‘Top Chef,’ ‘True Detective,’ ‘Treme,’ ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ among those recognized
By Dave Walker, Staff writer The Times-Picayune
Louisiana-made TV series and miniseries “True Detective,” “American Horror Story: Coven,” “Bonnie & Clyde,” “Treme” and “Top Chef” won Emmy Award nominations Thursday. NBC’s primetime Emmy telecast is scheduled for Aug. 25.
FX’s “Coven” scored 17 nominations, HBO’s “True Detective” 12, A&E’s “Bonnie & Clyde” and HBO’s “Treme” four each, and Bravo’s “Top Chef” one. New Orleans native Wynton Marsalis was nominated in the category Outstanding Children’s Program for HBO’s “A YoungArts Masterclass.”
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” led the nominations with 19. HBO led all networks with 99.
“Louisiana’s streak of critical success continues with the Emmy nominations for shows shot in our great state,” said Chris Stelly, executive director of Louisiana Entertainment, the entertainment arm of the state’s economic development office. “We are very proud of all the productions shot here, and getting recognized during awards season is certainly a testament to the hard work and dedication of the filmmakers as well as the Louisiana residents that work hard to make the shows a success.”
“True Detective” joins “Breaking Bad,” “Downton Abbey,” “Game of Thrones,” “House of Cards” and “Mad Men” in the Outstanding Drama category. “Coven,” “Bonnie & Clyde” and “Treme” will compete for the Emmy in the Miniseries or Movie category with “Fargo,” “Luther” and “The White Queen.”
“True Detective” stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey won nominations in the category Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama. The show’s Nic Pizzolatto and Cary Fukunaga were nominated in Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing categories, respectively.
“Coven’s” Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson got nominations in the category Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, and Frances Conroy, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett were nominated in the supporting-actress category.
“Treme” co-creators David Simon and Eric Overmyer were nominated in the category Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special, where they’ll compete against “Coven” writer-producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck, among others. “Treme’s” writing nomination was for the series’ finale, ” …To Miss New Orleans.”
Asked by email for comment on “Treme’s” Emmy success, Simon replied, “That’s nice.”
Meagan Lewis of New Orleans’ RPM Casting won nominations in casting categories for “Treme,” “Coven” and “True Detective.”
Nominated with Lewis for “Coven” casting were Robert J. Ulrich and Eric Dawson. Alexa L. Fogel was also nominated for casting “Treme.” Fogel and Christine Kromer also got nominations for casting “True Detective.”
Lewis said she watched the nominations announcement in her kitchen.
“The first time I reacted to anything, I was very excited about ‘Treme’ being nominated,” she said.
She added that the three-series casting nominations are “a testament to the local-actor pool here.”
“They’re really good,” she continued. “And I’m only as good as they are, so thank you to them.”
The nominations were the first (and second and third) for Lewis, who said she plans to attend the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony, scheduled for Aug. 16 in Los Angeles.
“I guess we’re making up for lost time,” she said.
“Treme,” whose short final season qualified it for Emmy’s miniseries categories, also scored a nomination for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie. The episode: “Sunset on Louisianne.” The nominees: Bruce Litecky, Andy Kris and Blake Leyh.
“Coven’s” additional awards came in categories for costuming, art direction, makeup, hairstyling, music composition, sound editing and sound mixing. “True Detective” also got nominations for art direction, cinematography, editing, title design, makeup and music composition. “Bonnie & Clyde” was also nominated for makeup, sound editing and hairstyling.
Lange and Paulson are nominated with Helena Bonham Carter (“Burton And Taylor”), Minnie Driver (“Return To Zero”), Kristen Wiig (“The Spoils Of Babylon”) and Cicely Tyson (“The Trip To Bountiful”).
Reached in New Orleans by HollywoodReporter.com where “American Horror Story” has begun production on its next season, set in Florida and subtitled “Freak Show,” Paulson said there will “certainly be some drinking” on-set to celebrate the show’s multiple nominations.
“I’ve been nominated against (Lange) before and fully expect to lose to her again — and I’m just fine with that,” Paulson said. “If there’s anybody you want to lose to, it’s Jessica Lange. She’s the real deal. It’s an embarrassment of riches.”
Competing with the “Coven” supporting-actress nominees are Allison Tolman (“Fargo”), Ellen Burstyn (“Flowers In The Attic”) and Julia Roberts (“The Normal Heart”).
“I felt so honored to have been asked to come aboard and play a woman whose mystique and influence continues to this day,” said Bassett, in a statement issued through FX. “It was a dream of a story, a hell of a role and then to top it off with Jessica and Kathy! Marie Laveau has been one of the most deliciously rewarding characters of my career, thanks to the brilliance of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk.”
Said Bates: “My heartfelt thanks go out to our hard working crew who made this amazing season of American Horror Story possible.”
Harrelson and McConaughey join Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Kevin Spacey (“House of Cards”), Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) and Jeff Daniels (“the Newsroom”) in their acting category.
“I am honored to be nominated with such a talented field of actors,” McConaughey said in a statement issued by HBO. “This is a tremendous category filled with some riveting performances. Thank you for this recognition.”