Online series makes awards 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 certainly is a marker of the new era. ... 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.