Fresh faces garner Emmy nominations
American Horror Story and Mad Men lead the Emmy pack, but a trio of newcomers - Girls, Homeland, and Veep - will bring fresh faces to the awards ceremony in September.
Homeland is up against Mad Men for the best TV drama Emmy. It's kind of like having two of your favourite children competiting in a running race.
Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, the two main stars of Homeland were also nominated for best actress and actor.
Mad Men landed a leading 17 bids in total, giving the show the chance to set a new record as the most-honoured drama in television history.
Crowd pleaser ... Downton Abbey.
The series, which has won four best drama series trophies and is tied with Hill Street Blues, LA Law and The West Wing, received a fifth nomination in the category.
"It's insane. I can't believe it," said Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner.
Australians Nicole Kidman and Judy Davis also earned Emmy nominations.
Kidman was nominated for best actress in a miniseries or movie for Hemingway & Gellhorn, about the tumultuous romance of Ernest Hemingway and journalist Martha Gellhorn."Popsicles after school," Kidman said of how she plans to celebrate.
"I'll toast the Emmy nomination with a chocolate Popsicle. I know it doesn't sound great, but they're amazing."
Fellow Australian Judy Davis received a nod for best supporting actress in a miniseries or movie for Page Eight.The miniseries, American Horror Story, a nightmarish saga about a haunted house, matched Mad Men with 17 nominations, including an acting nod for star Connie Britton.
Other leading nominees include the British soap opera, Downton Abbey, which earned 16 bids, and two miniseries, Hatfields & McCoys, with 16, and Hemingway & Gellhorn with 15.
Modern Family, honoured as best comedy series for the past two years, was the sitcom leader with 14 bids and practically ran the table in supporting actor nods, but the comedy realm also saw an infusion of girl power.
Breakout comedies with women at their centre proved alluring to Emmy voters.
Girls, creator-star Lena Dunham's darkly comedic coming-of-age New York story, received a best comedy nod and acting, writing and directing nominations for her. Zooey Deschanel's offbeat charm in New Girl earned her an acting bid.
"I have had the shriekiest morning of my life," said Dunham, as she arrived on set in New York to shoot the second season of Girls."I literally feel like I got asked to the prom and engaged and told I was going to the moon all in one day. Not to be too dramatic."
Other comedy nominees include Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock, Veep and The Big Bang Theory.
Veep, a new show this year on HBO network, stars former Seinfeld sidekick Julia Louis-Dreyfus as vice president of the US. She also received a best comedy actress nomination.
The Emmy ceremony is scheduled to air on September 23.
Bloomberg
