In The Game of Thrones, You Get Nominated for a Bunch of Emmys Or Die

This morning Melissa McCarthy and Joshua Jackson got up at about three in the morning to announce the nominations for the 2011 Emmy Awards. Game of Thrones and some other sci-fi fare took home some impressive nominations, as did a bevvy of awesome women in comedy. Follow the jump for the details.

Emmy voters have a history of routinely ignoring sci-fi shows (sorry Fringe! All you get is one for Fringe: Division for “Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media”), but Game of Thrones apparently made a big enough splash to catch their attention. The show was nominated for eight awards, for casting, costumes, directing (for the pilot), hairstyling, main title design, makeup, as well as Outstanding Supporting Actor for Peter Dinklage. They were also nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, among the likes of Dexter, Mad Men, The Good Wife, Boardwalk Empire, and the final season of Friday Night Lights.

Here are some other sci-fi and fantasy shows who were nominated:

• Futurama for Outstanding Animated Program, as well as Maurice LaMarche‘s voice-over as Lrrr & Orson Welles
• Robot Chicken for Outstanding Animated Program, as well as Seth Green as every character he’s ever voiced on that show, and for Outstanding Short-Form Animated Program, for their Christmas special
• True Blood for art direction, makeup, as well as
• The Pillars of the Earth for cinematography, makeup, and music composition
• The Cape (Really??) for makeup
• The Walking Dead for makeup
• Camelot for main title music

For real-life science:

• Mythbusters, for Outstanding Reality Program

As for women in comedy, here are the nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy:

• Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation
• Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, 30 Rock
• Martha Plimpton as Virginia Chance, Raising Hope
• Laura Linney as Cathy Jamison, The Big C
• Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, Nurse Jackie (last year’s winner)
• Melissa McCarthy as Molly Flynn, Mike & Molly

For Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy:

• Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester, Glee (last year’s winner)
• Betty White as Elka Ostrosky, Hot in Cleveland
• Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy, Modern Family
• Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, Modern Family
• Kristen Wiig as Various Characters, Saturday Night Live
• Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney, 30 Rock

As for Outstanding Comedy Series, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock were both nominated, and both are shows with noted female presences helping to run the place (Parks and Rec was created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, but it’s unlikely any of them have ever given an interview about the show without mentioning the influence Amy Poehler has as a producer). Others nominated for that category include Glee, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and The Office.

Also: Big Bang Theory, in all its nerdiness, is still an Emmy favorite, garnering a bunch of nominations, including Outstanding Comedies Series,  Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nods for both Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki, and art direction and picture editing. Sherlock was nominated for Outstanding Music Composition.

So what do you all think of the results? Who are you hoping to win, and who was snubbed the most egregiously? My vote for the latter goes to Community.

(via Emmys)