Web series House of Cards makes Emmy history

LOS ANGELES — Netflix’s House of Cards made Emmy history Thursday with a nomination for top drama series, the first time television’s leading awards have recognized a program delivered online as equal in quality to the best TV has to offer.

The nomination, one of nine nods the political thriller earned, is a marker in the unfolding revolution in how we receive and watch video entertainment.

“It’s really groundbreaking,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. “It’s beyond our most bold expectations. We were thinking a single nomination would be a win ... It’s as much a win for Internet television as it is for the content creators.”

The most Emmy nominations, 17, went to American Horror Story: Asylum. Close behind was Game of Thrones with 16 nods, while Saturday Night Live and the Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra earned 15 nominations each, including nods for stars Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.

The bonanza of nominations for Game of Thrones is the swords-and-fantasy show’s most ever and includes a nod as best drama series and three acting bids, including a supporting nod for Peter Dinklage.

House of Cards stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright received acting bids, along with a number of other primarily big-screen actors who have migrated to TV for powerhouse projects, with Douglas and Damon among them.

Joining House of Cards and Game of Thrones in the category of best drama series are Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Mad Men and last year’s winner, Homeland.

Mad Men — which last year missed out on the best drama trophy that would have been its record-setting fifth, eclipsing fellow four-time winners Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and The West Wing — gets another shot this year.

The major broadcast networks were shut out of the prestigious category, a repeat of last year and a particular blow with the entry of Netflix’s streamed drama. Boardwalk Empire was the only show not to return in the category, its spot claimed by House of Cards.

In the comedy series category, nominees are The Big Bang Theory, Girls, Louie, Modern Family, Veep and 30 Rock, recognized for its final season. Another outgoing comedy, The Office, didn’t receive a nod for best series. Another Netflix series, Arrested Development, didn’t earn a nod as best comedy series but scored three nominations, including one for star Jason Bateman.

Some pundits thought it might earn online’s first nomination for best comedy series, given that it won a trophy in the category for Fox before the network cancelled it.

A six-year-old change to the TV academy rules allows online entries to compete with cable and broadcast programs, although, so far, Internet shows had popped up only in lower-profile categories. That changed with the 65th Primetime Emmys.

“It will send shock waves through the industry,” said Tim Brooks, a TV historian and former network executive, predicted on the eve of the nominations.

They were announced by Aaron Paul, a previous winner for Breaking Bad and nominated again this year, and, in a surprise, Emmy host Neil Patrick Harris.

He filled in for House of Cards actress Kate Mara, who was delayed in Santa Fe, N.M., by a plane’s mechanical malfunction.

An in-demand emcee, the How I Met Your Mother star earned a bid for hosting Broadway’s Tony Awards.

Joining Spacey in the contest for best drama series actor are Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey; Jon Hamm of Mad Men; Jeff Daniels of The Newsroom and Damian Lewis of Homeland. Kevin Bacon, one of the big-screen stars trying their hand at TV, was not recognized in the category for The Following.

Breaking Bad, now in its final episodes on AMC, goes out with an Emmy nomination for best drama.

“What’s so great about this thing is it’s going to bring us all back together,” Paul said. “A little family reunion. So we get to come back together and celebrate the time we had together and the work that we did.”

Actresses nominated for their drama series work besides Wright include Vera Farmiga of Bates Hotel; Michelle Dockery of Downton Abbey; Elisabeth Moss of Mad Men; Connie Britton of Nashville and Kerry Washington of Scandal. Claire Danes, last year’s winner for Homeland, also got a nod.

Besides Bateman, the nominees for best actor in a comedy are Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory: Matt LeBlanc for Episodes; Don Cheadle for House of Lies; Louis C.K. for Louie and Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock.

Jon Cryer, last year’s surprise winner for Two and a Half Men, didn’t make the cut this year.

Actresses competing for top comedy acting honours are Laura Dern for Enlightened; Lena Dunham for Girls; Edie Falco for Nurse Jackie; Amy Poehler for Parks and Recreation and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who claimed the trophy last year for Veep.

Most of the 2012 trophy holders have a chance to repeat.

Maggie Smith was nominated again as best supporting actress in a drama for Downton Abbey, which has brought her two trophies. Julie Bowen is up for supporting actress in a comedy for Modern Family.

But Eric Stonestreet, who claimed the supporting actor award last year for the show, was snubbed while castmates Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ed O’Neill and Ty Burrell got nods.

Among the major U.S. networks, NBC has 53 nominations and ABC got 45,

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Emmy ceremony will air Sept. 22 on CBS.