James R | On 18, Jul 2019

Game of Thrones is leading the 2019 Emmy nominations with a record number of nods.

HBO’s fantasy epic has long been a mainstay of the annual awards race, leading the pack every year since 2014 with only one gap in 2017 because it didn’t air a season that year. Now, back in force for its final run, it’s looking to bow out in royal style, not only garnering nods in the Best Drama category but also nods for Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke in the Lead Actor and Actress categories, among many more – including nods for Gwendoline Christie, Alfie Allen and Carice van Outen, who notably all submitted themselves for consideration. In total, the show has 32 nominations and could well walk away with most of them.

The show’s sizeable haul is good news for HBO, which last year saw its 18-year streak broken by Netflix, after the streamer earned 112 nominations versus HBO’s 108. Now, the cabler is back in pole position with 137 nods ahead of Netflix’s 117, even surpassing HBO’s own record of 126 in 2015. Other HBO nominees include Chernobyl, in third with 19, Barry, tied in fifth with 17, plus True Detective, the Deadwood movie, Sharp Objects, Succession and Leaving Neverland.

Netflix, though, is still staking a claim on being an awards favourite, with nods in all the major categories except for variety show. Its most nominated show is Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us (in sixth with 16), with other nominees including Our Planet, Ozark, Beyoncé’s Homecoming, GLOW and Russian Doll (13).

Amazon Prime Video has just 47 nods, but that marks a step up from last year’s 22. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, in particular, remains a huge awards hit, scoring the second highest nominations with 20 in total.

Other notable contenders include Showtime and Sky’s Escape at Dannemora (12), BBC Three’s Fleabag (11), Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale (11), AMC’s Better Call Saul (9), BBC One’s Killing Eve (9), This Is Us (9) and RuPaul’s Drag Race (9).

BBC One’s Bodyguard will be battling Better Call Saul, Ozark, Pose, Succession, This is Us, Killing Eve and Thrones for Best Drama. Other British talents highlighted include Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer (Sandra Oh is also nominated) – competing against Viola Davis, Laura Linney, Mandy Moore and Robin Wright for Best Actress – Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Lead Actress in a Comedy and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy), Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw for A Very English Scandal, Fiona Shaw and Kristin Scott Thomas for Fleabag, and Sacha Baron Cohen for Who is America?.

While Bodyguard is up for Best Drama, though, its star Richard Madden was snubbed – along with the notable omission of Julia Roberts in Amazon’s Homecoming (nominated only for cinematography, and Emma Stone and Jonah Hill for Netflix‘s Maniac.

Nonetheless, some old favourites are present and correct, with Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has won six times, once again up for Lead Actress in a Comedy, where she will face off against Mrs. Maisel herself, Rachel Brosnahan, as well as awards newcomers Dead to Me’s Christina Applegate and Russian Doll’s Natasha Lyonne.

The Emmys will take place on 22nd September, with a host yet to be announced. For the full list of nominees, click here.

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