Here are the 2015 Emmy Nominations, and really, not too many surprises. There are plenty of let-downs - The Americans got a single nomination, for Margo Martingale's guest role - but the programs that got nominations were the one's that I expected to get nominated, with very few exceptions. One of those would be the inclusion of the lukewarm Bloodline, a perfectly competent yet radiantly unremarkable slice of Floridian family drama, starring heavyweights like Kyle Chandler, Linda Cardellini, and Ben Mendelsohn. It's a show that kept me just interested enough to finish the entirety of its first season, but left nothing to chew on in its wake, other than the immensely intimate pull summoned by its excellent ensemble cast.
It's heartening to see nominations going to Better Call Saul, a stylish, melancholic noir and perhaps the greatest spin-off ever, and the surpassingly lovely Transparent, but the lack of attention given to Empire and, most of all, The Americans hits a raw nerve. Empire Season 1 was all wildfire, an engrossing and knowingly outlandish melodrama that caught on with audiences quick, but The Americans has continuously been the greatest drama on TV (yes, I'm including Mad Men) since it's breakthrough first season. The fact that Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell aren't juggling Emmys at this point bewilders me to no end. Perhaps it's best, then, not to get too riled up by the absence of any nominations for Hannibal, the most ambitious and visually sublime series that NBC ever had the good fortune of distributing. It's likely that very same ambition that has kept Hannibal off of the Emmy ballot since its bloody inception. I suppose neither NBC or the Emmys have the acquired taste for such grisly decadence.
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A DRAMA:
Kyle Chandler (Bloodline)
Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan)
Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA:
Claire Danes (Homeland)
Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder)
Taraji P. Henson (Empire)
Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black)
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
Robin Wright (House of Cards)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA:
Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey)
Lena Headey (Game of Thrones)
Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones)
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black)
Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA:
Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul)
Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline)
Jim Carter (Downton Abbey)
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
Michael Kelly, (House of Cards)
Alan Cumming (The Good Wife)
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA:
Diana Rigg (Game of Thrones)
Rachel Brosnahan (House of Cards)
Cicely Tyson (How to Get Away With Murder)
Allison Janney (Masters of Sex)
Khandi Alexander (Scandal)
Margo Martindale (The Americans)
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA:
Alan Alda (The Blacklist)
Michael J Fox (The Good Wife)
F. Murray Abraham (Homeland)
Reg E. Cathey (House of Cards)
Beau Bridges (Masters of Sex)
Pablo Schreiber (Orange Is the New Black)
OUTSTANDING DRAMA:
Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mad Men
Orange Is the New Black
OUTSTANDING COMEDY:
Louie
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A COMEDY:
Anthony Anderson (black-ish)
Louis C.K. (Louie)
Don Cheadle (House of Lies)
Will Forte (Last Man on Earth)
Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)
William H. Macy (Shameless)
Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY:
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer)
Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY:
Niecy Nash (Getting On)
Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
Allison Janney (Mom)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)
Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory)
Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent)
Jane Krakowski (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Anna Chlumsky (Veep)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY:
Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Adam Driver (Girls)
Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele)
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
Tony Hale (Veep)
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY:
Gaby Hoffmann (Girls)
Pamela Adlon (Louie)
Elizabeth Banks (Modern Family)
Joan Cusack (Shameless)
Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory
Tina Fey (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY:
Mel Brooks (The Comedians)
Paul Giamatti (Inside Amy Schumer)
Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live)
Louis C.K. (Saturday Night Live)
Bradley Whitford (Transparent)
Jon Hamm (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES:
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight
Late Show With David Letterman
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE:
Felicity Huffman (American Crime)
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Freak Show)
Queen Latifah (Bessie)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Honorable Woman)
Frances McDormand (Olive Kitteridge)
Emma Thompson (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE:
Timothy Hutton (American Crime)
Ricky Gervais (Derek Special)
Adrien Brody (Houdini)
David Oyelowo (Nightingale)
Richard Jenkins (Olive Kitteridge)
Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE:
Regina King (American Crime)
Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story: Freak Show)
Angela Bassett (American Horror Story: Freak Show)
Kathy Bates (American Horror Story: Freak Show)
Mo’Nique (Bessie)
Zoe Kazan (Olive Kitteridge)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE:
Richard Cabral (American Crime)
Denis O’Hare (American Horror Story: Freak Show)
Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story: Freak Show)
Michael Kenneth Williams (Bessie)
Bill Murray (Olive Kitteridge)
Damian Lewis (Wolf Hall)
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES:
American Crime
American Horror Story: Freak Show
The Honorable Woman
Olive Kitterridge
Wolf Hall
OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE:
Agatha Christie’s Poirot — Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case
Bessie
Grace of Monaco
Hello Ladies: The Movie
Killing Jesus
Nightingale
OUTSTANDING REALITY SHOW COMPETITION:
The Amazing Race
Dancing With the Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef
The Voice
OUTSTANDING REALITY SHOW HOST:
Tom Bergeron (Dancing With The Stars)
Jane Lynch (Hollywood Game Night)
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn (Project Runway)
Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance)
Anthony Bourdain (The Taste)
