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"Saturday Night Live," powered by madcap skits skewering the Trump administration, earned 22 Emmy Award nominations, including bids for Alec Baldwin's florid portrayal of the president and Melissa McCarthy's manic, gender-busting take on press secretary Sean Spicer.
The long-running NBC variety show tied with HBO's sci-fi drama Westworld, which also earned 22 bids, to jointly top the field for the 69th Primetime Emmys to be presented in September.
Among networks, HBO again had the highest overall tally, with 111 nods, mostly because of multiple nominations for crime drama The Night Of and female-driven murder mystery Big Little Lies.
Nicole Kidman picked up a Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie nomination for her role Big Little Lies which snagged 16 nods overall.
"When we started on this journey we never thought the series would connect on such a big way worldwide," Kidman said.
Netflix continued its climb alongside traditional TV networks with 91 nominations.
It dominated the best drama category with three contenders, The Crown, House of Cards and Stranger Things, a best-ever total for streaming as its platforms grow in strength to compete with broadcast and cable.
Feud: Bette and Joan, about the epic clash of Hollywood divas Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, reaped 18 nominations, including for stars Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon.
Emmy nominations:
- Comedy Series: Atlanta; black-ish; Master Of None; Modern Family; Silicon Valley; Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; Veep
- Drama Series: Better Call Saul; The Crown; The Handmaid's Tale; House Of Cards; Stranger Things; This Is Us; Westworld
- Actor, 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 (Westworld)
- Actress, 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)
- Actor, Comedy Series: Donald Glover (Atlanta); Zach Galifianakis (Baskets); Anthony Anderson (black-ish); Aziz Ansari (Master of None); William H. Macy (Shameless); Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)
- Actress, 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)
Veep, the most-nominated comedy with 17 bids, has a chance for its third consecutive top comedy trophy. Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus has the chance to build on her record of most wins for a lead comedy actress: She has five for Veep and one for New Adventures of Old Christine.
Jeffrey Tambor has a chance for the same Emmy hat trick: He is nominated again as best comedy actor for Transparent after taking the trophy for the past two years.
Emmy voters showed their willingness to recognise new comic voices as well as diversity. Donald Glover's Atlanta earned a best comedy bid, as did Master of None, starring its nominated co-creator, Aziz Ansari. The TV academy noted that the majority of nominated writers are people of colour.
There was room in for an old favourite, Modern Family, although it earned only a handful of bids besides best comedy, including for Ty Burrell in the supporting actor category. Silicon Valley and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt round out the best comedy ranks.
Samantha Bee, who broke into the late-night male domain with Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, earned a variety talk show nomination for her efforts. Her competitors include Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, James Corden and Bill Maher.
Best Drama opens up without Game of Thrones
The drama field opened up with the absence of HBO's dominant Game of Thrones, which aired outside the eligibility window for Emmy consideration this year. It won 12 Emmys last year, including its second consecutive best drama award.
Newcomers were ready to step in, including breakout series This Is Us. It received 11 nods, including the first best-drama series for a network show since The Good Wife in 2011.
NBC's intricately told story of an extended family, a hit with viewers and critics, also earned bids for Sterling K Brown and Milo Ventimiglia, who are competing with each other in the best actor category.
The show's Chrissy Metz and Ron Cephas Jones were nominated in supporting acting categories.
Sci-fi drama series Stranger Things received an impressive 18 bids, including one for star Millie Bobby Brown, while The Crown, a lavish peek at the life of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as played by the nominated Claire Foy, received a total of 13 bids.
So did the dystopian Hulu saga The Handmaid's Tale, including a nomination for star Elisabeth Moss. Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad, spinoff is also nominated, along with star Bob Odenkirk.
"Chuffed, thrilled, proud, honoured!" Peter Morgan, creator of The Crown, said in a statement.
"So delighted for everyone involved. A proper fat cigar moment, if only I smoked. Drinks all round, if only I drank. I shall have to make do with turning cartwheels."
Ground breaking Girls didn't get a best comedy bid for its sixth and final season. But it cleaned up for its guest actors, with nods going to Becky Ann Baker, Riz Ahmed and Matthew Rhys, with Ahmed and Rhys nominated in drama categories as well, for The Night Of and The Americans, respectively.
The Emmys are scheduled to air September 17 on CBS, with Stephen Colbert as host.
AP/Reuters
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, television, united-states
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