Publications
Partners
Los Angeles — Fun facts about Thursday's nominations for the 69th Emmy Awards:
OSCAR WINNERS, EMMY NEWBIES
Oscar winners Robert De Niro and Reese Witherspoon are Emmy hopefuls after scoring their first nominations from the Television Academy — and both for appearing in HBO projects with Lies in the title. De Niro, who won Academy Awards for The Godfather: Part II and Raging Bull, is Emmy nominated for playing Bernie Madoff in The Wizard of Lies. Witherspoon, who won her Oscar for Walk the Line, received an Emmy nod for her performance in Big Little Lies.
Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, also nominated for Big Little Lies, got her first Emmy bid in 2012 for Hemingway & Gellhorn.
SAMANTHA SCORES
Samantha Bee is a triple nominee. Her weekly satirical news show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, is up for variety-talk series, and its election special, Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner, earned a bid for variety special. Bee is also nominated as a member of the Full Frontal writing staff.
Watch it here:
The show also scored a nod for interactive program, and the special was recognized for its direction and production design.
"We would like to thank the Deep State for today's Emmy nominations," Bee wrote on the show's official Twitter page. "Congrats to our entire team and their shadowy government ties."
GHOSTBUSTERS
Last summer's Ghostbusters remake didn't win many awards, but its four leads each received Emmy bids for their work on Saturday Night Live.
SNL cast members Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon are up for supporting actress in a comedy series, while Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy were nominated as guest stars for hosting the long-running show.
Saturday Night Live tied with Westworld as the year's most nominated show with 22 bids.
THAT OTHER SHOW
Kathryn Hahn and Brian Tyree Henry both star in a comedy series, but earned their first Emmy bids for other shows.
Hahn, who stars in Amazon's I Love Dick, received a supporting actress nomination for Transparent. Henry stars in Atlanta, which is up for outstanding comedy series, but his bid came for a guest-starring role in This is Us.
FEMALE DIRECTORS
Emmy voters have done something Oscar voters never have: Nominate multiple women in directing categories.
Three of the six nominees for drama series directing are women. Women also represent half of the nominated directors of nonfiction programming. No women are nominated for directing a variety series or TV movie.
(Reed Morano - Handmaid's Tale)
Only four women have been nominated for best director in the Oscars' 89-year history.
DON'T HAVE A COW, MAN
Nancy Cartwright, who has given voice to Bart Simpson for the past 28 seasons of The Simpsons, received her second nomination for playing the character. Her first came 25 years ago, when she took home the Emmy.
Watch a clip here:
(Photos: AP, Getty Images)
