'Mad Men' Among Diverse List of Emmy Nominations

Mad Men will get one last chance to win Emmy hardware; the AMC series was nominated as part of an Emmy nominations announcement noted for its diversity and the inclusion of new shows.

Mad Men, which ended its run earlier this year, will compete in a very crowded Outstanding Drama series category that also includes fellow AMC series Better Call Saul and Downton Abbey (PBS), Game of Thrones (HBO), Homeland (Showtime) and Orange Is the New Black (Netflix), according to the the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which made the announcements during a press conference in Los Angeles and posted them on Emmys.com.

Mad Men's Jon Hamm will also look to garner an Emmy in the lead drama actor category.

The Emmy nominations  featured a number of multicultural actors and actresses in major categories, including two African-American actresss nominated in the drama category -- Viola Davis (ABC's How to Get Away With Murder) and Taraji P. Henson (Fox's Empire) -- in a category that no African-American actress has ever won. Also, Queen Latifah nabbed a best actress in a limited series or movie nod for her starring role in HBO's Bessie.

The nominations also featured several new series from streaming services like Amazon and Netflix. Amazon's Transparent was nominated for best comedy along with Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, while veteran actress Lily Tomlin was nominated for best comedy actress for her role in Netflix's Grace & Frankie. Tatiana Maslany, who has famously been snubbed by Emmy voters in past cycles despite her multiple-character exploits in BBC America's Orphan Black, was nominated for outstanding lead actress in a drama series. 

The Emmy nominations are as follows:

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul (AMC)
Downton Abbey (PBS)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Homeland (Showtime)
House of Cards (Netflix)
Mad Men (AMC)
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)

Outstanding Comedy Series
Louie (FX)
Modern Family (ABC)
Parks & Recreation (NBC)
Silicon Valley (HBO)
Transparent (Amazon)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
Veep (HBO)

Outstanding Limited Series
American Crime (ABC)
Amerian Horror Story: Freak Show (FX)
Olive Kitteridge (HBO)
The Honorable Woman (SundanceTV)
Wolf Hall (PBS)

Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)
Last Week Tonight With Jon Oliver (HBO)
The Late Show With David Letterman (CBS)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)

Outstanding Reality-Competition Series
The Amazing Race (CBS)
Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Voice (NBC)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Kyle Chandler for Netflix’s Bloodline
Jeff Daniels for HBO’s The Newsroom
Jon Hamm for AMC’s Mad Men
Bob Odenkirk for AMC’s Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber for Showtime’s Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey for Netflix’s House of Cards

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Danes for Showtime’s Homeland
Viola Davis for ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder
Taraji P. Henson for Fox’s Empire
Tatiana Maslany for BBC America’s Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss for AMC’s Mad Men
Robin Wright for Netflix’s House of Cards

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson for ABC’s black—ish
Louis C.K. for FX’s Louie
Don Cheadle for Showtime’s House of Lies
Will Forte for Fox’s The Last Man on Earth
Matt LeBlanc for Showtime’s Episodes
William H. Macy for Showtime’s Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor for Amazon’s Transparent

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Edie Falco for Showtime’s Nurse Jackie
Lisa Kudrow for HBO’s The Comeback
Julia Louis-Dreyfus for HBO’s Veep
Amy Poehler for NBC’s Parks and Recreation
Amy Schumer for Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer
Lily Tomlin for Netflix’s Grace and Frankie

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Adrien Brody for History’s Houdini
Ricky Gervais for Netflix’s Derek Special
Timothy Hutton for ABC’s American Crime
Richard Jenkins for HBO’s Olive Kitteridge
David Oyelowo for HBO’s Nightingale
Mark Rylance for PBS’ Wolf Hall

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
Maggie Gyllenhaal for SundanceTV’s The Honorable Woman
Felicity Huffman for ABC’s American Crime
Jessica Lange for FX’s American Horror Story: Freak Show
Queen Latifah for HBO’s Bessie
Frances McDormand for HBO’s Olive Kitteridge
Emma Thompson for PBS’ Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Live From Lincoln Center)

For the full list of nominees go to: http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.