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HBO dominates Emmy race while FX and Netflix gain ground

The who’s, what’s, and where’s of this year’s Emmy nominations: did your favs make the cut?

Last year’s Emmy Awards dished out the typical expected wins, alongside some disappointments, surprises, and outright shutouts. AMC’s Better Call Saul, for example, got little love. Ditto for Netflix’s House of Cards. Viola Davis took home the coveted Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series award for her role in How to Get Away With Murder, beating out fan favorites Taraji P. Henson (Empire) and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black.) And with Mad Men off the air and Jon Hamm finally getting to take home a statue for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series award, the door is now wide open for a new male lead to win in 2016.

But first, it has to be an honor to even be nominated.

Top contenders

Leading the pack in nominations this year is (as usual) HBO, thanks to series like Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, and Veep, each of which received multiple nods, followed by FX and Netflix. The latter two saw total nominations numbers jump: FX from 38 last year to 56 this year and Netflix from 34 to a whopping 54; while HBO saw a decline in total nominations from an impressive 126 in 2015 to a still stellar 94 in 2016. Netflix’s top nominated series include Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, House of Cards, Bloodline, and Master of None. Noticeably absent from the nomination list, however, is one of Netflix’s most popular original series, and a frequent past nominee, Orange is the New Black.

By series, ones that received the most total nominations included Game of Thrones with 23, followed by The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story right on its heels with 22. Next in line is Fargo (18), Veep (17), and Saturday Night Live (16). Netflix was the top-nominated streaming service, next in line with 13 nominations for House of Cards. Also notable are the whopping 12 nominations for AMC’s The Night Manager, 11 for Silicon Valley, 10 for Downton Abbey, 8 for All the Way, and 7 for Better Call Saul.

The 68th annual Emmy Awards will air live on Sunday, September 18, 2016 at 7 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for our take on the most deserving winners in each category. You can also check out the full, comprehensive list of nominees on the Emmy’s Website.

Christine Persaud
Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…
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