This morning in Hollywood, Mindy Kaling and Carson Daly announced the potential winners and unavoidable disappointments of the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards. And though there’s more quality TV to watch then ever before, the Television Academy has clearly greeted this development by ignoring new shows and simply tucking into the same nine or 10 series it’s kept up with in the last few years. For example, the debut of True Detective and the apparent deletion of Homeland season passes (the academy is only watching that one for the acting now) are the only things differentiating this year’s Outstanding Drama Series nominations from last year’s. Comedy’s fairly stagnant, too, with young bucks Orange Is The New Black and Silicon Valley being all that stands between Modern Family and a record-setting fifth consecutive Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy. (Because if Louie, Veep, and The Big Bang Theory didn’t stop the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker clan in 2013, why would they in 2014?)
The various category shenanigans pulled by Orange Is The New Black (which submitted as a comedy, rather than a drama), True Detective (submitted as drama, rather than a miniseries), and Shameless (which has movie star William H. Macy in it) paid off handsomely for those series, with Orange netting 12 nominations and its cast dominating the Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series category. So at least Emmy voters are giving this whole Netflix thing a shot?
Also: Thanks to the Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance category, you can now say the words “the Emmy-nominated Dog With A Blog” with 100 percent sincerity.
A list of nominations in major categories follows; a complete list can be found here.
Outstanding Comedy Series
Outstanding Drama Series
Outstanding Miniseries
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Woody Harrelson, True Detective
Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
Kevin Spacey, House Of Cards
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
Lizzy Caplan, Masters Of Sex
Claire Danes, Homeland
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Kerry Washington, Scandal
Wright, House Of Cards
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
Peter Dinklage, Game Of Thrones
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Lena Headey, Game Of Thrones
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
Louis C.K., Louie
Don Cheadle, House Of Lies
Ricky Gervais, Derek
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
Lena Dunham, Girls
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly
Amy Poehler, Parks And Recreation
Taylor Schilling, Orange Is The New Black
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Adam Drive, Girls
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Fred Armisen, Portlandia
Tony Hale, Veep
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Allison Janney, Mom
Kate Mulgrew, Orange Is The New Black
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or Movie
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: “His Last Vow”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing On The Edge
Idris Elba, Luther
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
Martin Freeman, Fargo
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or Movie
Helena Bonham Carter, Burton And Taylor
Minnie Driver, Return To Zero
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Coven
Cicely Tyson, The Trip To Bountiful
Kristen Wiig, The Spoils Of Babylon
Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
Moira Walley-Beckett, Breaking Bad (“Ozymandias”)
Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad (“Felina”)
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Game Of Thrones (“The Children”)
Beau Willimon, House Of Cards (“Chapter 14”)
Nic Pizzolatto, True Detective (“The Secret Fate Of All Life”)
Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series
David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, Episodes (“Episode 305”)
Louis C.K., Louie (“So Did The Fat Lady”)
Liz Friedman and Jenji Kohan, Orange Is The New Black (“I Wasn’t Ready”)
Alec Berg, Silicon Valley (“Optimal Tip-To-Tip Efficiency”)
Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche, and Armando Iannucci, Veep (“Special Relationship”)
Outstanding Variety Series
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef
The Voice
Outstanding TV Movie
The Normal Heart
Sherlock: “His Last Vow”
The Trip To Bountiful