HBO tops Emmy nominations with ‘Games of Thrones,’ ‘True Detective’

The TV landscape is turning into a “Game of Thrones” judging by the 66th Primetime Emmy nominations announced Thursday morning.

HBO is still king, with 99 nominations. But its fortunes slipped a bit. (The premium channel had 108 nods last year.) And networks ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC all saw their nomination tally dip, too. It’s a different story, though, for FX, Netflix, and even PBS, which all saw a dramatic rise in their nomination haul.

Emmy nominations 2014: List of nominees

FX had 45 nominations Thursday morning -- the majority for its two miniseries, “Fargo” and “American Horror Story: Coven.” That’s way up from the 26 nominations it received a year ago. Meanwhile, streaming service Netflix earned 31 nominations Thursday, with the bulk going to its series “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black.” That was more than double the 14 nods Netflix scored last year. And PBS, thanks primarily to “Downton Abbey” and “Sherlock: His Last Vow,” pulled in 34 nominations this year -- up from last year’s 25 nods.

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” on Thursday morning dominated the nominations with 19, including for best drama series. FX’s miniseries “Fargo” followed with 18, and its “American Horror Story: Coven” took third place with 17 nominations.

Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Ricky Gervais, Jon Hamm, Billy Bob Thornton, Claire Danes, Jessica Lange, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julianna Margulies and the beloved Maggie Smith were among the familiar faces earning Emmy nominations Thursday.

The nominations mean that one of the most exciting races of the upcoming Emmy Awards will be in the best drama series category, with “Game of Thrones” facing off with “Breaking Bad,” “True Detective,” “House of Cards,” “Mad Men” and “Downton Abbey.”

Emmys 2014: Full coverage | Top nominees | Live chats with stars

In the best comedy series category, four-time winner “Modern Family” goes up against fellow veterans “The Big Bang Theory,” “Louie” and “Veep” and newcomers “Silicon Valley” and “Orange Is the New Black,” which led the pack with 12 nominations, including lead actress for Taylor Schilling.

“Breaking Bad” -- the acclaimed series that ended its run last September -- earned a total of 16 nominations, including nods for actor for Bryan Cranston and supporting actor for Aaron Paul.

In the lead actor in a drama series category, Jeff Daniels -- who won last year for “The Newsroom” -- goes up against Kevin Spacey for “House of Cards,” Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson for “True Detective,” as well as Cranston for “Breaking Bad” and Hamm for “Mad Men.” Nominated for lead actress in a drama series are Robin Wright for “House of Cards,” Lizzy Caplan for “Masters of Sex,” Michelle Dockery for “Downton Abbey,” Kerry Washington for “Scandal,” Danes for “Homeland” and Margulies for “The Good Wife.”

In the lead actor in a comedy series category, Jim Parsons for “The Big Bang Theory” is nominated along with Gervais for “Derek,” Matt LeBlanc for “Episodes,” Don Cheadle for “House of Lies,” Louis C.K. for “Louie,” and William H. Macy for “Shameless.” Schilling and Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”) were nominated in the lead actress in a comedy series category along with Lena Dunham for “Girls,” Melissa McCarthy for “Mike & Molly,” Edie Falco for “Nurse Jackie,” and Amy Poehler for “Parks and Recreation.”

Timeline: Emmy winners through the years

Joining “Coven” and “Fargo” in the miniseries category are “Bonnie & Clyde” “Luther,” “Treme” and “The White Queen.”

The AIDS drama “The Normal Heart” garnered the most nominations for a TV movie, with 16 nods, including best TV movie and one for its lead actor, Mark Ruffalo. “Normal Heart” is vying in the best TV movie category against “Killing Kennedy,” “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight,” “Sherlock: His Last Vow” and “The Trip to Bountiful.”

Joining Ruffalo in the lead actor in a miniseries or movie race are Thornton and Martin Freeman for “Fargo,” Chiwetel Ejiofor for “Dancing on the Edge,” Idris Elba for “Luther” and Benedict Cumberbatch for “Sherlock: His Last Vow.” Lead actress in a miniseries nominations went to Lange and Sarah Paulson for “Coven,” Helena Bonham Carter for “Burton and Taylor,” Minnie Driver in “Return to Zero,” Kristen Wiig for “The Spoils of Babylon” and Cicely Tyson for “The Trip to Bountiful.”

Of course, there were surprises and snubs among the nominations. Critics darling Tatiana Maslany of “Orphan Black” was overlooked, while Gervais got a nod. And “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” which won the Golden Globes award earlier for best comedy as well as lead actor in a comedy for Andy Samberg, failed to get Emmy nominations in either category.

The Emmy Awards, which will be hosted by comedian Seth Meyers of NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” will take place Aug. 25 and will be telecast live on NBC from Nokia Theatre.

The nominations were announced by Mindy Kaling and Carson Daly from the Television Academy in North Hollywood.