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Washington Shows Sweep the 2012 Emmy Nominations

“Game Change,” “Homeland,” and “Veep” scored 24 nominations total.

Showtime’s Homeland scored nine Emmy nominations, the most for any freshman show. Image courtesy of Showtime.

Judging by yesterday’s Emmy nominations, the love affair between television and Washington
won’t be faltering anytime soon. The last year alone saw the debut of four new Washington
shows (remember the ill-fated
The Firm?), and two of them scored big, with Showtime’s
Homeland receiving nine nominations—the most for a freshman show this year. HBO’s
Veep picked up three nods, including two of the most important: Outstanding Comedy Series
and Outstanding Lead Actress for
Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer. The oft-overlooked Kennedy Center Honors got four nods this year*.

The biggest winner of the day, though, was
Game Change, HBO’s adaptation of
John Heilemann and
Mark Halperin’s best-selling book about the 2008 presidential campaign, which received 12 nominations
in total. Written by
Danny Strong and co-produced by
Tom Hanks, the 90-minute movie focused solely on the book’s McCain-Palin chapters, with stellar
performances by
Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin,
Ed Harris as John McCain, and
Woody Harrelson as Steve Schmidt (all three scored Emmy nominations, as did
Sarah Paulson for her role as
Nicolle Wallace).

It’s worth noting, however, that despite having a writing team that includes
Armando Iannucci,
Simon Blackwell, and
Tony Roche,
Veep didn’t receive a nomination in the Writing for a Comedy Series category (but hey,
it had to compete with
Girls, Parks and Recreation, and
Louie). Both
Homeland and
Veep have been picked up for a second season, and
Homeland returns to Showtime in the fall.

What does this mean for TV? Presumably that we’ll see a flood of yet more Washington
shows go into development. USA currently has
Political Animals, about a female Secretary of State who’s not at all dissimilar to Hillary Clinton,
while ABC has
Scandal.
David Fincher and
Kevin Spacey are currently hard at work on Netflix’s new Washington show,
House of Cards. Despite the fact that none of these shows are actually filmed here, it’ll be interesting
to see what kind of new Washington shows appear in 2013 and beyond—and how many of
them are filmed in Baltimore.

Our list of the nominations for Washington shows is below. For a full list of nominees,
go to emmys.tv.

Outstanding Comedy Series:
Veep

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus in
Veep

Outstanding Drama Series:
Homeland

Outstanding Variety Special: The Kennedy Center Honors

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special: The Kennedy Center Honors

Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Claire Danes in
Homeland

Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Damian Lewis in
Homeland

Outstanding Miniseries or Movie:
Game Change

Lead Actress in a Miniseries: Julianne Moore in
Game Change

Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Woody Harrelson in
Game Change

Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Sarah Paulson in
Game Change

Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Ed Harris in
Game Change

Directing for a Drama series: Michael Cuesta for
Homeland

Writing for a Drama Series: Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, and Gideon Raff for
Homeland

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: Jay Roach for
Game Change

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: Danny Strong for
Game Change

Casting for a Comedy Series: Allison Jones, Pat Moran, and Jennifer Euston for
Veep

Casting for a Drama Series: Junie Lowry Johnson, Libby Goldstein, Judy Henderson,
Craig Fincannon, and Lisa Mae Fincannon for
Homeland

Casting for Miniseries, Movie, or a Special: David Rubin, Richard Hicks, Pat Moran,
and Kathleen Chopin for
Game Change

Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie: Jim Denault, ASC, for
Game Change

Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series: Jordan Goldman and David Latham,

Homeland

Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or Movie: Lucia Zucchetti, A.C.E.,
for
Game Change

Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: Theodore Shapiro for

Game Change

Music Direction: Rob Berman and Rob Mathes for the Kennedy Center Honors

Original Main Title Theme Music: Sean Callery for
Homeland

Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour): Larry Long, Nello Torri, Alan
Decker, and Larold Rebhun for
Homeland

Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or Movie: David MacMillan, Leslie Shatz, and Gabriel
J. Serrano for
Game Change

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Miniseries, Movie, or  Special: The Kennedy Center Honors

*This post has been updated from a previous version.