"Game Of Thrones" Leads Emmy Nods

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The fantasy saga "Game of Thrones," defying the Emmy Awards' grudging respect for genre fare, emerged as the leader in the nominations announced Thursday with 19 bids, including best drama series.

Other top nominees included a pair of ambitious miniseries, "Fargo," with 18 bids, and "American Horror Story: Coven," with 17. The AIDS drama "The Normal Heart" received 16 nominations, including best TV movie. The meth kingpin drama "Breaking Bad" got 16 bids for its final season, including best drama and best actor nod for star Bryan Cranston.

The 66th prime-time Emmy Awards ceremony will have big-screen star power to spare. This year's Academy Awards best-actor winner Matthew McConaughey ("Dallas Buyers Club") and nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor ("12 Years a Slave") are both nominees for TV projects, as is past Oscar winner Julia Roberts.

In the competitive best-drama series category, "Game of Thrones" will compete with "Breaking Bad," ''Downton Abbey," ''House of Cards," ''Mad Men" and "True Detective."

Whether "Game of Thrones" can take home the top trophy is another question: Only one genre series, "Lost," has ever captured it, according to Tom O'Neil, author of "The Emmys" and organizer of the Gold Derby awards site.

Netflix's "House of Cards" which made a breakthrough last year as the first online series nominated for a major award, has the chance again to grab Emmy gold.

"Orange is the New Black," also from Netflix, leaped that barrier on the flip side this time around with a bid for best comedy series, along with a nod for star Taylor Schilling.

Also competing for best comedy honors are "The Big Bang Theory," ''Louie," ''Silicon Valley," ''Veep," and "Modern Family," a four-time winner that has the chance to tie "Frasier" as the all-time winning sitcom with one more award.

"Orange is the New Black," a prison-set hybrid "dramedy," could have been entered in either the drama or comedy category, and the decision to go for the latter paid off. Not so for "Shameless," a onetime drama contender that tried for better luck on the comedy side but failed to get a top bid.

Another category-buster is "True Detective," the dark-hearted Southern drama that starred McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. It was entered in the series category although it had a close-ended story and its stars have indicated they don't plan on returning.

But the crime anthology qualifies as a series because of the "created by" credit given to Nic Pizzolatto by the Writers Guild of America, said John Leverence, the TV academy's senior vice president for awards.

2014 Emmy Nominations:

Outstanding Comedy Series: "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS) "Louie" (FX) "Modern Family" (ABC) "Orange is the New Black" (Netflix) "Silicon Valley" (AMC) "Veep" (HBO)

Outstanding Drama Series: "Breaking Bad" (AMC) "Downton Abbey" (PBS) "Game of Thrones" (HBO) "House of Cards" (Netflix) "Mad Men" (AMC) "True Detective" (HBO)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Louis C.K., "Louie" Don Cheadle, "House of Lies" Ricky Gervais, "Derick" Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes" William H. Macy, "Shameless" Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Lena Dunham, "Girls" Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie" Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep" Melissa McCarthy, "Mike & Molly" Amy Poehler, "Parks & Recreation" Taylor Schilling, "Orange is the New Black"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Fred Armisen, "Portlandia" Andre Braugher, "Brookyln Nine-Nine" Ty Burrell, "Modern Family" Adam Driver, "Girls" Jesse Tyler Ferguson, "Modern Family" Tony Hale, "Veep"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Mayim Bialik, "The Big Bang Theory" Julie Bowen, "Modern Family" Anna Chlumsky, "Veep" Allison Janney, "Mom" Kate McKinnon, "Saturday Night Live" Kate Mulgrew, "Orange is the New Black"

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad" Jeff Daniels, "The Newsroom" Jon Hamm, "Mad Men" Woody Harrelson, "True Detective" Matthew McConaughey, "True Detective" Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Lizzy Caplan, "Masters of Sex" Claire Danes, "Homeland" Michelle Dockery, "Downton Abbey" Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife" Kerry Washington, "Scandal" Robin Wright, "House of Cards"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Jim Carter, "Downton Abbey" Josh Charles, "The Good Wife" Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones" Aaron Paul, "Breaking Bad" Mandy Patinkin, "Homeland" Jon Voight, "Ray Donovan"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Christine Baranski, "The Good Wife" Joanne Froggatt, "Downton Abbey" Anna Gunn, "Breaking Bad" Lena Headey, "Game of Thrones" Christina Hendricks, "Mad Men" Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"

Outstanding Miniseries: "American Horror Story: Coven" (FX) "Fargo" (FX) "Luther" (BBC America) "Treme" (HBO) "The White Queen" (Starz)

Outstanding TV Movie: "Killing Kennedy" (National Geographic Channel) "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight" (HBO) "Sherlock: His Last Vow (Masterpiece)" (PBS) "The Normal Heart" (HBO) "The Trip to Bountiful" (HBO)

Outstanding Reality-Competitions Program "The Amazing Race" "Dancing With The Stars" "Project Runway" "So You Think You Can Dance" "Top Chef" "The Voice"

Outstanding Variety Series "The Colbert Report" "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" "Jimmy Kimmel Live" "Real Time with Bill Maher" "Saturday Night Live" "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon"

The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Aug. 25 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Seth Meyers.

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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