Emmy voters are widening their horizons.
HBO's hit "Game of Thrones," last year's winner for outstanding drama, again led the pack Thursday, with 23 nominations, but there were plenty of indications beyond the 22 nominations for FX's limited series "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story," that members of the Television Academy might be watching more TV, even the kind that's not actually on TV.
Among the things to celebrate:
_ FX's widely praised "The Americans," which recently ended its fourth season, received its first nomination for outstanding drama, and its stars, Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, each received their first nods as leads.
_ Rami Malek, star of USA's enigmatic "Mr. Robot," was nominated in his first year of eligibility as outstanding lead actor.
_ We won't see a repeat of #OscarsSoWhite at the Emmys. Television's growing diversity was reflected in the selections, which included previous nominees like Viola Davis (who won last year for ABC's "How to Get Away With Murder"), Taraji P. Henson ("Empire"), Idris Elba ("Luther"), Anthony Anderson ("black-ish") as well as first-timers like Cuba Gooding Jr. and Courtney B. Vance (both nominated as lead actors for "The People v. O.J."), Aziz Ansari (Netflix's "Master of None") and Tracee Ellis Ross ("black-ish"). That said, I'd have liked to have seen something for ABC's "Fresh Off the Boat," and particularly for Constance Wu.
_ Ellie Kemper received her first nomination for lead actress in a comedy for playing the title character for the second season of Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," and the series, co-created by Tina Fey, was nominated for the second year for outstanding comedy.
_ Emmy voters may continue to love Netflix's "House of Cards" a bit more than it deserves, but they also found time, and a nomination, for Jerry Seinfeld's streaming series on the lesser known service Crackle, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," which received a first nomination for outstanding variety talk series.
Beyond "The Americans," nominees for outstanding drama were AMC's "Better Call Saul," PBS' "Downton Abbey," "Game of Thrones," Showtime's "Homeland," "House of Cards" and "Mr. Robot."
Besides "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," nominees for outstanding comedy were: "black-ish," "Master of None," ABC's "Modern Family," HBO's "Silicon Valley," Amazon's "Transparent" and HBO's "Veep."
Besides Rhys and Malek, nominees for lead actor, drama are Kyle Chandler, of Netflix's "Bloodline"; Bob Odenkirk, "Better Call Saul"; Liev Schreiber, Showtime's "Ray Donovan"; and Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards."
Besides Davis, Russell and Henson, nominations for lead actress in a drama are Tatiana Maslany, BBC America's "Orphan Black," and Robin Wright, "House of Cards."
Besides Anderson and Ansari, nominations for lead actor, comedy, are: Will Forte, Fox's "Last Man on Earth"; William H. Macy, Showtime's "Shameless";Thomas Middleditch, HBO's "Silicon Valley"; and Jeffrey Tambor, "Transparent."
Besides Kemper and Ross, nominees for lead actress, comedy, are perennial winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus, HBO's "Veep"; Laurie Metcalf, HBO's "Getting On"; Amy Schumer, Comedy Central's "Inside Amy Schumer"; and Lily Tomlin, Netflix's "Grace and Frankie."
Besides Elba, Gooding and Vance, nominees for lead actor in a limited series or movie are Bryan Cranston, HBO's "All the Way"; Benedict Cumberbatch, PBS' "Sherlock: The Abominable Bride"; and Tom Hiddleston, AMC's "The Night Manager."
Nominated for lead actress in a limited series or movie are Kirsten Dunst, FX's "Fargo"; Felicity Huffman, ABC's "American Crime"; Audra McDonald, HBO's "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill"; Sarah Paulson, "The People V. O.J. Simpson"; Lili Taylor, "American Crime"; and Kerry Washington, HBO's "Confirmation."
The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards will air on Sept. 18 on ABC, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
