Big names among nominees for Creative Arts Emmys

Alan Alda, Mel Brooks, Tina Fey, Michael J. Fox and Jon Hamm are among the nominees for Saturday’s Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which will be presented at the Microsoft Theater.

Although most of the ceremony’s categories and areas are in obscure technical categories, such as picture editing, costuming, hairstyling, makeup, lighting and sound, Emmys also will be presented for guest acting and hosting a reality or reality-competition program.

Alda, who won three Emmys for his portrayal of surgeon Hawkeye Pierce on the classic 1972-83 CBS comedy “M.A.S.H.”, received an outstanding guest actor in a drama nomination for his role as a senior member of a criminal syndicate on NBC’s “The Blacklist.”

Fox received his fourth nomination in the category for his portrayal of a ruthless attorney diagnosed with tardive dyskinesia, a condition which causes erratic body movements, on CBS’ “The Good Wife.”

The other nominees are Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham (“Homeland”); Beau Bridges (“Masters of Sex”); Reg E. Cathey, (“House of Cards”); and Pablo Schreiber (“Orange is the New Black”).

Hamm gets the first of three chances in a nine-day span to end his Emmy winless streak today. He was nominated for outstanding guest actor in a comedy for his role as a charismatic kidnapper and founder of an Apocalypse cult on “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” which streams on Netflix.

Hamm is nominated for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for his role as advertising executive Don Draper on AMC’s “Mad Men.” Hamm is also nominated as a producer of “Mad Men,” which received an outstanding drama series nomination.

Both of those awards will be presented Sept. 20 at the Primetime Emmy Awards.

Before this year, Hamm had received 13 Emmy nominations, including 10 times as a performer, never winning.

Brooks, one of 12 people to have won in competitive individual categories in the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tonys, joins Hamm as a nominee for outstanding guest actor in a comedy for portraying himself on the short-lived FX comedy “The Comedians.”

Bill Hader and Louis C.K. were both nominated for hosting NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Although “Saturday Night Live” does not air in prime time, it is eligible for the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which covers programs that initially aired between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m.

The other nominees are Paul Giamatti (“Inside Amy Schumer”) and Bradley Whitford (“Transparent”).

Fey is nominated for outstanding guest actress in a comedy for her portrayal as a less-than-competent prosecutor on “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” which she co-created.

The other nominees are Pamela Adlon (“Louie”); Elizabeth Banks (“Modern Family”); Christine Baranski (“The Big Bang Theory”); Joan Cusack (“Shameless”); and Gaby Hoffmann (“Girls”).

A rule change announced in February changed the definition of guest actor to performers appearing in fewer than 50 percent of a program’s episodes.

All six nominees for outstanding host of a reality or reality- competition program are repeats from last year, including four past winners — 2014 winner Jane Lynch (“Hollywood Game Night”); 2013 winners Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn (“Project Runway”); and 2012 winner Tom Bergeron (“Dancing With The Stars”).

The other nominees are Cat Deeley (“So You Think You Can Dance”) and Anthony Bourdain (“The Taste”).

A+E Networks will receive the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Governors Award in recognition of their corporate social responsibility programs.

A+E Networks has undertaken pro-social initiatives tied in with their programming and led to partnerships with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, March of Dimes, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Stand Up to Cancer and Team Rubicon.

The public service campaigns have advanced a wide range of causes, including drug and alcohol addiction and recovery; women and girls’ empowerment; breast cancer research and advocacy; preservation of historic sites; and issues facing veterans and military families.

The Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honor programming that initially aired from June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2015.

A two-hour edited presentation of the ceremony will be shown at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Sept. 19 on FXX and streamed in its entirety on Emmys.com, Yahoo.com and Fox.com at noon Sept. 20.

—City News Service