Will politics, social issues influence Emmy Awards outcome?

Will HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “Veep” repeat for best drama and best comedy?

Viewers can expect a far more diverse night than the Oscars offered seven months ago, with shows like The People v. O.J. Simpson, Black-ish, Mr. Robot, Confirmation, and Master of None, as well as their performers, up for awards.

“Like Robin Wright, her co-star Kevin Spacey has never won an Emmy, but now he has decent odds to break through – 7/2”.

The show has bagged 22 nominations at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards – that’s just one short of Game of Thrones.

New voting rules helped secure their victories.

Maybe a lot, if TV academy voters favored shows plugged into modern anxiety when they cast ballots for Sunday’s Emmy Awards. Network shows that once dominated the awards have been reduced largely to onlookers, especially in the top drama series category where they’ve been shut out of the nominations since a nod for “The Good Wife” in 2011.

Though the Emmys are usually numbingly predictable, two categories seem very much up for grabs, and they are big ones: best actor and best actress in a drama. She won the Emmy on her 17th try for best comedy series guest actress alongside Tina Fey for their stint hosting the Christmas episode of “Saturday Night Live”.

The best actor category – in which the prize went a year ago to Jon Hamm, whose Don Draper character in “Mad Men” is now retired – is wide open.

Who will win: Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot” – It would be a surprise if Malek as the cyber-security engineer and vigilante hacker takes home the trophy, but he and his United States of America cable show are well-loved by critics and fans alike. Ironically, the revered Marshall never actually won an Emmy.

It’s that time of year again!

Nominees: Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones; Lena Headey, Game of Thrones; Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey; Maura Tierney, The Affair; Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones; Constance Zimmer, UnREAL. It’s also the coolest category. The show will be too long; someone you love will be left out of the in-memoriam segment;, and someone you hate will win an Emmy. It took home the award past year and looks like it might repeat the same in 2016.

The Daily Show ended its historic run with one final Emmy previous year, and as far as outstanding variety talk series go, we’d love to see John Oliver’s heir apparent Last Week Tonight carry the torch.

Jimmy Kimmel’s preparation for the Emmy awards is in full swing.

While Silicon Valley also has a nomination for best comedy series, it’s competing against Veep, which will try to defend its crown from past year.

Th FX series Fargo, which is shot in Calgary, received 18 nominations, some of which included Canadians who work on the show.

I know I ask this every year but. the Creative Arts Emmys? The biggest this year came from the same network – the CW.

Previous year the big comedy award went to HBO’s Veep. The Emmys? There’s been something closer to silence.

This year, ABC, Fox and CBS earned fewer nominations than in 2015, while NBC was flat with 41. Eastern or even the awards themselves.

For each of the last three years, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon have been getting close to breaking through at the Emmys.

Thomas Middleditch, who hails from Nelson, B.C., and plays the bumbling but brilliant head of a startup company on the hilarious HBO series Silicon Valley, is up for outstanding lead actor in a comedy.