‘SNL,’ ‘Westworld’ lead Emmy Award nominations
LOS ANGELES — “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 on Thursday, to jointly top the field for the 69th Primetime Emmys to be presented in September.
Netflix big-shouldered 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 and 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. Other bigscreen stars making a splash on the small screen include Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, nominated for “Big Little Lies,” which is competing with “Feud” for best limited series.
Robert De Niro earned a nod for his portrayal of fraudster Bernard Madoff in the nominated TV movie “The Wizard Of Lies.”
“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.”
Emmy voters showed their willingness to recognize new comic voices as well as diversity. Donald Glover’s freshman “Atlanta” earned a best comedy bid, as did “Master of None,” starring its nominated co-creator, Aziz Ansari, and “black-ish.” The TV academy noted the majority of nominated writers are people of color.
There was room for an old favorite, “Modern Family,” although it earned only a handful of bids besides best comedy, including for Ty Burrell in the supporting actor category.
McCarthy’s “Saturday Night Live” bid came for an episode she hosted. The show’s other nominees include Leslie Jones, Vanessa Bayer and Kate McKinnon, who has shifted gears from playing Hillary Clinton to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Politics has paid off for “SNL” with more than Emmy recognition. When it began the season with candidates Donald Trump and Clinton (Baldwin, McKinnon) facing off, the show drew bigger audiences than at any point since Tina Fey did her memorable Sarah Palin impersonation in 2008.
The Emmys are scheduled to air Sept. 17 on CBS, with Stephen Colbert as host.