From Brian Stelter and Dave Itzkoff, The New York Times
The winner of the Emmy Award for outstanding drama won’t be announced until September. But the category’s losers were all identified on Thursday: the big broadcast networks that televise the awards.
The networks were completely shut out of the main drama series category for the first time, reflecting the gradual drift of top writers, producers and actors to cable.
Nominated instead were “Mad Men,” the four-time winner, and AMC’s other critical darling, “Breaking Bad”; a pair on HBO, “Boardwalk Empire” and “Game of Thrones”; a British import broadcast on PBS, “Downton Abbey”; and a Showtime drama that received rave reviews when it began in October, “Homeland.”
Matt Weiner, the creator of “Mad Men,” called the shutout “shocking,” but a sign of the times. “The networks have had a shot — every single show up there has been pitched to the networks, every single one of them,” he said. “And what you see, and this is not a judgment, is that they have a different kind of business model.”
“Mad Men,” as it did last year, picked up more Emmy nominations than any other single series, 17 all told. It tied “American Horror Story,” which was submitted by FX as a mini-series. The History channel mini-series “Hatfields & McCoys” was close behind with 16, the most ever for that channel.
“Mad Men” was nominated for six acting awards, including for its stars Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks and Jared Harris, and three writing awards. If it wins in the outstanding drama category it will surpass records set by “The West Wing,” “L.A. Law” and “Hill Street Blues,” which each won that category in four consecutive years.
“Homeland,” meanwhile, had the most nominations of any freshman show, with nine.
The nominees were announced on Thursday morning by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which manages the annual television celebration-of-self. Jimmy Kimmel, who will host the awards show on Sept. 23, was a surprise co-host of the announcements; he came onstage in pajamas, a reference to the fact that he was filling in for the actor Nick Offerman, whose flight from New York was scrubbed on Wednesday night because of bad weather.
After his late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was named a candidate in the variety show category, his program’s first such nomination, Mr. Kimmel joked, “So should I give a speech now?”
As has been the case for years, HBO picked up far more nominations than any other programmer, with 81, down from 104 last year. Its smaller rival Showtime picked up 22 nominations, up from 21 last year. CBS had 60 nominations; PBS, 58; NBC, 51; ABC, 48; AMC, 34; and Fox, 26.
In the outstanding comedy category, two new HBO sitcoms, “Girls” and “Veep,” joined a past HBO nominee, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” as well as three nominees from the broadcast networks, ABC’s “Modern Family,” NBC’s “30 Rock” and CBS’s “Big Bang Theory.” For the past two years “Modern Family” has taken home the prize. (As with last year, “Modern Family” was the most-nominated sitcom, with 14 total.)
The most popular new sitcom of the 2011-12 season, Fox’s “New Girl,” was not nominated for a series award. Nor was NBC’s “Parks & Recreation,” despite widespread predictions that it would be. But the stars of both shows, Zooey Deschanel in “New Girl” and Amy Poehler in “Parks,” were nominated for their roles as lead actress in a comedy. They were joined by Lena Dunham, the creator and star of “Girls”; Melissa McCarthy, of CBS’s “Mike & Molly”; Edie Falco, of Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie”; Tina Fey, of “30 Rock”; and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, of “Veep.”
Their counterparts in the lead actor category were Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory”; Larry David of “Curb”; Don Cheadle of Showtime’s “House of Lies”; Louis C. K. of FX’s “Louie”; Alec Baldwin of “30 Rock”; and Jon Cryer of CBS’s “Two and a Half Men.”
That “Louie” was not nominated for outstanding comedy surprised some — all the more so because Louis C. K. was nominated for six other categories, two for the show and four for a special, “Live at the Beacon Theater.”
He said in an interview that he felt he could share his “Louie” directing nomination “with the whole show, because the directing is a culmination of people — you can’t direct by yourself.”
Ms. Dunham, whose “Girls” is her first television series, was also nominated for directing and writing. In an interview after the announcements, she invoked a Passover song, “Dayenu,” which means, “It would have been enough.”
“If God had just taken us out of the desert, it would have been enough,” she said. “If he’d give us a cow, it would have been enough. But he did all this other stuff. I feel like with everything that happens, dayenu,” she said.
She added of her show: “It’s opened so many amazing doors and given me so many amazing relationships. Plus, I didn’t get into any of my safety schools when I applied for colleges. This is a very surreal experience for me.”
Of course, Ms. Dunham had braced herself for bad news on Emmy announcement day. “Then the minute I got the call I was shrieking like a maniac. ‘This is the only thing that’s ever mattered!’,” she said. “We’re all susceptible.”
Further showing the pivot away from broadcast toward cable programming, Hugh Laurie of Fox’s “House,” which concluded its run this year, was noticeably absent from the list of nominees for lead actor in a drama.
On the list were Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad,” Steve Buscemi of “Boardwalk Empire,” Michael C. Hall of Showtime’s “Dexter,” Hugh Bonneville of “Downton Abbey,” Damian Lewis of “Homeland” and Mr. Hamm of “Mad Men.” Mr. Hamm is also up for an Emmy in the category of outstanding guest actor in a comedy for his turn on “30 Rock.”
Though “The Good Wife” was not recognized as a best drama nominee, its star Julianna Margulies, who won the Emmy for lead actress in a drama last year, was again nominated in the category. Also nominated were Glenn Close of DirecTV’s “Damages”; Michelle Dockery of “Downton Abbey”; Kathy Bates of NBC’s “Harry’s Law”; Elisabeth Moss of “Mad Men”; and Claire Danes of “Homeland,” which is in production on Season 2.
Howard Gordon, a co-creator of “Homeland,” said in an interview on Thursday that he and the co-creator Alex Gansa “very consciously aspired” to be on a cable channel like Showtime, not a broadcast network, although Fox and NBC eyed the show early on.
“I think cable does offer a more compelling experience, starting with the fact that you get, by and large, an uninterrupted experience, which I don’t think you can underestimate,” he said. “The limited run of 10 or 12 episodes allows, on a per-episode basis, a better experience.”
Mr. Gordon also said that cable gave creators more leeway about how to cast and how quickly to produce shows. “You can reach fewer people and not worry about appealing to a common denominator,” he said. “You can take creative chances.”
DRAMA SERIES
“Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
“Breaking Bad” (AMC)
“Homeland” (Showtime)
“Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)” (PBS)
“Game Of Thrones” (HBO)
“Mad Men” (AMC)
ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter” (Showtime)
Damien Lewis, “Homeland” (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men” (AMC)
Hugh Bonneville, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Glenn Close, “Damages” (DirecTV)
Michelle Dockery, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
Claire Danes, “Homeland” (Showtime)
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife” (CBS)
Kathy Bates, “Harry’s Law” (NBC)
Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men” (AMC)
COMEDY SERIES
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO)
“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
“Girls” (HBO)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“30 Rock” (NBC)
“Veep” (HBO)
ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Lena Dunham, “Girls” (HBO)
Melissa McCarthy, “Mike & Molly” (CBS)
Zooey Deschanel, “New Girl” (Fox)
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie” (Showtime)
Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation” (NBC)
Tina Fey, “30 Rock” (NBC)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep” (HBO)
ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jon Cryer, “Two and A Half Men” (CBS)
Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO)
Louis C.K., “Louie” (FX)
Don Cheadle, “House of Lies” (Showtime)
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock” (NBC)
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Ed O’Neill, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Bill Hader, “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Max Greenfield, “New Girl” (Fox)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Mayim Bialik, “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
Merritt Wever, “Nurse Jackie” (Showtime)
Julie Bowen, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Sofia Vergara, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Kristen Wiig, “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Kathryn Joosten, “Desperate Housewives” (ABC)
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Giancarlo Esposito, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Peter Dinklage, “Game Of Thrones” (HBO)
Jim Carter, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
Jared Harris, “Mad Men” (AMC)
Brendan Coyle, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Archie Panjabi, “The Good Wife” (CBS)
Anna Gunn, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
Joanne Froggatt, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men” (AMC)
Christine Baranski, “The Good Wife” (CBS)
MINI-SERIES OR MOVIE
“Game Change” (HBO)
“American Horror Story” (FX Networks)
“Hemingway & Gellhorn” (HBO)
“Sherlock” (PBS)
“Luther” (BBC America)
“Hatfields & McCoys” (History)
LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOVIE
Julianne Moore, “Game Change” (HBO)
Connie Britton, “American Horror Story” (FX Networks)
Nicole Kidman, “Hemingway & Gellhorn” (HBO)
Emma Thompson, “The Song of Lunch” (Masterpiece)
Ashley Judd, “Missing” (ABC)
LEAD ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOVIE
Woody Harrelson, “Game Change” (HBO)
Clive Owen, “Hemingway & Gilhorn” (HBO)
Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock Holmes” (Masterpiece)
Idris Elba, “Luther” (BBC America)
Kevin Costner, “Hatfields & McCoys” (History)
Bill Paxton, “Hatfields & McCoys” (History)
VARIETY SERIES
“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central)
“The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central)
“Real Time With Bill Maher” (HBO)
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC)
“Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC)
REALITY COMPETITION
“So You Think You Can Dance” (FOX)
“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
“Dancing With the Stars” (ABC)
“Top Chef” (Bravo)
“Project Runway” (Lifetime)
“The Voice” (NBC)
REALITY COMPETITION HOST
Cat Deeley, “So You Think You Can Dance” (FOX)
Phil Keoghan, “The Amazing Race” (CBS)
Ryan Seacrest, “American Idol” (FOX)
Betty White, “Betty White’s Off Their Rocker” (NBC)
Tom Bergeron, “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC)
The statues will be handed out on Sept. 23 in Los Angeles. This year it is ABC’s turn to broadcast the festivities. Mr. Kimmel, the network’s late-night star, will host the awards telecast.
For more on this story go to:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/2012-primetime-emmy-nominations/
