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Champagne for final ‘Downton Abbey’ Emmy nods

Black-ish star Anthony Anderson was expected to repeat in the comedy category, but the nominations for his show and for co-star Tracee Ellis Ross were very welcome additions.

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The 68th Annual Emmy Awards will air on Sunday, September 18, on ABC.

Game of Thrones has earned the most nominations for this year’s Emmys, as a host of British talent will compete for awards on U.S. television’s biggest night. So the fact that Orange Is the New Black didn’t get an Emmy nomination can be chalked up to Season 3 and its all-over-the-place mentality, along with the fact that of course we’re pissed – all any of us are thinking about is the awesomeness of Season 4 at the moment.

HBO’s “Game of Thrones”, last year’s Emmy victor for best drama series, scored a leading 23 nominations Wednesday for the 68th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, while the much-publicized limited series “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and “Fargo” each earned 22.

Limited Series or Movie, Lead Actress: Felicity Huffman, “American Crime”; Lili Taylor, “American Crime”; Kerry Washington, “Confirmation”; Kirsten Dunst, “Fargo”; Audra McDonald, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill”; Sarah Paulson, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”. Including the seven best comedy nominees, nine sources delivered the 14 nominees – and that doesn’t even include a breakthrough by Crackle, the streaming site that earned an unexpected variety-series nomination for Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”, and pulled down three nominations in all.

History’s remake of slave epic Roots also managed a limited series nomination, despite no love in the lead acting categories. Veep picked up 17 nominations this year, including nods for Directing, Writing, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, and noms for various supporting and guest stars – including Peter MacNicol, whose performance as Jonah’s outrageous, ill-tempered uncle almost stole the whole damn show.

Among the nominations Thursday for “Downton Abbey” was best drama series and a best supporting actress nomination for Maggie Smith.

In the comedy categories, best actor nominees are Anthony Anderson of “black-ish”, Aziz Ansari for “Master of None”, Will Forte of “The Last Man on Earth”, William H. Macy of “Shameless”, Thomas Middleditch of “Silicon Valley” and Jeffrey Tambor of “Transparent”.

“Veep” will compete for best comedy with HBO’s “Silicon Valley”, ABC’s “Black-ish” and “Modern Family”, Netflix’s “Master of None” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, and Amazon’s “Transparent”.

“It’s hard to quantify a monetary benefit for an Emmy nomination”, Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore, said.

“Adele Live In New York City” and Beyonce’s “Lemonade” – her album that was accompanied with an HBO special featuring music videos for each track – earned Emmy nominations for outstanding variety special.

HBO was top-nominated network at a presentation Thursday morning in Los Angeles.

Here are the big takeaways from this year’s Emmy nominees.

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Mr Robot, which won Best TV Drama Series at the Golden Globes earlier this year, is eligible for the Emmys for the first time. Some of the winners will be announced at the Creative Arts Awards on Sept. 17 on FXX before the ABC telecast of the Emmy Awards on September 18 at 7 p.m. ET.

Beyonce, Adele's music specials earn Emmy nominations