Calgary writer nominated for an Emmy
Canadians Tatiana Maslany, Semi Chellas, Jeremy Podeswa, Michael J. Fox and brothers Jeff and Mychael Danna have picked up Emmy nominations.
It’s the first Emmy nomination for Maslany, the star of the sci- fi clone saga Orphan Black.
The Regina native is up in the best lead actress in a drama category against Taraji P. Henson, Claire Danes, Robin Wright, Viola Davis and Elisabeth Moss.
Chellas, from Calgary, picked up her fifth Emmy nomination for Mad Men, in the best writing in a drama category.
Chellas, a Sir Winston Churchill High School graduate, is up for best writing in a drama series alongside Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner for the episode Lost Horizon, which ran in May.
Among her competition is her boss. Weiner is also nominated for writing Person to Person, the series finale.
This is the third Emmy nomination for Chellas, who received two nods for her writing on Mad Men in 2013.
Toronto- born Podeswa is nominated in the best direction in a drama category for his work on Game of Thrones.
Edmonton native Fox is nominated in the best guest actor in a drama category for his role on The Good Wife.
The Danna brothers, who grew up in Toronto, are nominated for two awards for the pilot episode of Tyrant. They’re up for the best music composition for a series and best theme music awards.
Homegrown show Degrassi also picked up a nomination for best children’s program, and Property Brothers is up for best structured reality series.
The elaborate fantasy saga Game of Thrones received a leading 24 Emmy Awards nominations.
The series is a contender again for top drama honours, an award that’s eluded it since it debuted in 2011.
The TV academy took a step toward recognizing TV’s increasing embrace of diverse talent, giving best actress nods to black stars Henson for Empire and Davis for How to Get Away with Murder.
That sets up a possibility of a history- making win: An African-American actress has never won the top drama acting award. However, two- time nominee Kerry Washington of Scandal was left out this year.
Also snubbed: freshman hit hiphop-family drama Empire, which was left out of the best drama series category, and series star Terrence Howard, who failed to get a best drama actor bid.
Instead, voters gave nods to favourites such as Mad Men star Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey of House of Cards and newcomer Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul.
The relatively expansive ethnic diversity that TV offers — compared to movies, which honoured only white actors this year — also is in play when it comes to sexuality. Transparent and Jeffrey Tambor’s portrayal of a transsexual’s life received best comedy series and acting bids.
Other top awards are American Horror Story: Freak Show, with 19 nominations; TV movies Olive Kittridge and Bessie, with 13 and 12 bids, respectively; and House of Cards, Mad Men and Transparent with 11 nominations.
Programs getting a last chance for Emmy glory include best drama series nominee Mad Men, a fourtime winner in the category that would be the most- honoured drama ever with a fifth trophy.
David Letterman, who retired from Late Show, and Stephen Colbert, who left The Colbert Report to succeed Letterman this fall, both received variety talk show nominations for their former shows.
Joining Game of Thrones, Mad Men and Better Call Saul in the best drama category are Downton Abbey, Homeland, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.
On the comedy series side, perennial TV academy favourite Modern Family is nominated again, along with Louie, Silicon Valley, Transparent, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Veep.
Besides Hamm and Odenkirk, others vying for best drama actors are Kyle Chandler of Bloodline, Spacey in House of Cards, Jeff Daniels from The Newsroom and Liev Schreiber in Ray Donovan.