2017 Emmy nominations include top nods to FX's 'Atlanta' and Netflix's 'Stranger Things'

This was posted Thursday, July 13, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

For the first time since Atlanta began luring TV productions into town almost a decade ago, shows from this area were given Emmy nominations for top drama and comedy: Netflix's "Stranger Things" is one of drama nominees while FX's "Atlanta" competes in the comedy category.

"Stranger Things" is up against AMC's "Better Call Saul," Netflix's "The Crown," Hulu's "The Handsmaid's Tale," Netflix's "House of Cards," NBC's 'This is Us" and HBO's "Westworld."

In total, "Stranger Things" racked up 18 nominations, third most behind only "Saturday Night Live" and "Westworld."

"Atlanta" is the only newcomer on the comedy list, which also includes ABC's "black-ish," Netflix's "Master of None," ABC's "Modern Family," HBO's "Silicon Valley," Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and HBO's "Veep."

The two shows have already received a raft of nominations and wins from the likes of the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, the Television Critics Association and the Writers Guild of America, to name a few.

Donald Glover, who grew up in Stone Mountain, is also nominated for best actor in a comedy series for his role in his show "Atlanta," which is set to return in 2018 for a second season. His rivals are Anthony Anderson ("black-ish"), Aziz Ansari ("Master of None"), Zach Galifianakis (FX's "Baskets"), William H. Macy (Showtime's "Shameless") and Jeffrey Tambor (Amazon's "Transparent").

Child actress Millie Bobby Brown ("Stranger Things") nabbed a supporting actress nomination in a drama, competing with Uzo Aduba ("Orange Is The New Black"), Ann Dowd ("The Handmaid's Tale"), Chrissy Metz ("This Is Us") Thandie Newton ("Westworld") and Samira Wiley ("The Handmaid's Tale").

Fellow "Stranger Things" actor David Harbour received an Emmy nomination for best supporting actor in a drama. His competitors are Jonathan Banks ("Better Call Saul"), Ron Chephas Jones ("This is Us"), Michael Kelly ("House of Cards"), John Lithgow ("The Crown"), Mandy Patinkin ("Homeland") and Jeffrey Wright ("Westworld.")

Athens native Tituss Burgess ("Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt") is up again for best supporting actor in a comedy. He is up against last year's surprise winner Louie Anderson ("Baskets"), Alec Baldwin for his Donald Trump impersonation on "Saturday Night Live," Ty Burrell on "Modern Family" and both Tony Hale and Matt Walsh on "Veep."

Two TV movies shot in metro Atlanta received nominations: HBO's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" and NBC's "Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love."

CNN received nominations for "United Shades of America With W. Kamau Bell" (unstructured reality program) and host of a reality show for Bell. Former Atlantan RuPaul was nominated again as best host of a reality program, an Emmy he won for the first time last year.

CNN's "Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown" also received two nominations.

FX's "Archer" was yet again nominated for best animated program, an honor it picked up in 2016.

CBS's "MacGyver," shot in Atlanta, received a nomination for stunt coordination for Jeff Wolfe.

As usual, AMC's "The Walking Dead" was blanked in major categories, garnering a single nomination for prosthetic makeup.

The Emmy's air on CBS September 17 with Stephen Colbert hosting.