LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Record-breaking fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” made a storming comeback Thursday to Hollywood’s awards circuit after a year off, dominating this year’s Emmy nominations with a whopping 22 nods.
The smash hit HBO show, which returns for a shortened eighth and final season next year, will compete once again for the coveted best drama series prize, several acting trophies and a slew of technical awards.
The show about noble families vying for the Iron Throne faces a tough challenge from perennial favorite comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live” and HBO stablemate “Westworld” with 21 nominations each.
The Television Academy’s 22,000-plus members spent two weeks in June sifting through more than 9,000 entries to choose nominees for the Emmys, the small-screen equivalent of the Oscars.
“The continued growth of the industry has provided opportunities for acclaimed new programs to emerge, while allowing last season’s breakthrough programs to thrive,” said academy chairman Hayma Washington.
The Emmys recognize programs shown in the year to May 31, meaning some of the usual heavy hitters – from “Better Call Saul” to “House of Cards” and “Veep” – are absent this time around.
With women’s rights advocates angry over President Donald Trump’s nomination of a deeply conservative judge to serve on the Supreme Court, a show about a fictional nightmarish America run by a totalitarian regime bent on oppressing women is tipped to steal some of the thunder of “Thrones.”
Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” scored 20 nominations – seven better than last year – and is an early favorite to repeat as the winner for best drama in September.
Another big story on Thursday was Netflix ending a 17-year winning streak by HBO. The streamer led the nominations with 112, while HBO scored 108. Adrift in third was NBC with 78 nods.
But it was “Thrones” that set the Emmys pace with its seventh season, which aired last summer, earning recognition for cast members Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage and Diana Rigg.
It will also be in contention for directing, writing and a host of technical awards, as well as best drama, where the other rivals include FX’s “The Americans,” which wrapped recently and has four nods in total.
The category is completed by “Westworld,” Netflix’s “The Crown,” which finished on 13 nominations, and the streaming service’s sci-fi series “Stranger Things” (12), as well as NBC’s family drama “This is Us.”
Ryan Murphy’s FX show “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” one of the few serious contenders this year that can claim to be entirely new, picked up an impressive 18 nominations, including for actors Darren Criss, Penelope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez and Ricky Martin.
