Primetime Emmy Awards 2013: How Accurate Were Nomination Predictions?

The Primetime Emmy Award nominations were announced yesterday (Thursday 18th July). The nomination ceremony was presented by Kate Mara and Aaron Paul via a live video stream on the Emmy's website. 

Kate Mara at the Vanity Fair and Juicy Couture's Celebration of 2013 in L.A.

Netflix has managed to triumph with nominations for their shows: House of Cards; Hemlock Grove and Arrested Development. The company are developing this aspect of their business, which is proving hugely popular and profitable. The future does seem bright for the company which announced it was expanding into its 64th country. It also seems likely their awards over the next few years will increase especially with recent praise of Orange is the New Black. 

The majority of the drama nominations have steered towards shows with darker and violent plots. Downton Abbey is something of an anomaly in the category of best drama series and best actors, especially considering it is up against Game Of Thrones, Homeland, American Horror Story: Asylum and Breaking Bad. 

Predictions were correct for many of the drama nominations, however, critics failed to deduce which comedy series would feature in the categories of Best Comedy; Best Actor and Best Actress in a comedy series. 

Aaron Paul at the ACE Eddie Awards, Beverly Hills Hilton, L.A.

The nominations are as follows:

Comedy Nominations

The nominations for best comedy series were relatively predictable. It was assumed The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and 30 Rock would all be contenders. However, Arrested Development and The Mindy Project were expected to be nominated, however, they lost out to Veep, Louie and Girls. 

For the category of best actor Jim Parsons was expected to be nominated for his role in The Big Bang Theory. These Emmys will be the last for the show, the finale of which was in May of this year. Arrested Development's Jason Bateman; 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin and House of Lies' John Cheadle also received nominations. Two actors, playing themselves, were nominated: Matt LeBlanc (Episodes) and Louie C.K. (Louie). 

Modern Family have three nominations in the category for Best Supporting Actor with Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Ed O'Neill nominated alongside Adam Driver (Girls); Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) and Tony Hale (Veep). Modern Family's Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen were nominated for Best Supporting Actress. 

Jim Parsons outside the Ed Sullivan Theater, New York.

Drama Nominations

Game of Thrones, Mad Men and Breaking Bad were all nominated for Best Drama Series, as reports expected. British drama Downton Abbey is a surprise contender, especially considering the darker nature of the other nominees. Homeland, despite its second season's poor critical reviews, was also nominated.

The Americans and Scandal did not, contrary to predictions, feature on the nominations list. However, actors, writers and directors of the two series have been nominated in their respective categories. 

Actresses Clare Danes (Homeland) and Vera Farmiga (Bates' Motel) were expected nominations for the category of Best Actress In A Drama Series. Others who also received nominations are Downton Abbey's Michelle Docherty; Nashville's Connie Britton; House of Cards' Robin Wright; Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men and Scandals' Kerry Washington. 

Best Actor nominees were from very similar shows to their female counterparts. Downton Abbey received another nomination with Hugh Bonneville. As anticipated Mad Men's Jon Hamm and Homeland's Damian Lewis featured. Lewis won the award last year but it seems unlikely he will again, simply owing to the show's decline into the ridiculous. Kevin Spacey is the most probable winner due to his role in House Of Cards. Jeff Daniels of The Newsroom, a relatively new series, was also nominated.

Bobby Cannavale was expected to be nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Boardwalk Empire. Breaking Bad received two nominations for Jonathon Banks and Aaron Paul. Downton Abbey's Jim Carter and Homeland's Mandy Patinkin were also nominated. However, Game of Thrones' much beloved Peter Dinklage is a likely winner primarily due to his popularity. 

For the best supporting actress award: Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey); Christina Hendricks (Mad Men); Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones); Christine Baranski (The Good Wife); Marina Baccarin (Homeland) and Anna Gunn (Mad Men) were nominated.

Kevin Spacey at the O'Neill Center's Monte Cristo Awards.

Best TV Movie Or Mini-series:

As predicted: Behind the Candelabra; American Horror Story: Asylum and The Bible were all nominated. The Bible, similarly to Downton Abbey, is definitely out of sync with its darker and more graphic competitive. Also nominated are Phil Spector, Political Animals and Top of the Lake for the best TV Movie or Miniseries award. 

There's heavy-weight completion for the actors' awards in this category. Behind The Candelabra received two nominations for best actor for Matt Damon and Michael Douglas. Benedict Cumberbatch (Parade's End), Toby Jones (The Girl) and Al Pacino (Phil Spector) are other contenders.

Whilst the female award nominations includes Helen Mirren (Phil Spector); Laura Linney (The Big C: Hereafter); Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Asylum); Elisabeth Moss (Top of the Lake) and Sigourney Weaver (Political Animals).

The 65th Emmy Awards ceremony will be held at the Nokia Theater, L.A. on 22nd September. The host has been confirmed as How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris./p>

Michael Douglas and Matt Damon at the Cannes' Film Festival screening of Behind The Candelabra.