Game of Thrones garners 13 Emmy nominations!

Good news. 13 is gonna be the lucky number.

I am ecstatic!!!!! Way more than I hoped for, but I still think Sean Bean got ROBBED. Oh well, can’t win them all, I guess. :(

Congratulations to D&D, Peter Dinklage, and the rest of the production crew who did an amazing job worthy of nominations! First season for this series and it’s already competing with the established drama shows in television!

Exciting!! Of course I hope they win them all, but I especially think Dinklage and the opening credits are serious contenders.

nothing for the main titles theme though? seriously? It’s fantastic!
although 13 nom’s is pretty impressive by any standards, well deserved for all involved

Great stuff! But can GOT win the Outstanding drama series award? Cause thats the big one. The fact that Bean did not get a nom, makes me think it won’t.

I know at least Mad men got an Outstanding lead actor nom every time it won.

Boardwalk Empire got 18 noms this year and True Blood got 3 first season, 5 second season, 4 third season (this year).

The Sopranos got 16 noms it’s first season and won all of them.

ssgorik,

D&D were part of one nomination, so still 13. :)

GerardP: The Emmy’s usually snub fantasy series, but this show was too good to pass up!!

I actually forgot about this. This is certainly impressive, if you look at it what way.

boulder:
nothing for the main titles theme though? seriously? It’s fantastic!
although 13 nom’s is pretty impressive by any standards, well deserved for all involved

Main Titles got nominated

DavosFTW!,

Yeah, Boardwalk got 19 nominations. GoT did quite well compared to other first year shows. I’m super chuffed that Downton Abbey got 11 nominations. The Borgias got 6 noms, as does The Killing. I think Camelot got one for the main title theme music. What surprised me the most is the shut-out for The Walking Dead for the major categories though. Guess the Academy still can’t take zombies seriously.

Edited for Grammar.

The main titles should be in the bag. I’m actually excited about the Emmys now.

Are we the first fantasy series to get a Drama nod?

Weird, I’ve been on the Emmy site this whole time and I could’ve sworn it did. I even did a count earlier one by one down the list on the site. My bad. Still confused how that happened.

I really really hope Nina Gold wins! :)

Milan Petrovic,

Are you kidding? Fringe is awful, terrible pseudoscience-dressed-as-science with annoying cardboard characters. I can’t even watch it.

Mad Men is a really excellent period piece, with very flawed and human characters.

Dinklage is the man to beat. Look at his competition, or should I say “what competition?”

I’m really happy the show got so many nominations, but I’m also a bit disappointed that more of the actors weren’t recognized for their performances. Sean Bean deserved a nom, as did Mark Addy and Michelle Fairley. Obviously Dinklage earned it, and I’m behind him a hundred percent! So glad to see a talented, under-appreciated actor getting some recognition. Hopefully as the younger actors get more experience, they too will be considered (Maisie! Kit! Isaac!)

However, the pain caused by the fact that more actors weren’t nominated is somewhat assuaged by Nina Gold’s nomination for casting. At least that shows that people recognize the show for how well-suited the actors are for their characters. In Gold We Trust!

The technical nominations are all well-earned. If the show doesn’t win Title, then whoever chooses the winners should have their heads examined. I think we also stand a good chance in Costumes/Makeup/Prosthetics; based on what I’ve seen at award shoes, fantasy and period pieces usually get a leg up in those categories. (Love that Hairstyling was for A Golden Crown :D)

And nominated for Best Drama Series! This is huge! I’m not sure GOT will win this one – I think the awards shows pretty much latch onto Mad Men/Boardwalk Empire/the like – but this is a great stride for the fantasy genre on TV. Even if we don’t win this year, if the show continues to build momentum, I’m sure we could do it for the A Storm of Swords season. Return of the King did it for film…why can’t Game of Thrones do it on TV?

Now we can say we’re fans of the EMMY-NOMINATED series Game of Thrones, thank you very much. :p This is wonderful, especially considering this is the show’s first major award show out of the gate.

Congrats to everyone involved in making GoT, your fans are very proud of you! :)

In terms of our chances,I think Outstanding Main Title Design is almost a given. The odds of winning Sound Editing, Prosthetic Makeup, Non-prosthetic Makeup and Hairstyling are definitely good as well. (Those King’s Landing and Targaryen wigs alone should win the show something.) Baelor has a real shot at getting the Outstanding Writing Emmy. It was extremely well-written, and it created SUCH a buzz in the media that you can’t help but give it some attention. I would love to say that Peter Dinklage and the series as a whole were going to get their respective awards, because they truly deserve them. However, snobbishness against genre shows will probably rule again this year, at least in the big awards. : I’m sad that Ramin Djawadi got snubbed. The soundtrack maybe isn’t as Wagnerian as a Zimmer score, but it was pitch perfect for this show. Bad judgment, Emmy committee. :(

Game of thrones got jobbed..No main title music? That is where it would have picked up a win..instead giving it to Camelot? huh?

I hear ya WiC. I figured with such a large cast it might be difficult to single out any one actor, but i think thats where most of the attention goes. Best actor or actress. Baelor blew away anything else on TV and it would have been cool to see our actors or actresses recognized. It just adds to the level of respectability when you have the cast winning awards but it just seems very difficult for a fantasy series to garner that sort of respect…though it is much deserved.

Kit,

Although the general soundtrack for GoT is not as good as the others

Dude, come on. I’m seeing Family Guy and the Simpsons in the Outstanding Music Composition in a Series category. Do they really deserve the nomination over this soundtrack? Really? (Maybe I’m being a snob, I don’t watch these shows. Feel free to prove me wrong,lol.)

Superdeluxe,

I just saw that Camelot got a nomination for Original Main Title. :/ I’m with you on this one. I ended up watching one of their episodes right after a Game of Thrones episode once, and there’s really no comparison to the themes (or anything else, really). I don’t get the judgment call here.

Dinklage will win best supporting. He was incredible in the role and deserves it wholeheartedly, and the Emmy board will want to appear politically correct by giving an award to a little person.

DavosFTW!: Are we the first fantasy series to get a Drama nod?

True Blood got a nom last year.

Anyone know how GoT’s 13 nominations stack up. Is it one of theist nominated shows behind Boardwalk Empire?

Winter Is Coming: That was a surprise. But don’t discount Thrones‘ chances in the categories it has been nominated for, especially main title sequence.

True, another curious decision was to award the pilot with a nom, but not Alan Taylor for Baelor?

But still LOVING 13 noms..and we should definitely do some damage..to go along with a hopeful dinklage win

Jordan Healey: Treme was better this year I think

Too bad no one is watching it.

I’m amazed. I predicted Dinklage would be the only major nomination, and even he was a longshot, I thought. Now I think he’s the man to beat.

If John Slattery was going to win, he’d have won by now. The two Good Wife guys cancel each other out. Braugher has won already for a much better role in a much better show. Goggins may challenge Dinklage, but between those two, Dinklage has the upper hand.

I’m disappointed that Emilia Clarke didn’t get a nomination.

Kit: BTW, is Timothy Olyphant any good in Justified?

Yes, he’s excellent.

userj,

Single-camera shows are shot much in the same way that movies are (by and large): you set up for your shot, shoot it, then if you need another take or another camera angle, you set up for the shot again, shoot it again, and repeat as needed. It’s slower and more expensive but generally produces the best quality of photography.

Multi-camera shows are shot on a sound-stage where the set is being covered by multiple cameras simultaneously (and often in front of a live studio audience). The actors will go through the entirety of a scene a few times, and have the various cameras each getting their own required shots (a couple might give wide shots, a couple others may give close-ups) so that they have all of the shots they need much more quickly. It’s quick and far cheaper, but also much more limiting to the director, as generally you can only shoot the set from one side.

Of course, single-camera shows (or movies) will occasionally utilize multiple cameras, particularly for large stunts (particularly explosions) where getting multiple takes would be prohibitively expensive, and multi-camera shows will inevitably do shots or whole scenes single-camera style from time to time, usually for variety. So it’s not etched in stone.

Pretty much every drama show is single-camera. The majority sitcoms are multi-camera, though there are many notable exceptions (“Scrubs” for example is single-camera, and once did an episode multi-camera style as a parody). 30 Rock, Cougar Town, and The Office are single-camera sitcoms I can name off the top of my head.

Also, where the hell is Esme Bianco’s Emmy nomination?!
:P
(ducks for cover)

Dinklage could take the Emmy home, but best Drama series is a hard category. Dexter, Mad Men, and especially Boardwalk Empire… hard competition!

Josh Parker: Dinklage is the man to beat. Look at his competition, or should I say “what competition?”

I don’t know if you are serious. I haven’t seen all the competition but as far as Walton Goggins, as Boyd Crowder in Justified, I would not dismiss it to fast.

The Harpo Marxist: C’mon, we’re all fans here, and we recognize the immense efforts that went toward making GoT such a terrific adaptation, but all bias aside, GoT had maybe the WORST wigs and hairstyles I’ve seen in a major production. That’s just calling it as it was, sorry, but true. They were bloody distracting they were so bad.

I think Dinklage was great, but nowhere as good as Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Hamm and Laurie??? Puhleese. Sean should have at least been nominated.

Like I said, though. I place no credence in those awards, at all. They really are a joke.

that is realy great news; i think Peter Dinklage is a save bet in his categorie

I AM JUST SO F*CKING PISSED HOW MANY NOMINATIONS MAD MEN GOT!!!!
so brilliant was the laste season sure as hell not… whatever^^

Good to see Dinklage earn the nomination. A bit surprised to see Sean Bean not get a nomination, but would he have been in the supporting or main category? Sometimes ensemble roles fall into the netherworld between those two categories and can’t garner enough traction in either to get the actor the recognition they deserve. Walton Goggins is also an extremely strong nomination and I wouldn’t be surprised if it boiled down to him and Dinklage for the Emmy.

I’ve watched MadMen on and off and have never quite understood the allure of the show. I grew up in that era and it certainly didn’t find it that interesting. Of course, I grew up on a farm in Minnesota and my parents didn’t sip scotch and work at advertising agencies so what do I know.

I’m not surprised to see The Walking Dead ignored. I watched the entire season and I cannot see how they will be able to keep that show going past another season. Frank Darabont is a sharp enough guy, but how long can a zombie chase series continue without the same tired repetition. How this show survived over Rubicon, which I found to be one of the more thoughtful and tight shows (that admittedly moved at a snail’s pace) of the past few years, surprised me.

Just snorted scotch out my nose! Best hairstyling for a Golden Crown? That better be for Viserys! :D

Kit,

I’ll agree with you on the Tudors soundtrack, especially the main title theme. That was brilliantly done, and it still gets stuck in my head from time to time. And I’ll be honest, I didn’t pay enough attention to the Pillars soundtrack to comment on it, but I think it’s pretty funny that they re-used a theme from the Tudors. *shrugs* Whatever fits the scene,right?

You’re right though, musical taste is subjective. I guess my snobbery comes in when trying to compare the gravitas of shows like Game of Thrones and the Tudors (the latter in the first two seasons, anyways) to the Simpsons and Family Guy (which, I’ll admit, I watched with friends at college. :p) I have no doubt that there are talented composers working on these shows as well, but it’s hard for me to picture their soundtracks invoking the same kind of emotional response that other soundtracks do.

Epic the wonderful,

I don’t know that I’d classify the soundtrack as “new age music”. I hear new age, I think Enya and Yanni. Also, patouchli oil. :p

In terms of Family Guy, the musical interludes and theme are great invocations of that mid-century variety show style sound. I’m not knocking it, I just personally don’t get the push for this over a more thematic score like Game of Thrones. (Especially when you look at the fact that Camelot got a Main Title Theme nod. Really? Same genre, still not as good.)

Again, I didn’t see the episode that Family Guy was nominated for, so there’s a good chance I’m totally in the wrong here. From the knowledge that I have, I don’t get it.

Dinklage has a legit shot at winning (as does Goggins in his place imo), but the odds that Thrones takes home best drama are probably around 20:1. It *could* win and might be seen as a trendy choice for the voters (who in general recognize that it was actually very good), but such a win would have to be considered a major upset. We should do well in the technical categories, but let’s not lose our heads – we have enough characters doing that for us :)

I think Bean should have been nominated, but the category is very crowded with talent (in a no-Breaking-Bad-year, no less) and I don’t have a great choice that would realistically not be nominated in his place (all my Thrones bias aside).

OTOH it is still freaking fantastic to get even a nomination for Best Drama. The Emmys are a bit of a joke in most ways, but recognition of the sort is really good.

Epic the wonderful,

Couldn’t agree more. Boyd Crowder is one of the best written and acted characters on any show right now.

Kit,

He’s great in Justified, he makes the show and the show follows how great he is.

Fire And Blood,

That’s funny because in my neck of the woods sports talk radio is the number one station in town and they love Game of Thrones. In fact they’re going to dedicate a 15-20 min. segment to it every week next season.

Nothing for Alan Taylor? Nothing for Mark Addy? Nothing for Ramin Djawadi? Blind idiots…

PatD,

I do concur with you that the hair and make-up on the show wasn’t that great – but I do think that the category should exist. (I think I may have mis-interpretted your initial comment to mean that you found the existence of such a category absurd. My mistake!)

Yeah, I really am kind of shocked at the Alan Taylor omission. Not just because Baelor was so perfectly directed, but because Taylor is actually very popular and well respected within the biz. I always knew Sean and Nikolaj would be long shots, but I really thought Taylor was a no-brainer.

Harpo: Ah. Gotcha’.

If David & Dan can deliver and the quality of S2 does not slump, the nomination this year should mean a very legit chance to win in 2012. This is particularly true since, even though there are still quite a few characters to introduce, they won’t have to get bogged down introducing viewers to the world as a whole the way that they had to in the first several episodes of S1. That was necessary but hurt the flow of the drama as a whole.

It is also amazing for the prospects of reaching (at least) a Season 3, as dominating the Emmys is certainly part of the HBO master plan. Even if it’s not obliterating the ratings, presence at award shows mean lots of intangible $$ for HBO since viewers will watch and think “wow, I’m missing out on a lot of good shows, maybe a subscription is worth it”. Moreso than other networks they are certainly going to want to keep pumping money into shows that give them that sort of return.

As far as Best Drama, Mad Men (having won the past three years) has to be considered the dominating favorite, though it did have a very off season this year. My analysis would be:

#1) Mad Men. Wouldn’t bet against it.
#2) Boardwalk Empire. Even though it underwhelmed in a lot of ways, it carries a lot of weight. By far the most serious competition for Mad Men.
#3) Game of Thrones. Will be a trendy choice for sure, but I don’t think it will have the juice to come over the top.
#4) The Good Wife. Another trendy choice. On a par with GoT in terms of hipster popularity to the voter mindset, but won’t win.
#5) Friday Night Lights. It broke through, but that’s the honor. Won’t win.
#6) Dexter. Throwaway. Even its diehard fans believe the season was anywhere from subpar to awful. This is a momentum nomination and has 0 chance of winning.

Epic the wonderful,

“What would you call it then? fantasy music?”

As a relatively new viewer of the “fantasy” genre, I don’t know that I’m informed enough to classify the soundtrack as such. Thank you for your informed suggestions, though. I appreciate the effort it took to interpret my enjoyment of this one show into a love of “epic new agey” music. ;p

I found this soundtrack more comparable to a Harry Gregson-Williams piece. It’s a blend of classical influences and modern instrumental elements, but to give it the title of “new age” adds a derisiveness that I don’t think the modern interpretation of a film score deserves, do you?

I’m not saying that the Game of Thrones soundtrack is perfect. Am I biased towards it? Fine. Mostly because it’s one of the few film scores in the last five years that captured my attention enough to warrant listening through the whole album more than once. There are pieces that were clearly written with the intent of creating tension, and were not meant to be listened to as a standalone track (read, the Assassin’s Dagger). But then you have compositions like the Finale, Jon’s Honor, and the Main Theme that are genuinely good and carry an emotional arc on their own. I’m not saying it should win the gold here. I do wish it had been given a nod, at least.

*ETA: I like that Camelot blends vocal and instrumental tracks in their theme, but it’s not alone in using real instruments. The Game of Throne’s theme does too. He definitely relied on MIDI for a chunk of the soundtrack, including the vocal work in the finale, but there is an abundance of live instruments present in the OST.

Maybe it’s just your use of the term “new age”. It makes me twitch, it’s kind of condescending. Again, could be my own connotations with the term.

dizzy_34: Fire And Blood, That’s funny because in my neck of the woods sports talk radio is the number one station in town and they love Game of Thrones. In fact they’re going to dedicate a 15-20 min. segment to it every week next season.

the best sports radio jock in Seattle loves Game of Thrones..but then again..guy is a star wars/comic book movie geek.

Sansa’s Lemoncakes:
I’m so disappointed. I scanned Best Guest Actor in a TV Drama and saw the little dead stableboy was not nominated. I don’t know if I can forgive the Emmys for this snub

I know right? He’s the Al Pacino of the next generation! The look of shock and incomprehension when he received the pointy end was a masterpiece!

Poor kid.

Sansa’s Lemoncakes,

I’m so disappointed. I scanned Best Guest Actor in a TV Drama and saw the little dead stableboy was not nominated. I don’t know if I can forgive the Emmys for this snub

I’ll help you with the protest letters, if you like. His reading of the line “wolf girl” alone should have won him the damn thing. :p

I’m very happy to see Peter Dinklage nominated for a reward, and very surprised for the number of nominations the show got. I want to see Peter on stage holding a reward.

It got the deserved recongnition. I hope they get some of them, and I say say “some” because I know there are people who deserve it for a long time and didn’t won, and I’d like to see this as their opportunity. I’m including both present records and individual records.

I’ll be bummed, but if GoT has to lose in the series cat, I sure hope it’s to FNL.

Oooo. I just saw Idris got nominated for Luther! Can’t believe they got that one right. That show was terrific.

Josh Parker:
The two Good Wife guys cancel each other out. Braugher has won already for a much better role in a much better show. Goggins may challenge Dinklage, but between those two, Dinklage has the upper hand.

I wouldn’t discount Alan Cummings. He clearly has a more flashy role than Josh Charles and he does shine in it. I still think Dinklage has an excellent shot of winning a much deserved Emmy.

Winter Is Coming: Boardwalk got 18, actually.

Top six nominated shows are:
Mildred Pierce – 21 noms
Mad Men – 19 noms
Boardwalk Empire – 18 noms
Modern Family – 17 noms
Saturday Night Live – 16 noms
Game of Thrones – 13 noms

And do we truly wonder why the Emmy’s are a joke? Don’t get me wrong it’s cool that GoT made it in there with so many. But Mildred Pierce was shlock with some good acting. And SNL? REALLY?

Regarding the Main Title Design nomination, the designers got the sigils of some of the actors/actresses wrong, I really hope it will not count against them. I mean even with those errors it was still simply breath-taking.

From this season, for me it’s most a pity that Harry Lloyd wasn’t considered, but it’s not a surprize either. Anyway, the problem with GoT for actor nominations might be that every character (even the ‘mains’) only get very limited screen time due to the high number of story lines. So big cheers for Dinklage, and also for all the technical nominations of course!

I’m shocked that Dexter was dominated, this past season was by far the worst.

It’s between Got, Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire.

A little suprised at Sean Bean getting passed over. Usually the “Best Series” nomination would also include either the leading man or lady from that show. The ensemble nature of the cast hurts it in that regard.

Go Tyrion!

Today would be a very clever time to release casting news (Hint, Hint).

And why wasn’t GoT nominated for Outstanding Original Main Title Music? The cello solo alone is fantastic.

Might actually watch the Emmys this year.

Fire And Blood,

on the monday after the final episode, on “around the horn”(espn sports game show), one of the people said lets talk about something realy important,GoT!

I think the nominations are great. GoT will definitely score some well-deserved technical awards. I agree with those who think best drama is a mid to long shot — Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire are the top picks. There’s nothing more than the TV people love than to see someone like Martin Scorsese get an award at their show.

As for the acting nominations, it’s the same difficulty as LotR had re the Oscars. You have a huge, huge cast, they’re all terrific, but when it comes down to it their screen time is limited, especially when considered as to their peers in the lead categories. Hugh Laurie and Michael C. Hall are on screen, what, 80% of the time in their respective shows? Maybe more? I doubt that Sean Bean or Michelle Fairley even hit 30 or 40 percent, so that makes them a tough sell for the lead categories. And in supporting you have so many good choices (many more than Modern Family or Mad Men) that nomination votes can start cancelling each other out.

So while I’m sad (especially for Sean Bean) I am not surprised. I do think that a perfect place to recognize the cast would be in the SAG Awards ensemble acting category, and I’d be very surprised if they weren’t nominated there when the time comes.

No Emilia Clarke.

Fuck this.

It should read:

Supporting the bottom Actor in a Drama Series: Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister

;)

I know I am in the minority on this one, but I actually hope that Dinklage LOSES his Emmy award to someone else. Imagine, next year when GOT season 2 comes out next year we’ll see Tyrion verbally and mentally sparring with Cersei, Varys, Littlefinger, and Maester Pycelle. That should be worth a nomination.

Then also imagine Season 3 when we see Tyrion on trial for a murder he didn’t commit, imagine his face when he kills Shae, or when he and Jaime are finally reunited with each other, only to discover the real truth about Tysha. Or season 5, when he stumbles about asking “where do whores go?!”.

Point is, if GOT gets further with each season, Dinklage should be able to out do himself. I am actually looking forward to some of the more vulnerable moments with Tyrion, which should be coming up in the next few seasons.

i am shocked they were nominated for hair? hair! that was the single thing almost everyone complained about.

but the Dothraki aside i am very surprised it did not get a nod for Art Direction. simply put there is no other show that had so much and so diverse a job to do with its art direction and with one exception it was all excellent. that is a pretty big snub. especially since modern family was nominated instead? wtf!?!

also no cinematography nom is kind of a surprise. again the show was lavish and beautifully shot most of the time.

This nomination for hairstyles brings up something I’ve been hoping for a while..that when Margaery comes to KL , she sparks a dramatic change in fashion .. particularly hairstyles. :)

Yay for make up! – prosthetics were really top notch throughout and Viserys’s crowning was really effective both watching on screen and in stills. Standard make up was good as well – not obvious, which is as it should be!

Curious though with all the hate on the hair – while I agree that it wasn’t all great, I’m interested as to what people really disliked and why. I’ve heard some rants about Cersei’s elaborate “court” hairstyles but I’m fairly certain that they are supposed to be wigs in the show’s reality (and therefore are supposed to look artificial), with the simpler long wig supposed to be her real hair. Otherwise I didn’t love Ned’s wig, Arya’s short hair and the fit of Viserys’s wig in the back (especially obvious in stills), but the rest looked pretty good to me in execution, if not always in design.

Otherwise delighted with the noms – bodes well for future appreciation and greenlighting of seasons. And lots of work for us techies around the world – just one of those prosthetic applications can take three to ten hours, and almost as much time to take off…convert that into slashed throats/hour and it adds up to a lot of make up artists. Bring on Season 2!

Fire and Blood!

Did everyone see this?

http://books.usatoday.com/bookbuzz/post/2011/07/record-sales-for-george-rr-martins-a-dance-with-dragons/176909/1

298k sales on first day of release via download/book sales

170k hardcover
110k Ebooks
18k audio books

The Dragon Demands:
Peruvian Winter,
That was an insulting and not funny joke and you should feel bad for making it.Also it simply doesn’t make sense — dwarf jokes would be about high or low, not top or bottom.

That was a WiC joke, not a dwarf joke. If it doesn’t make sense as a dwarf joke, it is probably not a dwarf joke.

Ah – Mirax beat me to it.

Milan Petrovic:
Great to see so many nominations for Game of Thrones.

But, once again, I must say Emmy is a joke of an award. Best show on the TV for the past couple of years, the show that redefined the meaning of fiction and drama FRINGE, again got zero nominations. For years now Emmy goes the same way as the Oscars: to the toilet.

And once again Mad Men will get most awards, the show I can’t fathom how can anyone watch, one of the worst things on TV in the past 10 years, and I tried several times to watch it and give it a chance.

Again, good thing is that at least Game of Thrones got the attention they deserve for the first season.

I can understand that you may despise Mad Men and really like Fringe— to each his own.But to condemn a shows’ nominations when it clearly has excellent acting, writing, direction and production is asinine.

My question to hard core, early fans… I watched the whol first season (twice) and then just now finishing the first book. Should I read the second book first, or wait until after next season to read, that is watch second tv season first then read.

I feel like… as amazing as the book is, there is somthing pretty awesome about the show that it might be better to read the book after the show to get details.

What is th counsel out there from hard core fans of the books?

Nothing for Sean Bean or Gemma Jackson? :(

Weirwood: he is up against Martin Scorsese (who directed an episode of Boardwalk).

I won’t be surprised if any of the nominees for directing/drama will win, but my money is on Patty Jenkins/The Killing.

Isn’t the GoT pilot directed by a few people? Wasn’t it reshot? Why the pilot for directing, I wonder. I don’t get it.

This can only mean better ratings for S2, I hope they pull off some wins, especially Dinklage.

ablaaa: Fuck off and die.

Oh, dear. Clarke fans are showing their quality.

Winter Is Coming,

Ah, the light comes on.

I look into my crystal ball and see an HBO miniseries in every season until this is changed.

Oh and I’m happy to see Downton Abbey pick up so many noms. That was my favorite show of that type I’ve ever seen. Maybe my favorite thing I watched this year (2011) besides GoT.

I’m surprised people are clamouring over the lack of an editing nomination. I found the editing for most of the season to be rather dull and straightforward.

In fact, the only time i can recall being impressed with the editing is during the final scenes of Baelor.

Most of the impressive ‘editing’ stems from writing multiple storylines in multiple locations, and i think that’s more attributed to the writers than anything else.

And for those who haven’t seen Boardwalk Empire and are rooting for it to lose, do yourself a favour and check it out. It’s one of the most impressive first seasons of television i’ve seen in quite some time. And i think it deserves to win over GOT.

(GOT is still super wicked awesome, though ;) ).

Just for the record, I still love Big bang, and they do enough off the beaten track episodes each season to keep me watching. But yeah there are better shows that deserve some love.

RobTheGood,

I tend to agree, although I really don’t know how to judge editing. You only see what they left in, not what they took out!!!

Actually, since the first episode was cobbled together with all the old material and reshoots etc, that’s pretty impressive (though there are noticible editing mistakes there).

saluk: Each of the actors had their moment in the sun, but if you blink you will miss it.

So true. Some more than others though.

Peter Dinklage: “It’s great to be nominated with some of my favorite actors, a few of whom I also call my friends.” Does anyone else hear him saying this with a fake british accent?

The Dragon Demands,

You got it all wrong. I guess you haven’t been following the Gatewatch story and didn’t know their words. I am a bit shocked that you thought that I would make that kind of joke.

Mirax and OhDanyBoy,
Thanks for clarifying. You are my knights in shinning armour.

I like Dinklage, but Goggins deserves to win.

I’d probably but Slattery ahead of him too.

Xander Bobir,

Main titles DESIGN did, unfortunately not the theme. Perhaps nit-picking as the show is still up for a lot of nominations, but I personally just thought the opening theme music to be superb

Totally off topic:

Just looking at the number of people who have posted in the Dance discussion post. It’s over a hundred. Of course, I haven’t been there. It will take me probably a month to read it. I’ll probably be one of the last ones to post there. I read voraciously, but slowly.

I’ve only read the first two chapters. The first one I was confused by and had to read it twice more. Fortunately, over at Tower of the Hand, they have some chapter discussion threads up where readers discuss in detail the chapters.

I’m trying to remember how I visualized the characters before the HBO show. Now whenever Tyrion speaks I hear and see Peter Dinklage. Love the show, but not sure if I like that or not. It’s always good to have your own mental images, something you lose when your favorite book is adapted.

the goat: Outstanding Crazy Eyed, Bad Wig Wearing Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

I like all of your suggestions, but this one is definitely the one that was missed most!

Great news. Something like this is the least the cast and crew deserve for their hard work and dedication. I doubt we’ll be so lucky to sweep the board but if we don’t win for the main title design and casting, then something is very very wrong.

Geoff,

I don’t know much about Jason Momoa except what we’ve seen in this show and that he will be playing Conan… but my brother informs me that Momoa has rehearsed/performed with the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy troupe in the past…! I believe he heard this from an interview with Amy Poehler, one of the founding members of UCB…! He had me guess which GoT cast member had performed with them, and I went right for Dinklage… I guess we have a lot more to see coming from Momoa in the future!

I am very happy for Game of Thrones and all the nominations it secured! Congratulations to all involved!

That title sequence fully deserves the win.. it’s just beautiful. I do have to say, I agree with all others that GoT title song got robbed a bit as I just watched the beginning of Camelot and in hearing it, I only longed for the GoT song.

I was pulling for Peter Dinklage, as I thought he was excellent. He does benefit from playing one of the most likable characters in the series, but of course, you need a strong actor to pull a character off no matter how well written they are. I am extra happy for Dinklage as he was born in my home state of New Jersey! I’m still not entirely sure how convinced I am of his accent, but then again, more “high-class” English accents are lighter on ethnicity than “low-class” so they are much more subtle, and that could simply be what I am noting. Although I forget about it by the second line of his dialogue, so that tells you a lot.

I thought Mark Addy had a decent chance, but more as a “guest actor” than supporting. I also think Charles Dance was a pretty darn excellent contender for “guest actor”, mainly due to his first scene cutting up the stag… great prop use. The kids were each awesome, but didn’t get to feature quite enough to garner an award. Among them, I thought Maisie had the best chance.

As far as the rest of the nominations, I cannot comment without bias as I have not seen each show. But I can tell you I have not been that interested in Mad Men.. I much prefer the other AMC series of The Killing, Walking Dead, Rubicon (RIP), and looking forward to watching Breaking Bad. Boardwalk Empire I started, but did not get to finish. It seemed promising, and I am a big fan of all involved (esp. Buscemi–ANOTHER Jersey guy), but I fell off from a combination of being busy/it not grabbing me the way Thrones did… but we’ll see.

On the politics side, Thrones was very strong, but is a fantasy with lots of sex n violence and that may turn of some voters. Boardwalk or Mad Men are the obvious ones to win. One a repeat-nom and the other a Scorsese-produced/directed-star-powered-HBO-period-piece. The latter is also seen by many as the heir to the Sopranos throne (although we all know GoT is just as valid an heir). Good Wife and Dexter are both very strong, and between the two, I’m sure Good Wife has the edge again due to the violent content of Dexter… But don’t be surprised if Friday Night Lights walks away with the Emmy, however. It is a well-loved show completing its final season and academies seem to love awarding series finales. It’s not necessarily the right thing to do, but it happens. And if they are a serious contenders for the award, I think it is fine. As far as I can tell, these are all very strong contenders.

(Okay, going a little off-topic… but I’ll be brief.)
On the flipside of that point above, I believe 30 Rock didn’t deserve as many noms as it got. I love the show, but I just thought it was weak this year. Especially when you compare it to Parks and Recreation, which had a phenomenal season. I can only comment on the three NBC shows, as those are the ones I got to watch, but of the three, I think Parks had the best season by far. I was laughing aloud all the way through and re-watched each episode.

Anyhow, rant

Hollyoak: Of course, I haven’t been there. It will take me probably a month to read it. I’ll probably be one of the last ones to post there. I read voraciously, but slowly.

I did, went there by mistake and I found myself reading a short but lethal phrase and almost died. THAT thread it´s dangerous.
You´ll not be the last. I don´t have the book until august. When I finish the book everyone will be talking about season 2 of GoT.

Sean Bean Death Reel. 21 deaths on film is worth more than a thousand emmys.

http://hypervocal.com/entertainment/2011/video-the-sean-bean-death-reel/

Eric Bigpicture,

The Emmy isn’t for “Best Title Theme,” it’s for “Best Score”

Uh!, check the official noms, there is a Best Title Theme, and thats what I am talking about, GoT’s title theme just blew the others away. Thats why I am scratching my balls over. How they could choose the Borgias and Camelot title theme over GoT’s which was like 20x better.

Avalanche3319,

I do agree with you about Sophie, among the child actors (not that she’s really a child) she was the weakest, but she is still young so I will cut her some slack.

I thought Lena Headey was okay, not particularly outstanding but she carried her role well. I wasn’t too distracted with her acting which is good I guess.

drivebyinsult,

FNL should win. It would be the right thing to do. Much better than showering the overrated mad men with another award that won’t help it gain viewers, or give some hbo shows an early win when they still have room to grow. Dexter and Good wife are not nearly as good as the others in the category.

GoT 6-10 were excellent, 1-4 were enjoyable but not best show material. Same with Boardwalk actually. Mad Men is good, but it’s won before. Eh, it’s probably going to win. But FNL was consistently great, and consistently unknown for 5 moving seasons, and deserves to go out with some love.

Julian Walker:
I know I am in the minority on this one, but I actually hope that Dinklage LOSES his Emmy award to someone else. Imagine, next year when GOT season 2 comes out next year we’ll see Tyrion verbally and mentally sparring with Cersei, Varys, Littlefinger, and Maester Pycelle. That should be worth a nomination.

Then also imagine Season 3 when we see Tyrion on trial for a murder he didn’t commit, imagine his face when he kills Shae, or when he and Jaime are finally reunited with each other, only to discover the real truth about Tysha. Or season 5, when he stumbles about asking “where do whores go?!”.

Point is, if GOT gets further with each season, Dinklage should be able to out do himself. I am actually looking forward to some of the more vulnerable moments with Tyrion, which should be coming up in the next few seasons.

So he should win every year! ;)

Great news about the noms, glad to see that the series is being taken seriously by the industry.

Thought I’d add that, though D&D and Dinklage obviously deserve their noms, I think the most deserving are in tech catagories- if Nina Gold doesn’t take an ornament home I’d be massively dissappointed!

andrea: I did, went there by mistake and I found myselfreading a short but lethal phrase and almost died. THAT threadit´s dangerous.
You´ll not be the last.I don´t have the book until august. When I finish the book everyone will be talking about season 2 ofGoT.

Oh Andrea, I ‘m so sorry you got spoiled there. Such a temptation, but I am staying far away from that thread!

Moe: Is Friday Night Lights a good show? All this time I keep thinking that it’s just a cliched teenage sports drama.

Friday Night Lights is one of the best dramas ever to be on television. Its lack of ratings are do the a failure in marketing. I think they should have titled the series “Dillon” — the Texas town in which it is set. The show is about high school football’s (American football) affect on the town of Dillon more than it is about football per se. In the pilot, the new coach, played brilliantly by Kyle Chandler with his cap cocked forward like some U.S. Marine Corps officer, coaches his first game into a tragedy — the crippling of the team’s quarterback. What you expect to be the cliche’ ending “bad team need improvement” hits you between the eyes with “team wins game, quarterback can never walk again.” The pilot ends like this.

Awesome news! Congrats to the cast and crew. This will probably be the first Emmy’s I actually watch XD

userj: As for Sophie, oh man I thought she was brilliant actually

Sophie was able to carry the complexity of Sansa through the end. I hate her when she acts spoiled, I think she is the stupidest as she is being manipulated, and I feel her pain when she realizes what has happened around her. (and I feel she almost deserved it).

I did notice some awkward over-directed moments that should have been reshot at times. Best example: when she watches her father brought out to the scaffold in Baelor, an expensive shot in which many actors are in the frame. That smile is not natural, and I think the director panicked here, because D&D really wanted the audience to be reminded that Sansa was expecting a happy ending based on what she had done, and that she loved her father, etc. A lot of stuff was supposed to come out of that smile; an impossible task really. They effed that up.

IMHO, I think all the child actors were perfectly cast. I blame the grownups for any child problems captured and kept on film, especially the famous Arya’s first kill scene.

Kit,

Justified is excellent. I’m really glad Timothy got nominated, and Walter Goggins also. That’s going to be Peter Dinklage’s biggest competition in the supporting category.

And for those thinking The Walking Dead got snubbed-I had a feeling they’d leave off it for now, not because it’s got zombies, but because the season was so short. I think they figure they’ll take a better look at it next season as it will be a longer, proper season.

Epic the wonderful: I don’t know if you are serious. I haven’t seen all the competition but as far as Walton Goggins, as Boyd Crowder in Justified, I would not dismiss it to fast.

Yup. only someone who hasn’t seen Justified would dismiss Goggins. sadly, for Dinklage, HE”S the one to beat. I think it’s definitely between those two though.

tysnow,

I stand corrected, and surprised. That’s a snub indeed. The main title theme is great.

Congratulations on the hair and makeup categories! I seem to be the only one here who thought most of the wigs looked great. As a former hairstylist and wig fashioner I thought that they did fantastic. The partial updo that always seemed lopsided on Cersei looked to me to be deliberate; a hint as to her character maybe? I thought the partial updo that was the style in Kingslanding was great, especially when you are trying to create something different in a fantasy world.
The costumes were excellent as well! I loved the gathered necklines and tied fronts of the dresses on the Stark women, very cool!

Again
Congratulations!!!!

Ginia Bellefonte (NYT) and Nancy DeWolf Smith (WSJ) must be scratching their heads. Did the Emmy voters watch the same episodes they did? Remember, this is a show that got a cumulative Metacritics score of —-79. Where are the big nominations for “The Killing” and “The Walking Dead,” both of which out-ranked GOT on the Metacritics list, and “Lights Out,” which tied at 79?

Jessica C.,

actually, I think the casting one is good shot to win!

Epic the wonderful,

Or she is smiling because she’s trying to convince herself that everything is going to be alright, that her father is going to be pardoned and that the Prince that she loves is going to be merciful and this whole nightmare is going to come to an end?

I see your point my friend, I really do, and I am certain that her smile could be interpreted as an indication to the audience that everything is going to be okay. But many have pointed out here that Sansa is a great stand-in for the audience, especially those who were shocked at Ned Stark’s death. The irony being that the non reader viewers who complained about Sansa’s foolishness and obliviousness were the same people who threatened to leave the show after Ned was executed. Their reaction being: “Waah! How dare they defy convention and take away my comfortable escapism and instead give us a realistic, heart-wrenching and unpredictable drama?” Basically, Sansa’s naivete and coming disillusionment is proof positive that this is not going to be a cliche good vs evil fantasy epic, and the smile of contention could be interpreted as half natural (IMHO) and half dramatic construct to mislead the audience. My gut instinct confirms for me that it was natural and fit the scene. You seem to veer towards the other end and that’s fine. It would boring if we all agree right?

However, I am 100% in league with you that the Arya/Stableboy encounter was weak sauce. :-)

Josh Atreides: she’s trying to convince herself that everything is going to be alright, that her father is going to be pardoned and that the Prince that she loves is going to be merciful and this whole nightmare is going to come to an end?

For a tiny moment that has never been pointed out before I have, you are certainly very much against my opinion which essentially is defending the actress from people saying she sucked. I’m essentially turning the blame to directors, one of the 7 deadly sins among agot fans, I’m sure.

There are better ways of getting what you say above besides an awkward smile. The smile was one way of doing it, a very economical way of doing it. They missed an opportunity to explore Sansa’s feelings in that crucial, pivotal moment. Meanwhile, Arya gets 10 headshots hugging the crow. I wonder, if she sad or something?

Epic the shtupendous,

A) I really, really loved that whole scene, I thought it worked perfectly. In both directing and acting. Hence the zealousness of my reply.

B)I was merely making conversation, a friendly debate. If I came off belligerent I assure you it was not my intention.

How would you have conveyed Sansa’s emotions in that scene?

Epic The Balls,

Thanks for your interpretation of the scene. When I watch “Baelor” again (sadly the episodes run out of HBO on Demand on July 16) I will pay attention to the same and see if I notice anything different from it, as I will be less emotionally attached to the scene. I confess I was pretty caught up in everything during that scene, so any sense of blatant artifice could easily be missed. So I appreciate your perspective, it just sucks for me when someone points things out to me that I have not noticed before I can’t possibly ignore it from now! The film critic me says thank you but the guy who was like “wow awesome scene” may not. :)

Josh Atreides,

I was caught up in the drama also. I don’t think that very brief shot of a smile is enough to bring the whole thing down at all, I was just pointing it out as one of the many examples of how the pace and economy boils the complexity down to an implication. And that in a few instances some film needed to be reshot but was cut too fast, most apparent with scenes involving child actors. Maybe I need to see that episode again, maybe I’ll like it better the second time!

Epic The Balls,

It just shows that some things should not be rushed. Economy and pace indeed. To be honest my initial reaction usually wins out, but as you said a re-watch will provide a whole new context: I will be watching Game of Thrones the television series more so than Game of Thrones, the adaptation of the book.

Cheers

Joel Kinnaman was the only thing that kept me watching after the first ep, but he didn’t keep me watching long :(

13 Emmy nomination? That’s awesome…Congratulation! I love the show! I look forward to see Season 2.

Dickon Manwoody: Nina Gold deserves a win more than anybody else

I was just watching “Another Year”. Casting: Nina Gold. Was wondering then why she should care about an Emmy.

If Peter Dinklage does not win the Emmy for best supporting, I will be SHOCKED.

Also, if we go just by Kit Harrington’s AMAZING hair, then yeah, best hairstyling, too.

What nomination category would Sean Bean fall under?? Could Game of Thrones have TWO actors running for best support caracther?

Some may say “Eddard Stark is a main caracther”. I disagree. There are several main caracthers on Game of Thrones, but Tyrion certainly is one of them. If Peter runs for SUPPORT caracther, than Eddard Stark also wouldnt be more than a support caracther.

This was my favorite show from last year. I couldn’t wait for Sundays to come when I could watch this (and The Killing). I’d tell everyone come Monday morning–you’ve got to watch this show! It had more goosebumps moments per episode than any series I have ever seen. For those of you who are readers, after last season wrapped up, I downloaded the first of the books to listen to in my car when on the road. This added to the visceral experience as well as filled in a couple of lingering questions I had. However I must say this series did an excellent job of, not only maintaining the spirit of the book but, translating the literal to the visual. I love the press notice that the shows exec producers put out sharing the credit. Good people and great show!