'American Horror Story,' 'Game of Thrones' Lead Emmy Noms

Fear and fantasy filled the room when nominations for the 65th annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced in North Hollywood Thursday, with FX's "American Horror Story: Asylum" garnering 17 nominations and HBO's "Game of Thrones" close behind with 16.

And for the first time, on-demand television took its place among the top Emmy nominees.

The political thriller "House of Cards" was nominated in the outstanding drama series category, one of nine nominations for the series out of a total of 14 for Netflix. The other nominees in the category were last year's winner, Showtime's "Homeland"; AMC's four-time winner "Mad Men"; AMC's "Breaking Bad," PBS' British period drama "Downton Abbey" and HBO's medieval fantasy "Game of Thrones."     ABC's "Modern Family," a winner each of the last three years, surprised no one by making the list of nominees for outstanding comedy series again. Other nominees in the category were CBS' "The Big Bang Theory," HBO's "Girls," FX's "Louie," NBC's "30 Rock" and HBO's "Veep."

"Arrested Development," winner of six Emmys during its 2003-06 run on Fox and now in a new season on Netflix, was not nominated in the best-comedy category, but received three other nominations. In addition to the series' two technical nominations, Jason Bateman was nominated as outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for his portrayal of Michael Bluth in the offbeat comedy

This was the second year that none of the outstanding drama series nominees came from the major broadcast networks. A series from the major broadcast networks has not won in the category since Fox's "24" in 2006.

Emmy rules were changed in 2007 to allow broadband programming to submit in all categories, but this is the first year that online programming has been recognized in such visible categories. Among the nods for "House of Cards" were a dramatic actor nomination for Kevin Spacey, who plays a scheming South Carolina congressman, drama actress for Robin Wright, who plays the congressman's wife.

It was 20 years ago that a cable network was first nominated in one of the best series categories, when HBO's "The Larry Sanders Show" got a nod for outstanding comedy. New platforms, like Netflix, are moving to offer original content during what has been called television's third Golden Age of drama.

Jeff Daniels received his first Emmy nomination, earning his best drama actor nod for his portrayal of news anchor Will McAvoy in HBO's "The Newsroom." In addition to Daniels and Spacey, other nominees for outstanding lead actor in a drama series were Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad"), Hugh Bonneville ("Downton Abbey"), Damian Lewis '("Homeland") and Jon Hamm ("Mad Men").

The nominees for outstanding lead actress in a drama series were Vera Farmiga in A&E's "Bates Motel," Michelle Dockery ("Downton Abbey"), Claire Danes ("Homeland"), Robin Wright ("House of Cards"), Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men"),  Kerry Washington (ABC's "Scandal") and Connie Britton ("Nashville," also from ABC).

On the comedy front, Louis C.K. received seven nominations for acting, directing, writing and editing "Louie" and "Louis C.K. : Oh My God." He will compete for best comedy series actor with Bateman, Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory"), Matt LeBlanc ("Episodes"), Don Cheadle ("House of Lies") and Alec Baldwin, a two-time winner for his portrayal of corporate executive Jack Donaghy on "30 Rock."

Tina Fey received six nominations for "30 Rock" and "The 70th Annual Golden Globes," which she co-hosted with Amy Poehler. Other nominees for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series were Laura Dern (HBO's "Enlightened"), Lena Dunham (HBO's "Girls"), Edie Falco (Showtime's "Nurse Jackie"), Amy Poehler (NBC's "Parks and Recreation") and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (HBO's "Veep").

NBC's "Saturday Night Live" pulled in 15 nominations, almost matching its own record for most nominations in a single season in the variety program category, which it set with 16 nominations in 2011. The show has been nominated 171 times over its lifetime, the most for any program.

"SNL" was nominated for outstanding variety series along with "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," both on Comedy Central, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," NBC's "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," and HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher."

HBO dominated the categories overall with 108 nominations. Traditional broadcast networks also had big showings: NBC and CBS tied with 53 nominations and ABC had 45.

CBS' "The Amazing Race" has received the Emmy for outstanding reality- competition program for nine of the 10 years it has been awarded and was nominated again today, along with Bravo's "Top Chef," the only other program to win in the category. Other nominees were ABC's "Dancing With The Stars," Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," NBC's "The Voice" and Lifetime's "Project Runway."

HBO's "Behind the Candelabra" garnered 15 nominations overall, including outstanding miniseries or movie and lead acting nominations in the miniseries/movie category for both Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon, who played his younger lover, Scott Thorson. Other contenders for outstanding miniseries or movie were "American Horror Story: Asylum," the History channel's "The Bible," HBO's "Phil Spector," USA's "Political Animals" and "Top of the Lake" from the Sundance Channel.

In addition to Douglas and Damon, actors nominated for an outstanding performance in a miniseries or movie were Toby Jones as Alfred Hitchcock in HBO's "The Girl," Al Pacino as "Phil Spector" and Benedict Cumberbatch as Christopher Tietjens in "Parade's End."

Ryan Seacrest was nominated a lucky 13th time for host of a reality- competition show host for his work on Fox's "American Idol." He will compete with Betty White ("Betty White's Off Their Rockers"), Tom Bergeron ("Dancing With The Stars"), Cat Deeley ("So You Think You Can Dance"), chef Anthony Bourdain ("The Taste") and "Project Runway" co-nominees Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn.

Two-time Emmy winner Jessica Lange was nominated for her role as Sister Jude Martin in "American Horror Story: Asylum" and will compete with Laura Linney (Showtime's "The Big C: Hereafter"), Helen Mirren ("Phil Spector"), Sigourney Weaver ("Political Animals") and Elisabeth Moss ("Top Of The Lake") in the miniseries/movie acting category.     Three-time Emmy winner Neil Patrick Harris, who will host the 65th annual Primetime Emmy Awards in September, and Aaron Paul, a two-time Emmy winner and nominee again today for his portrayal of methamphetamine manufacturer Jesse Pinkman on "Breaking Bad," joined Bruce Rosenblum, the chairman and CEO of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, in announcing the nominees in the top categories in a ceremony that began at 5:40 a.m. at the academy's North Hollywood headquarters.

Kate Mara, who plays reporter Zoe Barnes on "House of Cards," was originally scheduled to co-host with Paul, but was stuck on location due to a cancelled flight, according to organizers.

Harris joked about the early hour, designed to allow the nominations to be shown live in the Eastern and Central time zones on the morning news programs.

"Special thanks to Kate Mara for getting me out of the house before my children start screaming and crying," Harris said.

The quality of television programming has drawn talent from other media, a development highlighted by the number of screenwriters and directors known for their film and theater work nominated today for Emmys. Jane Campion ("Top of the Lake"), David Mamet ("Phil Spector") and Tom Stoppard ("Parade's End" by HBO) all received nominations for outstanding writing for a miniseries, movie or dramatic special. Steven Soderbergh ("Behind The Candelabra") and David Fincher ("House of Cards") were among the most notable directors nominated for their television work.     

The 65th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which will honor programming that initially aired between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. from June 1, 2012, to May 31, 2013, will be presented Sept. 22 at the Nokia Theatre and televised on CBS.     The bulk of the Primetime Emmys will be presented at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony Sept. 15, also at the Nokia Theatre.