‘Game of Thrones’ leads with 22 nods from Emmys

LOS ANGELES – Game of Thrones” roared back onto the Emmy battlefield, topping Thursday’s nominations with 22 bids but with a formidable opponent in last year’s winner “The Handmaid’s Tale,” while a streaming platform made history by earning the most bids for the first time.

Netflix’s 112 nominations took away the front-runner title that HBO held since 2001, giving cable and broadcast networks more reason to fear their future in viewers as well as honors. HBO is no piker: It claimed 108 bids.

“Game of Thrones” helped boost the premium cable service’s total and became the most-nominated series of all time, with its 129 nods topping the 124 nominations earned by “ER.”

Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” was the top comedy series nominee the with 16 bids, poised to take advantage of the absence this time around of threetime winner “Veep.” ”Atlanta” will face newcomers including “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” ”Glow” and “Barry.” Others in the category include “black-ish,” ”Silicon Valley,” ”Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

The newbie comedies aced out long-time Emmy favorite “Modern Family,” a five-time winner and perennial nominee since it debuted in 2009 on ABC. Its absence leaves just one network contender for best comedy, ABC’s “black-ish,” which also earned nods for Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson.