2015 AW Forum Emmy Nominations: Mad Men, Inside Amy Schumer, Transparent Rule

The 2015 Awardswatch Emmys, a forum-based voting block, has chosen their nominations for the 2014-2015 television season and Mad Men has come roaring back to a field-best 9 nominations in its final season. Comedy Central and FX saw huge numbers with The Americans, Justified, Broad City and Inside Amy Schumer grabbing a total of 27 nominations among those four shows (Louie also managed a nomination in Best Actor in a Comedy Series as well as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for CC).

Along with Mad Men, it was a strong year for shows in their final (or likely final) last seasons. Parks and Recreation, a show that’s always done well here, finished its run with five nominations and Justified ended with six. The Comeback, which may or not come back, was hugely popular (as was its first season 10 years ago) with four nominations including Program of the Year.

New shows were a bit of a mixed bag. The biggest new show in a decade, Empire, managed mentions in New Series, Ensemble and Best Actress in a Drama for Taraji P. Henson but was shut out of Drama Series, Writing and Directing and Program of the Year. Two freshman shows did hit it big though.  Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt landed nominations in Program of the Year, Comedy Series, New Series and three acting nominations. Curiously, its star Ellie Kemper missed out, but Actress in a Comedy Series was probably the most competitive in years and a very deserved nomination for Fresh Off the Boat‘s Constance Wu probably just kept her from getting in. And Transparent, one of the most buzzed about and topical shows of the year, pulled of a whopping 8 nominations, including four acting nods.  The Leftovers also managed some top tier nominations, landing in Drama Series and two Supporting Acting mentions and Rectify, although in its second season, was a hit with AW, grabbing three.

Breakthroughs this year have to begin and end with Inside Amy Schumer. We’ve loved her show for a while and knew it would blow up in 2015 but even we were shocked at its domination at the AW Emmys. Nods in Program of the Year, Writing, Directing, three Acting nominations and Variety Series make it the story of the day.

Here is the FULL nomination list:

Program of the Year
The Americans (FX)
Broad City (Comedy Central)
The Comeback (HBO)
Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central)
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (HBO)
Mad Men (AMC)
Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
Transparent (Amazon)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
Veep (HBO)

Drama Series
The Americans (FX)
Justified (FX)
The Leftovers (HBO)
Mad Men (AMC)
Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
Rectify (SundanceTV)

Comedy Series
Broad City (Comedy Central)
The Comeback (HBO)
Transparent (Amazon)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
Veep (HBO)

Directing for a Drama Series
The Americans, “Stingers” (Directed by Larysa Kondracki)
Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Directed by Miguel Sapochnik)
Mad Men,”Person to Person” (Direcrted by Matthew Weiner)
Marvel’s Daredevil, “Cut Man” (Directed by Phil Abraham)
Rectify, “Weird as You” (Directed by Sanaa Hamri)

Directing for a Comedy Series
The Comeback, “Valerie Gets What She Really Wants” (Directed by Michael Patrick King)
Inside Amy Schumer, “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer” (Directed by Ryan McFaul, Amy Schumer)
Parks and Recreation, “One Last Ride” (Directed by Michael Schur)
Transparent, “Best New Girl” (Directed by Jill Soloway)
Veep, “Testimony” (Directed by Armando Iannucci)

Writing for a Drama Series
The Americans, “Stingers” (Written by Joel Fields, Joe Weisberg)
Justified, “The Promise” (Written by Graham Yost, Fred Golan, Dave Andron, Benjamin Cavell)
The Leftovers, “Guest” (Written by Damon Lindelof, Kath Lingenfelter)
Mad Men, “The Milk and Honey Route” (Written by Carly Wray, Matthew Weiner)
Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Written by Matthew Weiner)
Orange is the New Black, “We Have Manners. We’re Polite” (Written by Jenji Kohen)
Orange is the New Black, “A Whole Other Hole” (Written by Sian Heder)

Writing for a Comedy Series
Broad City, “Knockoffs” (Lucia Aniello, Paul Downs)
Inside Amy Schumer, “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer,” (Hallie Cantor, Kim Caramele, Kyle Dunnigan, Jon Glaser, Jessi Klein, Kurt Metzer, Christine Nangle, Daniel Powell, Tami Sagher, Amy Schumer)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Charlie Work” (Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney)
Parks and Recreation, “One Last Ride” (Michael Schur, Amy Poehler)
Veep, “Election Night” (Story by Simon Blackwell & Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche; Teleplay by Simon Blackwell & Tony Roche)

Actor in a Drama Series
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Timothy Olyphant, Justified
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Aden Young, Rectify

Actor in a Comedy Series
Louis C.K., Louie
Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley
Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Actress in a Drama Series
Gillian Anderson, The Fall
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Keri Russell, The Americans

Actress in a Comedy Series
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
Constance Wu, Fresh Off the Boat

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Christopher Eccleston, The Leftovers
Walton Goggins, Justified
Scoot McNairy, Halt and Catch Fire
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Jaime Camil, Jane the Virgin
Tony Hale, Veep
Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Carrie Coon, The Leftovers
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
January Jones, Mad Men
Yael Stone, Orange is the New Black
Lorraine Touissant, Orange is the New Black

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Melissa Fumero, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Gaby Hoffman, Transparent
Allison Janney, Mom
Jane Krakowski, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Ensemble in a Drama Series
Empire
Game of Thrones
Justified
Mad Men
Orange is the New Black

Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Jane the Virgin
Parks and Recreation
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Veep

Guest Actor in a Drama/Comedy
Paul Giamatti, Inside Amy Schumer
Jon Hamm, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
John Hawkes, Inside Amy Schumer
Jonathan Tucker, Justified
Bradley Whitford, Transparent

Guest Actress in a Drama/Comedy
Rosario Dawson, Marvel’s Daredevil
Susie Essman, Broad City
Kiernan Shipka, Mad Men
Lois Smith, The Americans
Octavia Spencer, Mom

TV Movie/Miniseries
Black Mirror: White Christmas (Audience Network)
Happy Valley (Netflix)
The Honorable Woman (SundanceTV)
Olive Kitteridge (HBO)
Wolf Hall (PBS)

Actor in a TV Movie/Miniseries
Jon Hamm, Black Mirror: White Christmas
Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge
David Oyelowo, Nightingale
James Norton, Happy Valley
Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Finn Wittrock, American Horror Story: Freak Show

Actress in a TV Movie/Miniseries
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Nicole Kidman, Grace of Monaco
Sarah Lancashire, Happy Valley
Queen Latifah, Bessie
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge

Animated Program
Archer (FX)
Bob’s Burgers (Fox)
Bojack Horseman (Netflix)
Gravity Falls (Disney Channel)
Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon Network)

Reality/Non-Fiction Program
The Amazing Race (CBS)
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (HBO)
Nathan for You (Comedy Central)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (Logo)
Survivor (CBS)

Variety, Comedy or Music Program
The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
The Daily Show with John Stewart (Comedy Central)
Key and Peele (Comedy Central)
Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

New Series
Better Call Saul (AMC)
Empire (Fox)
Jane the Virgin (CW)
Transparent (Amazon)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)

Nomination tally:

Mad Men (AMC) – 9

Transparent (Amazon) – 8
Veep (HBO) – 8

The Americans (FX) – 7
Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central) – 7
Orange is the New Black (Netflix) – 7

Justified (FX) – 6
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) – 6

Parks and Recreation (NBC) – 5

Broad City (Comedy Central) – 4
The Comeback (HBO) – 4
Jane the Virgin (CW) – 4
The Leftovers (HBO) – 4

Better Call Saul (AMC) – 3
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox) – 3
Empire (Fox) – 3
Game of Thrones (HBO) – 3
Happy Valley (Netflix) – 3
Olive Kitteridge (HBO) – 3
Rectify (SundanceTV) – 3

Black Mirror: White Christmas (Audience Network) – 2
The Honorable Woman (SundanceTV) – 2
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (HBO) – 2
Marvel’s Daredevil (Netflix) – 2
Mom (CBS) – 2
Silicon Valley (HBO) – 2
Wolf Hall (PBS) – 2

• After four seasons of general nomination dominance in many categories (especially the episode categories, where it’s gotten 11 episodes nominated out of four seasons), Louie had a near-shutout for its abbreviated fifth season, getting only a Lead Actor nomination.
• It could be worse, though. Girls got completely shut out, despite long being a staple here and having a season that, from what I could tell, was considered on par with past seasons. So odd. Can it come back?
• Veep is almost an anti-Louie/Girls here – after starting its first season with only two nominations (Actress and New Series), the show expanded that to five nominations in its second season (and a win in Ensemble), and then expanded that further to eight nominations and three wins (including Comedy Series!) last season. Will it continue that momentum?
• Mad Men is looking it end its run on another high note – It led the nomination total with nine nominations, bringing its lifetime nomination total to 82 nominations, out of eight eligible seasons. Now, will it be able to add onto its lifetime wins total of 24?
• Inside Amy Schumer pretty much exploded this season, garnering the first acting nominations for a Variety series since Betty White’s SNL hosting gig, and being the first Variety series ever to get Program, Episode, and Main Cast Acting nominations. Pretty nuts. Four of these nominations (the episode and guest nominations) were off the strength of a single episode.