greenfield,
New GirlBill Hader,
Saturday Night LiveCOMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESSMayim Bialik,
The Big Bang TheoryKathryn Joosten,
Desperate HousewivesJulie Bowen,
Modern FamilySofia Vergara,
Modern FamilyMerrit Wever,
Nurse JackieKristen Wiig,
Saturday Night LiveREALITY COMPETITIONThe Amazing Race
Dancing with the Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef
The VoiceREALITY HOSTTom Bergeron,
Dancing with the StarsCat Deeley,
So You Think You Can DancePhil Keoghan,
The Amazing RaceRyan Seacrest,
American IdolBetty White,
Betty White's Off Their RockersThe 64th Annual Emmy Awards will air Sunday, September 23 on ABC hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
(Image courtesy of AMC)