‘Mad Men’ Leads 2012 Primetime Emmy Nominations

Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesKerry Washington, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chairman Bruce Rosenblum and Jimmy Kimmel announce the nominees for the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations in Los Angeles.

The television industry is once again celebrating the best television it produced in the past season. Yes, it’s time to find out who and what’s nominated for the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, the most prestigious award in TV. Throughout the day, ArtsBeat will cover the nominations with reactions from actors and producers as well as from Mike Hale, a television critic for The New York Times.

To a greater degree than ever before, the Primetime Emmys are recognizing cable programming to the exclusion of broadcast, a shift that was apparent on Thursday morning as the major broadcasters were shut out of the outstanding drama series category for the first time.

“Downton Abbey,” a British import that was broadcast on PBS, was nominated. But no drama on any of the big four networks — not even “The Good Wife” on CBS, which was thought to be a contender — was named when the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences listed the six nominees on Thursday morning.

The new Showtime series “Homeland” joined the four-time winner in the category, AMC’s “Mad Men,” as well as AMC’s “Breaking Bad” and a pair from HBO, “Game of Thrones” and “Boardwalk Empire.”

Continuing a trend of recent years, the nominations reflected the gradual drift of top writers, producers and actors to cable. In the outstanding comedy category, two new HBO sitcoms, “Girls” and “Veep,” joined a past HBO nominee, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” as well as three network nominees, ABC’s “Modern Family,” NBC’s “30 Rock” and CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory.” For the past two years “Modern Family” has taken home the prize.

The nominations were announced in Los Angeles by Kerry Washington, a star of the ABC drama “Scandal,” and Jimmy Kimmel. After his late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was named a nominee in the variety show category, his program’s first such nomination. Mr. Kimmel joked, “So should I give a speech now?”

The most popular new sitcom of the 2011-12 television season, Fox’s “New Girl,” was not nominated for a series award. But its star, Zooey Deschanel, was nominated in the lead actress in a comedy category.

She was joined by Lena Dunham, the creator and star of “Girls;” Melissa McCarthy, of CBS’s “Mike & Molly;” Edie Falco, of Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie;” Amy Poehler, of NBC’s “Parks & Recreation;” 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.”

Further showing the pivot away from broadcast toward cable programming, Hugh Laurie of Fox’s “House,” which concluded its run earlier 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 Jon 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.”

“Mad Men” continued to win wide acclaim from the television industry, picking up 17 nominations this year, the most of any drama. FX’s “American Horror Story also had 17 nominations, making it the most-honored miniseries. ‪ABC’s “Modern Family” was the most-nominated sitcom, with 14.‬ Of all the freshmen comedies and dramas this year, “Homeland” had the most nominations, with nine in total.

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 total; PBS, 58; NBC, 51; ABC, 48; AMC, 34; and Fox, 26.

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)

MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Game Change (HBO)
American Horror Story (FX Networks)
Hemingway & Gellhorn (HBO)
Sherlock (PBS)
Luther (BBC America)
Hatfields & McCoys (History)

The statues will be handed out on Sept. 23 in L.A. This year it is ABC’s turn to broadcast the festivities. Mr. Kimmel, the network’s late-night star, will host the awards telecast.

Bill Carter contributed to this post.

Source & Image : New York Times