It has been a week since we learned of this year's Emmy nominations and that has given the dust time to settle.
Here's an overview of who's up for the statuettes to be handed out at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards. The telecast will air live on Fox at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 from the Microsoft Theater (formerly Nokia Theatre) in Los Angeles. Andy Samberg, star of the Fox comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, will be the host.
Note that the date marks a move back to a Sunday night just before the new TV season begins and reminds us how odd it felt last year when NBC (the awards rotate between the four major networks) opted to air the telecast on Monday, Aug. 25, to avoid a conflict with its Sunday Night Football and the MTV Video Music Awards.
Meanwhile, some nomination rule changes this year resulted in some surprises, but it was no surprise what leads the pack once again.
The critics' darling Game of Thrones dominated the opposition with an impressive 24 nominations, including best drama. That helped contribute to HBO's amazing (and deserved) 126 total nominations. ABC was a distant second with 42.
I've written before that the best stuff on TV is on HBO and evidently Emmy agrees (again).
An answer to the criticism that Emmy just nominates the same old stuff each year is that in the lead actor/actress categories more than half are either first-time nominees or from freshman series. They include Kyle Chandler (Bloodline), Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder), Taraji P. Henson (Empire), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul).
Here are this year's seven major categories and nominees. How many of your favorites made the list?
Drama series: Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Downton Abbey, Orange Is the New Black, Homeland, House of Cards, Better Call Saul.
Last year's winner: Breaking Bad.
Notes: Not a single broadcast network was honored, including Fox's smash hit Empire. Will Mad Men (TV's outstanding drama its first four seasons) score once more now that its run is over? The series notched 11 nominations its final time around.
What? No Outlander? Outrageous. But most egregious of all, an outstanding final season of Justified was ignored.
Actress/drama: Taraji P. Henson, Empire; Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder; Robin Wright, House of Cards; Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men; Claire Danes, Homeland; Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black.
Last year's winner: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife.
Notes: This is the first time that two black women -- Davis and Henson -- have been nominated for lead actress in a drama. If one wins, that would be a first. Ouch -- Margulies and her series were snubbed this year.
Actor/drama: Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul; Jon Hamm, Mad Men; Kevin Spacey, House of Cards; Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom; Kyle Chandler, Bloodline; Liev Schreiber,Ray Donovan.
Last year's winner: Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad.
Notes: Will the annual bridesmaid Hamm finally be honored for his role as Don Draper? It's now or never.
Comedy series: Louie, Modern Family, Transparent, Silicon Valley, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Veep, Parks and Recreation.
Last year's winner: Modern Family.
Notes: This is the last shot for Parks and Recreation. The critically adored, but ratings challenged series ended its seven-year run in February and has yet to win an Emmy. And where's The CW's Jane the Virgin? Well, it's on The CW and Emmy doesn't seem to know the mininetwork exists.
Actress/comedy: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep; Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation; Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer; Lisa Kudrow, Comeback.
Last year's winner: Louis-Dreyfus.
Notes: This is also Poehler's last shot.
Actor/comedy: Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent; Louis C.K., Louie; Anthony Anderson, black-ish; William H. Macy, Shameless; Matt LeBlanc, Episodes; Don Cheadle, House of Lies; Will Forte, Last Man on Earth.
Last year's winner: Jim Parsons (his fourth time).
Notes: Not only Parsons, but everything about The Big Bang Theory is missing this season. Fortunately, the disappointed main actors still make $1 million an episode.
Limited series: American Crime, Olive Kitteridge, American Horror Story: Freak Show, The Honourable Woman, Wolf Hall.
Notes: This is the former miniseries category. A limited series is now defined as "a program consisting of two or more episodes totaling 150 minutes as a whole, telling a complete, nonrecurring story that does not have an ongoing story line and/or main characters in subsequent seasons."
American Horror Story earned 19 nominations.
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Weekend on 07/23/2015