The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2014, until May 31, 2015, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 20, 2015, at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California, where 26 awards were presented, and was broadcast in the U.S. by Fox. Andy Samberg hosted the show for the first time. The nominations were announced on July 16, 2015.
The Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 12 and was broadcast by FXX on September 19.
The Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards ceremony was held on October 28, 2015, at the Loews Hollywood Hotel.
The ceremony became notable for breaking two major milestones: Game of Thrones set a new record by winning 12 awards, the most for any show in a single year, up to this date (it was also the second HBO show, after The Sopranos, to win the Outstanding Drama Series award), while Viola Davis became the first African-American woman in Emmy history to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Annalise Keating in How to Get Away with Murder.
This year also saw for the first time, two Streaming service networks win four Acting awards: Netflix, with Uzo Aduba in Orange Is the New Black and Reg E. Cathey in House of Cards;Cathey won the weekend earlier at the Creative Arts Emmys for guest performance and Amazon Studios, with Jeffrey Tambor for Transparent and Bradley WhitfordWhitford won the weekend earlier at the Creative Arts Emmys for guest performance for the same show.
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series went to the HBO political satire Veep, which not only broke Modern Familys five-year hold on the award but became the second time a premium channel won Outstanding Comedy Series (the first was for HBO's romantic comedy Sex and the City in 2001).
Rule changes The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced new rule changes for the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards. These new rules are:
All voters eligible for a category's nominations are now eligible to vote in that category, providing that they have seen the submitted material and attest to no specific conflicts of interest. The number of nominees in the Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Comedy Series categories will expand from six nominees to seven, due to the increase in series production. To clarify the difference between a Comedy series and a Drama series, any show where episodes average a length of 30 minutes is eligible to enter as a comedy and series with episodes that average a length of 1 hour is eligible as a drama. There may be exceptions to the rules, however: producers may formally petition to a new Academy panel to have the show be considered for the alternative category. This panel, consisting of five industry leaders appointed by the Academy chairman and four appointees from the Board of Governors, will vote on a decision. A two-thirds vote was required for the show to be considered for the alternative category. So far, three petitions have been successful: Glee, Jane the Virgin, and Shameless were voted as eligible for "Outstanding Comedy Series". The Outstanding Miniseries was renamed as "Outstanding Limited Series". A "Limited Series" is defined as a program consisting of two or more episodes totaling 150 minutes as a whole, tell a complete, non-recurring story, and do not have an ongoing storyline and/or main characters in subsequent seasons. A "Guest Actor" is now defined as a performer appearing in less than 50% of the program's episodes. Only performers that fit this criterion are allowed to submit. The Outstanding Variety Series category has been split into two separate categories: "Outstanding Variety Talk" and "Outstanding Variety Sketch".
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡). For simplicity, producers who received nominations for program awards, as well as nominated writers for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, have been omitted.
Programs + Veep (HBO) Louie (FX) Modern Family (ABC) Parks and Recreation (NBC) Silicon Valley (HBO) Transparent (Amazon) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) Game of Thrones (HBO) Better Call Saul (AMC) Downton Abbey (PBS) Homeland (Showtime) House of Cards (Netflix) Mad Men (AMC) Orange Is the New Black (Netflix) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central) Drunk History (Comedy Central) Key & Peele (Comedy Central) Portlandia (IFC) Saturday Night Live (NBC) Olive Kitteridge (HBO) American Crime (ABC) American Horror Story: Freak Show (FX) The Honorable Woman (Sundance TV) Wolf Hall (PBS) The Voice (NBC) The Amazing Race (CBS) Dancing with the Stars (ABC) Project Runway (Lifetime) So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) Top Chef (Bravo)
Acting
Lead performances + Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent as Maura Pfefferman (Amazon) Anthony Anderson – Black-ish as Andre "Dre" Johnson Sr. (ABC) Don Cheadle – House of Lies as Marty Kaan (Showtime) Louis C.K. – Louie as Louie (FX) Will Forte – The Last Man on Earth as Phil "Tandy" Miller (Fox) Matt LeBlanc – Episodes as himself (Showtime) William H. Macy – Shameless as Frank Gallagher (Showtime) Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep as President Selina Meyer (HBO) Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie as Jackie Peyton, RN (Showtime) Lisa Kudrow – The Comeback as Valerie Cherish (HBO) Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation as Leslie Knope (NBC) Amy Schumer – Inside Amy Schumer as Amy / various characters (Comedy Central) Lily Tomlin – Grace and Frankie as Frankie Bergstein (Netflix) Jon Hamm – Mad Men as Don Draper (AMC) Kyle Chandler – Bloodline as John Rayburn (Netflix) Jeff Daniels – The Newsroom as Will McAvoy (HBO) Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul as Jimmy McGill (AMC) Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan as Ray Donovan (Showtime) Kevin Spacey – House of Cards as President Frank Underwood (Netflix) Viola Davis – How to Get Away with Murder as Professor Annalise Keating (ABC) Claire Danes – Homeland as Carrie Mathison (Showtime) Taraji P. Henson – Empire as Cookie Lyon (Fox) Tatiana Maslany – Orphan Black as various characters (BBC America) Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men as Peggy Olson (AMC) Robin Wright – House of Cards as First Lady Claire Underwood (Netflix) Richard Jenkins – Olive Kitteridge as Henry Kitteridge (HBO) Adrien Brody – Houdini as Harry Houdini (History) Ricky Gervais – Derek: The Special as Derek Noakes (Netflix) Timothy Hutton – American Crime as Russ Skokie (ABC) David Oyelowo – Nightingale as Peter Snowden (HBO) Mark Rylance – Wolf Hall as Thomas Cromwell (PBS) Frances McDormand – Olive Kitteridge as Olive Kitteridge (HBO) Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Honorable Woman as Nessa Stein (Sundance TV) Felicity Huffman – American Crime as Barbara "Barb" Hanlon (ABC) Jessica Lange – American Horror Story: Freak Show as Elsa Mars (FX) Queen Latifah – Bessie as Bessie Smith (HBO) Emma Thompson – Live from Lincoln Center – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert with the New York Philharmonic as Mrs. Lovett (PBS)
Supporting performances + Tony Hale – Veep as Gary Walsh (HBO) Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Captain Ray Holt (Fox) Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Titus Andromedon (Netflix) Ty Burrell – Modern Family as Phil Dunphy (ABC) Adam Driver – Girls as Adam Sackler (HBO) Keegan-Michael Key – Key & Peele as various characters (Comedy Central) Allison Janney – Mom as Bonnie Plunkett (CBS) Mayim Bialik – The Big Bang Theory as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler (CBS) Julie Bowen – Modern Family as Claire Dunphy (ABC) Anna Chlumsky – Veep as Amy Brookheimer (HBO) Gaby Hoffmann – Transparent as Alexandria "Ali" Pfefferman (Amazon) Jane Krakowski – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Jacqueline Voorhees (Netflix) Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC) Niecy Nash – Getting On as Denise "DiDi" Ortley (HBO) Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones as Tyrion Lannister (HBO) Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul as Mike Ehrmantraut (AMC) Jim Carter – Downton Abbey as Charles Carson (PBS) Alan Cumming – The Good Wife as Eli Gold (CBS) Michael Kelly – House of Cards as Doug Stamper (Netflix) Ben Mendelsohn – Bloodline as Danny Rayburn (Netflix) Uzo Aduba – Orange Is the New Black as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren (Netflix) Christine Baranski – The Good Wife as Diane Lockhart (CBS) Emilia Clarke – Game of Thrones as Daenerys Targaryen (HBO) Joanne Froggatt – Downton Abbey as Anna Bates (PBS) Lena Headey – Game of Thrones as Cersei Lannister (HBO) Christina Hendricks – Mad Men as Joan Harris (AMC) Bill Murray – Olive Kitteridge as Jack Kennison (HBO) Richard Cabral – American Crime as Hector Tonz (ABC) Damian Lewis – Wolf Hall as Henry VIII of England (PBS) Denis O'Hare – American Horror Story: Freak Show as Stanley (FX) Michael K. Williams – Bessie as Jack Gee (HBO) Finn Wittrock – American Horror Story: Freak Show as Dandy Mott (FX) Regina King – American Crime as Aliyah Shadeed (ABC) Angela Bassett – American Horror Story: Freak Show as Desiree Dupree (FX) Kathy Bates – American Horror Story: Freak Show as Ethel Darling (FX) Zoe Kazan – Olive Kitteridge as Denise Thibodeau (HBO) Mo'Nique – Bessie as Ma Rainey (HBO) Sarah Paulson – American Horror Story: Freak Show as Bette and Dot Tattler (FX)
Directing + Transparent: "Best New Girl" – Joey Soloway (Amazon) The Last Man on Earth: "Alive in Tucson" – Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Fox) Louie: "Sleepover" – Louis C.K. (FX) Silicon Valley: "Sand Hill Shuffle" – Mike Judge (HBO) Veep: "Testimony" – Armando Iannucci (HBO) Game of Thrones: "Mother's Mercy" – David Nutter (HBO) Boardwalk Empire: "Eldorado" – Tim Van Patten (HBO) Game of Thrones: "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" – Jeremy Podeswa (HBO) Homeland: "From A to B and Back Again" – Lesli Linka Glatter (Showtime) The Knick: "Method and Madness" – Steven Soderbergh (Cinemax) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: "Episode 20103" – Chuck O'Neil (Comedy Central) The Colbert Report: "Episode 11040" – James Hoskinson (Comedy Central) Inside Amy Schumer: "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer" – Amy Schumer and Ryan McFaul (Comedy Central) Late Show with David Letterman: "Show 4214" – Jerry Foley (CBS) The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: "Show 203" – Dave Diomedi (NBC) Olive Kitteridge – Lisa Cholodenko (HBO) American Horror Story: Freak Show: "Monsters Among Us" – Ryan Murphy (FX) Bessie – Dee Rees (HBO) The Honorable Woman – Hugo Blick (Sundance TV) Houdini – Uli Edel (History) The Missing – Tom Shankland (Starz) Wolf Hall – Peter Kosminsky (PBS)
Writing + Veep: "Election Night" – (HBO) Episodes: "Episode Nine" – David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik (Showtime) The Last Man on Earth: "Alive in Tucson" – Will Forte (Fox) Louie: "Bobby's House" – Louis C.K. (FX) Silicon Valley: "Two Days of the Condor" – Alec Berg (HBO) Transparent: "Pilot" – Joey Soloway (Amazon) Game of Thrones: "Mother's Mercy" – David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (HBO) The Americans: "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?" – Joshua Brand (FX) Better Call Saul: "Five-O" – Gordon Smith (AMC) Mad Men: "Lost Horizon" – Matthew Weiner and Semi Chellas (AMC) Mad Men: "Person to Person" – Matthew Weiner (AMC) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central) Key & Peele (Comedy Central) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) Olive Kitteridge – Jane Anderson (HBO) American Crime: "Episode One" – John Ridley (ABC) Bessie – Dee Rees, Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois, and Horton Foote (HBO)