Emmy Awards Set for Monday Night

Rodolfo Martinez/NBC(LOS ANGELES) — The best in television will be honored Monday night, when the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards are staged at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles. Seth Meyers will serve as host of the ceremony, which will air live from coast to coast on NBC, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern time and 5 p.m. Pacific time.

Typically, the Emmys are held on a Sunday night in September, but the broadcast was bumped up this year to accommodate NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage.

HBO’s Game of Thrones is the leading nominee with 19 nods. It’s a contender for outstanding drama series, though it may have trouble topping AMC’s Breaking Bad, which concluded its run last September and is the reigning winner in the category. The other nominees in the category are HBO’s True Detective, AMC’s Mad Men, PBS’ Downton Abbey and the Netflix series House of Cards.

The lead drama actor category may be tight, though Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey appears to be a front-runner for his work in True Detective. He will vie for the award against True Detective co-star Woody Harrelson, Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, House of Cards’ Kevin Spacey, Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, and last year’s winner, The Newsroom’s Jeff Daniels.

Last year’s lead drama actress winner, Homeland star Claire Danes, returns. She opposes Scandal’s Kerry Washington, House of Cards’ Robin Wright, Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery, The Good Wife’s Julianna Margulies, and Masters of Sex actress Lizzy Caplan.

ABC’s Modern Family has the opportunity to tie the record for the most victories in the outstanding comedy series category, five, currently held by Frasier. The other nominees are the FX series Louie, Netflix show Orange Is The New Black, HBO’s Veep and Silicon Valley, and the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

The 2013 winners for lead comedy actor and actress, The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons and Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus, will defend their titles.

Also keep an eye on the miniseries categories. Fargo enters the ceremony with 18 total nods, while another FX program, American Horror Story: Coven, has 17.

The HBO movie The Normal Heart received 16 nominations.

The list of presenters for the broadcast includes Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Bryan Cranston, Kerry Washington, Zooey Deschanel, Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, and The Voice coaches Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani.

Here are the nominees in the major categories:

Drama Series
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
House of Cards
Mad Men
True Detective

Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Kerry Washington, Scandal
Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Claire Danes, Homeland

Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
Woody Harrelson, True Detective
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Joanne Froggatt, Game of Thrones
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife

Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Josh Charles, The Good Wife

Comedy Series
Modern Family
The Big Bang Theory
Louie
Orange Is the New Black
Silicon Valley
Veep

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Lena Dunham, Girls
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Melissa McCarthy, Mike and Molly
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Louis C.K., Louie
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Ricky Gervais, Derek
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Kate Mulgrew, Orange Is the New Black
Kate McKinnon, Saturdy Night Live
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Allison Janney, Mom

Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Adam Driver, Girls
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Fred Armisen, Portlandia
Tony Hale, Veep

Miniseries or Movie
American Horror Story: Coven
Bonnie & Clyde
Fargo
Luther
Treme
The White Queen

Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
Martin Freeman, Fargo
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo
Idris Elba, Luther
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow (Masterpiece)

Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Coven
Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
Minnie Driver, Return to Zero
Kristen Wiig, The Spoils of Babylon
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

TV Movie
Killing Kennedy
Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight
The Normal Heart
Sherlock: His Last Vow (Masterpiece)
The Trip to Bountiful

Reality-Competition Program
Dancing with the Stars
The Amazing Race
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef
The Voice

Variety Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Real Time with Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

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