Westworld, Saturday Night Live dominate Emmy nods

Westworld, Saturday Night Live top Emmy picks

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - HBO's sci-fi/western hit Westworld and NBC's long-running late-night variety show Saturday Night Live dominated the Emmy nominations Thursday, taking 22 nods apiece.

Saturday Night Live’s viewership skyrocketed after its cast and crew lampooned the Trump administration in a series of skits highlighted by Alec Baldwin's not-far-from-the-mark take on President Donald Trump and Melissa McCarthy's gender-bending portrayal of his press secretary, Sean Spicer.

Stranger Things, Netflix's sci-fi story of a group of children who cross into a parallel dimension, and FX's FEUD: Bette and Joan, each racked up 18 nominations.

At 17 nominations, HBO's political satire Veep is not far behind, with Julia Louise-Dreyfus in the running for best actress in a comedy series.

Drama newcomers on traditional television and streaming services commanded the category with five of seven nominations -- The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, Stranger Things, This Is Us and Westworld. They are joined by past nominees Better Call Saul and House of Cards.

Streaming service programming also made a showing in the outstanding comedy series category with Aziz Ansari's Master of None and the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, both from Netflix, joining Atlanta, black-ish, Modern Family, Silicon Valley and Veep in the category.

"It’s been a record-breaking year for television, continuing its explosive growth," said Television Academy Chairman and CEO Hayma Washington. "The creativity and excellence in presenting great storytelling and characters across a multitude of ever-expanding entertainment platforms is staggering."

A list of selected categories and their nominees listed below.

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul

The Crown

The Handmaid's Tale

House of Cards

Stranger Things

This Is Us

Westworld

Outstanding Comedy Series

Atlanta

black-ish

Master of None

Modern Family

Silicon Valley

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Veep

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series

Donald Glover, Atlanta

Zach Galifianakis, Baskets

Anthony Anderson, black-ish

Aziz Ansari, Master of None

William H. Macy, Shameless

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

Pamela Adlon, Better Things

Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish

Jane Fonda, Grace And Frankie

Lily Tomlin, Grace And Frankie

Allison Janney, Mom

Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series

Matthew Rhys, The Americans

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us

Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us

Anthony Hopkins, West world

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

Keri Russell, The Americans

Claire Foy, The Crown

Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Viola Davis, How To Get Away With Murder

Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie

Ewan McGregor, Fargo

Geoffrey Rush, Genius

Riz Ahmed, The Night Of

John Turturro, The Night Of

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Lying Detective

Robert De Niro, Wizard Of Lies