Premium cable channel HBO’s grisly royal feud saga scored 19 nods including for best drama series, followed by “Fargo” based on the quirky 1996 Coen brothers’ movie with nominations in 18 categories.
Other notable nominees included Netflix’s breakthrough women’s prison show “Orange is the New Black,” earning nominations for five members of its cast, and the new HBO crime drama “True Detective”.
As well as “Orange is the New Black,” other female-led shows like “Veep”, “The Good Wife”, “Scandal” and “American Horror Story: Coven” also made strong showings, especially in acting categories.
“I feel like the happiest girl in the world,” Laverne Cox a nominated “Orange” star who is openly transgender told Press. “I feel amazing, effervescent happy cloud nine through the moon; every cliche for feeling really great,” she added.
Billy Bob Thornton, nominated for lead actor in a miniseries for “Fargo”, told Reporter, “I’m not sure I’ll do much celebrating today, as I’m kind of a hermit. I think the next time I go out will be to attend the Emmys”.
Overall, HBO won the most nominations with 99, while online streaming giant Netflix doubled its number of nods from last year with 31.
In terms of shows, “American Horror Story: Coven” was third with 17 nods, followed by 16 for “Breaking Bad”, the cult series about teacher-turned-drugs kingpin Walter White which ended last year, and the same number for AIDS drama movie “The Normal Heart”.