Emmys 2017: Westworld tops list of nominations

Westworld has scooped the crown as the TV series with most nominations at this year's Emmy Awards.

HBO's hit series is in the running for 22 prizes, tieing with comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live.

However, the nominations, announced today, were not without controversy.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Game of Thrones, which scored an impressive 23 nods last year, is not named in any category. The seventh season of HBO's fantasy epic does not premiere until Sunday and so is not eligible for this year's awards.

Other oversights disappointed, however. Jen Chaney on Vulture says several shows have been "unjustly overlooked", including post-apocalyptic drama The Leftovers, transgender family drama Transparent and Phoebe Waller-Bridge's edgy comedy Fleabag.

But, he adds, there were also plenty of surprises, with Stranger Things, RuPaul's Drag Race and Black Mirror listed among his less-expected nominations.

Black Mirror is part of a British contingent that also includes Sherlock, but it is Netflix's lavish royal drama The Crown which is flying the flag for the UK.

It gathered 13 nominations in all, including recognition for Claire Foy's performance as the Queen, Stephen Daldry as director and a best drama series nod.

Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch faces competition in the lead actor in a limited series or movie category from countrymen Ewan McGregor for Fargo and Riz Ahmed of HBO's The Night Of.

Notable in the list of nominations was the growing dominance of subscription and streaming services over traditional television networks.

Despite its award-hogging Game of Thrones being out of contention, premium cable service HBO still managed to scoop the pool with 110 Emmy nods, up from 94 last year.

Meanwhile, Stephen Battaglio of the Los Angeles Times says it is the streaming services that have "conquered" the Emmys, with "four out of the seven nominations in the prestigious outstanding drama category".

Netflix scored 91 nominations, up from 34 in 2015, thanks to the likes of Stranger Things and The Crown.

Meanwhile, Hulu is on the rise after its acclaimed series The Handmaid's Tale, which was named 13 times, including best drama and best actress for Elisabeth Moss.

Traditional network NBC did manage to hold its head high, however, with Saturday Night Live joining the list with its most-watched season in decades.

This was largely attributed to its widely-praised lampooning of the US presidential election and Donald Trump's administration.

The winners will be announced on 17 September.