Primetime Emmy Nominations: Game of rones, Orange is the New Black Lead Field

Related: Emmys 2014: Nominee Reactions

Netflix gained awards-race ground on cable and broadcast competitors and HBO continued to dominate as the nominees for the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards were announced Thursday.

HBO's Game of Thrones led all drama series with 19 nominations, though none in the high-profile acting categories. Thrones was joined by Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, House of Cards, Mad Men and fellow HBO series True Detective in the Best Drama category. Netflix's Orange is the New Black was this year's most nominated comedy, with 12 nods, including one for lead actress and first-time nominee Taylor Schilling. The prison comedy was joined by The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Louie, Silicon Valley and Veep.

FX miniseries Fargo earned 18 nominations, including for Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman in best actor, miniseries.

Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey earned his first Emmy nomination for HBOs True Detective. Other first-time nominees included actress Lizzy Caplan for Showtimes Masters of Sex and actor Chiwetel Ejiofor for the Starz miniseries Dancing on the Edge. Orange is the New Black and HBOs Silicon Valley were first-time nominees in the best comedy category, while True Detective was the only one best-drama rookie.

HBO's bid to run True Detective in the best drama series categories instead of best miniseries yielded 12 nominations, including MConaughey's and one for his co-star, Woody Harrelson. Showtime shifted Shameless from the drama series categories to comedy this year, leading to a nomination for actor William H. Macy.

Digital service Netflix earned 31 nominations, up from 14 last year. Drama series House of Cards earned 13 nominations, including ones for actors Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Orange is the New Black earned 12. Ricky Gervais' Netflix comedy series Derek also earned a nod, for Gervais' acting. Documentaries Brave Miss World and The Square also drew nods for the digital service.

Despite Netflix having earned the first series-category nominations last year for a digital network, it was, once again, the only such service break into the field this year. Neither competitor Amazon nor Hulu earned a nod in any category, despite increased efforts in original series from both. AOL and FunnyOrDie.com earned their first nominations, each in short-format categories. Overall, digital nominations were up from 19 in 2013 to 39 this year, though Netflix accounted for most of that increase.

HBO was once again the most nominated network with 99 nods, down from 108 last year. CBS was a distant second at 47. Overall, the number of nominations for the Big Four broadcast networks was down from 170 in 2013 to 148 this year, with all four earning fewer nods than they did a year ago. In cable, FX Networks drew 46 nominations-up from 26 last year, tying NBC and outperforming both ABC (37) and broadcast cousin Fox (18). Showtime earned 24 nominations this year, down from 31 last year.

Despite taking home the Golden Globe earlier this year for best comedy series, Fox's Brooklyn Nine-Nine failed to earn a nomination in the category. Star Andy Samberg, who won best comedy actor at the Globes, was also not nominated. Critical favorites such as FX's The Americans and BBC America's Orphan Black, as well as high-rated series such AMC's The Walking Dead and NBC's The Blacklist also failed to garner and nominations in the major categories.

Nominees in the major categories are:

Best Comedy Series

The Big Bang Theory

Louie

Modern Family

Orange is the New Black

Silicon Valley

Veep

Best Drama Series

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Mad Men

True Detective

Best Actor, Drama Series

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Woody Harrelson, True Detective

Matthew McConaughey, True Detective

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Best Actress, Drama Series

Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex

Claire Danes, Homeland

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Kerry Washington, Scandal

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best Actor, Miniseries

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge

Idris Elba, Luther

Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart

Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo

Martin Freeman, Fargo

Best Actress, Miniseries

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

Best Actor, Comedy Series

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Louis C.K., Louie

Ricky Gervais, Derek

William H. Macy, Shameless

Best Actress, Comedy Series

Lena Dunham, Girls

Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Best Reality Competition

The Amazing Race

Dancing With the Stars

So You Think You Can Dance

Project Runway

Top Chef

The Voice

Best Variety Series

The Colbert Report

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Real Time With Bill Maher

Saturday Night Live

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

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