JULY 13, 2017
With a new voting system in place that would allow Emmy voters the chance to cast their ballots for an unlimited number of nominees, Emmy pundits warned us to expect the unexpected in Thursday morning’s nominations. And boy, did we get that.
Before we get to the nominees, the biggest story may be what’s not here: Emmy champ HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” which aired no new episodes during the Emmys’ eligibility period and therefore can’t compete this year. Similarly, BBC America’s “Orphan Black” missed the eligibility deadline by two weeks, so last year’s Emmy Best Drama Actress Tatiana Maslany will have to wait until 2018 to defend her crown.
Filling the void are two series that were not expected to lead the pack but received 22 nominations apiece. For the first time in the series’ 42-year history, “Saturday Night Live” tied for the most nominations. Usually “SNL” was good for 4-5 nominations for series, writing, maybe directing and a few technical nods. This year, however, talent from the show swamped the comedy acting categories. Nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy is, as expected, Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump, but on the Supporting Actress side, three nominees were honored — reigning Supporting Actress Emmy champ Kate McKinnon (expected), Leslie Jones (not surprised) and, in her final season, Vanessa Bayer (whoa, where did that come from?). For Guest Actor and Actress (usually hosts), the Academy nominated Tom Hanks, Kristen Wiig, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Melissa McCarthy and Dave Chappelle.
On the scripted side, the other surprise came from “Westworld,” the HBO sci-fi/western series that premiered way back in October 2016 and was expected by many to be forgotten come Nomination Day. It definitely was not, with a Best Drama series nomination and nods in all four main acting categories for Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright and Thandie Newton (pictured above).
Perhaps most tellingly, “Westworld” was nominated for both writing and directing, a must if you have any hope of winning Best Drama Series. The other dramatic series with that distinction are AMC’s “Better Call Saul” (9 nominations), Netflix’s “The Crown” (13 nominations), Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” (13 nominations) and Netflix’s “Stranger Things” (19 nominations), so your Best Drama Series winner will likely be either “Westworld” or one of these four series.
On the comedy side, only three series received nominations in both writing and directing — HBO’s “Veep” (17 nominations, a new high for them), HBO’s “Silicon Valley” (10 nominations) and newcomer FX’s “Atlanta” (6 nominations, but most in major categories).
Whereas the drama series race is definitely up in the air, the comedy race is pretty much status quo, with the only major surprise being the omission of Amazon’s “Transparent,” a regular nominee the past few years in favor of yet another nomination for ABC’s “Modern Family,” which has long outstayed its welcome.
There are surprises galore in the nomination list, the highlights of which are included below, but the biggest broom was used to sweep out the Reality Host category, with only last year’s winner RuPaul Charles and former winners Heidi Klum & Tim Gunn among last year’s survivors. (Among those gone is “Dancing with the Stars’” Tom Bergeron, a former winner who had been nominated every year of the category’s existence.) I was most tickled by the nomination of the team of Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg as hosts of their VH1 series “Potluck Dinner Party.” That Emmy green room is going to be flying on September 17, when the awards are handed out.
And as always, be there or be square.
2017 EMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS
Best Drama Series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
House of Cards
Stranger Things
This Is Us
Westworld
Best Comedy Series
Atlanta
Black-ish
Master of None
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
Best Limited Series
Big Little Lies
Fargo
Feud: Bette and Joan
Genius
The Night Of
Best Actress in a Drama Series
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Claire Foy, The Crown
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Keri Russell, The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Anthony Hopkins, Westworld
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Pamela Adlon, Better Things
Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
Allison Janney, Mom
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Zach Galifianakis, Baskets
Donald Glover, Atlanta
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Carrie Coon, Fargo
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies
Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Riz Ahmed, The Night Of
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Lying Detective
Robert DeNiro, The Wizard of Lies
Ewan McGregor, Fargo
Geoffrey Rush, Genius
John Turturro, The Night Of
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Chrissy Metz, This Is Us
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Us
David Harbour, Stranger Things
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
John Lithgow, The Crown
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Vanessa Bayer, Saturday Night Live
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Kathryn Hahn, Transparent
Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live
Judith Light, Transparent
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Louie Anderson, Baskets
Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tony Hale, Veep
Matt Walsh, Veep
Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Judy Davis, Feud: Bette and Joan
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Jackie Hoffman, Feud: Bette and Joan
Regina King, American Crime
Michelle Pfeiffer, The Wizard of Lies
Shailene Woodley, Big Little Lies
Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Bill Camp, The Night Of
Alfred Molina, Feud: Bette and Joan
Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies
David Thewlis, Fargo
Stanley Tucci, Feud: Bette and Joan
Michael K. Williams, The Night Of
Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Cicely Tyson, How to Get Away With Murder
Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black
Shannon Purser, Stranger Things
Alison Wright, The Americans
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid’s Tale
Ann Dowd, The Leftovers
Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
BD Wong, Mr. Robot
Hank Azaria, Ray Donovan
Brian Tyree Henry, This Is Us
Gerald McRaney, This Is Us
Denis O’Hare, This Is Us
Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Wanda Sykes, Black-ish
Carrie Fisher, Catastrophe
Becky Ann Baker, Girls
Angela Bassett, Master of None
Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Matthew Rhys, Girls
Riz Ahmed, Girls
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Saturday Night Live
Dave Chappelle, Saturday Night Live
Tom Hanks, Saturday Night Live
Hugh Laurie, Veep
Best Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Best Variety Talk Series
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late Late Show With James Corden
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Real Time With Bill Maher
Best Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party
Gordon Ramsay, MasterChef Junior
Alec Baldwin, Match Game
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway
RuPaul Charles, RuPaul’s Drag Race
W. Kamau Bell, United Shades of America With W. Kamau Bell
