The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2015, until May 31, 2016, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 18, 2016, at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California, where 27 awards were presented, and was broadcast in the U.S. by ABC. The ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. It was preceded by the 68th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which took place over two nights, September 10 and 11, at the Microsoft Theater.
The nominations were announced by Anthony Anderson and Lauren Graham on July 14, 2016. The crime anthology limited series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story was the most nominated program at the ceremony with 13, and 22 overall, although Game of Thrones received the most overall nominations that year with 23 as the most nominated drama series.
With five awards, The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story won the most awards of the night, while the fantasy drama series Game of Thrones won three, including Outstanding Drama Series and surpassed Frasier (37) as the fictional television program with the most Primetime Emmy Awards with 38 wins in six seasons. Game of Thrones win was also the second time a sixth season of any show had won the Outstanding Drama Series award after fellow HBO show, The Sopranos Sixth season had won it in 2007.
Additionally, the political satire series Veep won Outstanding Comedy Series for the second time in a row, while its producer and lead star Julia Louis-Dreyfus established a new record of wins for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series; it was her fifth consecutive win for the series, sixth overall in the category and her seventh overall win as an actor.
For the first time, none of the nominees for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series were from the four major American broadcasting TV networks. In addition, Ben Mendelsohn became the first actor to win Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for a series from a streaming service network; he won for Bloodline from Netflix.
This is the first and, as of 2020, the only ceremony where no network received more than one nomination in the Drama Series category. That feat occurred for the first in the Comedy Series category in 2023.
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡). For simplicity, producers who received nominations for program awards have been omitted.
Programs + Veep (HBO) Black-ish (ABC) Master of None (Netflix) Modern Family (ABC) Silicon Valley (HBO) Transparent (Amazon) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) Game of Thrones (HBO) The Americans (FX) Better Call Saul (AMC) Downton Abbey (PBS) Homeland (Showtime) House of Cards (Netflix) Mr. Robot (USA) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (Crackle) Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS) Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Key & Peele (Comedy Central) Documentary Now! (IFC) Drunk History (Comedy Central) Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central) Portlandia (IFC) Saturday Night Live (NBC) The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (FX) American Crime (ABC) Fargo (FX) The Night Manager (AMC) Roots (History) Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (PBS) All the Way (HBO) Confirmation (HBO) Luther (BBC America) A Very Murray Christmas (Netflix) The Voice (NBC) The Amazing Race (CBS) American Ninja Warrior (NBC) Dancing with the Stars (ABC) Project Runway (Lifetime) Top Chef (Bravo)
Acting
Lead performances + Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent as Maura Pfefferman (Amazon) Anthony Anderson – Black-ish as Andre "Dre" Johnson Sr. (ABC) Aziz Ansari – Master of None as Dev Shah (Netflix) Will Forte – The Last Man on Earth as Phil "Tandy" Miller (Fox) William H. Macy – Shameless as Frank Gallagher (Showtime) Thomas Middleditch – Silicon Valley as Richard Hendricks (HBO) Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep as President Selina Meyer (HBO) Ellie Kemper – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) Laurie Metcalf – Getting On as Dr. Jenna James (HBO) Tracee Ellis Ross – Black-ish as Dr. Rainbow "Bow" Johnson (ABC) Amy Schumer – Inside Amy Schumer as Amy (Comedy Central) Lily Tomlin – Grace and Frankie as Frankie Bergstein (Netflix) Rami Malek – Mr. Robot as Elliot Alderson (USA) Kyle Chandler – Bloodline as John Rayburn (Netflix) Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul as Jimmy McGill (AMC) Matthew Rhys – The Americans as Philip Jennings (FX) Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan as Ray Donovan (Showtime) Kevin Spacey – House of Cards as President Frank Underwood (Netflix) Tatiana Maslany – Orphan Black as various characters (BBC America) Claire Danes – Homeland as Carrie Mathison (Showtime) Viola Davis – How to Get Away with Murder as Prof. Annalise Keating (ABC) Taraji P. Henson – Empire as Cookie Lyon (Fox) Keri Russell – The Americans as Elizabeth Jennings (FX) Robin Wright – House of Cards as First Lady Claire Underwood (Netflix) Courtney B. Vance – The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story as Johnnie Cochran (FX) Bryan Cranston – All the Way as President Lyndon B. Johnson (HBO) Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock: The Abominable Bride as Sherlock Holmes (PBS) Idris Elba – Luther as DCI John Luther (BBC America) Cuba Gooding Jr. – The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story as O. J. Simpson (FX) Tom Hiddleston – The Night Manager as Jonathan Pine (AMC) Sarah Paulson – The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story as Marcia Clark (FX) Kirsten Dunst – Fargo as Peggy Blumquist (FX) Felicity Huffman – American Crime as Leslie Graham (ABC) Audra McDonald – Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill as Billie Holiday (HBO) Lili Taylor – American Crime as Anne Blaine (ABC) Kerry Washington – Confirmation as Anita Hill (HBO)
Supporting performances + Louie Anderson – Baskets as Christine Baskets (FX) Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Captain Ray Holt (Fox) Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Titus Andromedon (Netflix) Ty Burrell – Modern Family as Phil Dunphy (ABC) Tony Hale – Veep as Gary Walsh (HBO) Keegan-Michael Key – Key & Peele as various characters (Comedy Central) Matt Walsh – Veep as Mike McLintock (HBO) Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC) Anna Chlumsky – Veep as Amy Brookheimer (HBO) Gaby Hoffmann – Transparent as Alexandria "Ali" Pfefferman (Amazon) Allison Janney – Mom as Bonnie Plunkett (CBS) Judith Light – Transparent as Shelly Pfefferman (Amazon) Niecy Nash – Getting On as Denise "DiDi" Ortley (HBO) Ben Mendelsohn – Bloodline as Danny Rayburn (Netflix) Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul as Mike Ehrmantraut (AMC) Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones as Tyrion Lannister (HBO) Kit Harington – Game of Thrones as Jon Snow (HBO) Michael Kelly – House of Cards as Doug Stamper (Netflix) Jon Voight – Ray Donovan as Mickey Donovan (Showtime) Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (PBS) Emilia Clarke – Game of Thrones as Daenerys Targaryen (HBO) Lena Headey – Game of Thrones as Cersei Lannister (HBO) Maura Tierney – The Affair as Helen Solloway (Showtime) Maisie Williams – Game of Thrones as Arya Stark (HBO) Constance Zimmer – UnREAL as Quinn King (Lifetime) Sterling K. Brown – The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story as Christopher Darden (FX) Hugh Laurie – The Night Manager as Richard Onslow Roper (AMC) Jesse Plemons – Fargo as Ed Blumquist (FX) David Schwimmer – The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story as Robert Kardashian (FX) John Travolta – The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story as Robert Shapiro (FX) Bokeem Woodbine – Fargo as Mike Milligan (FX) Regina King – American Crime as Terri LaCroix (ABC) Kathy Bates – American Horror Story: Hotel as Iris (FX) Olivia Colman – The Night Manager as Angela Burr (AMC) Melissa Leo – All the Way as Lady Bird Johnson (HBO) Sarah Paulson – American Horror Story: Hotel as Sally McKenna (FX) Jean Smart – Fargo as Floyd Gerhardt (FX)
Directing + Transparent: "Man on the Land" – Joey Soloway (Amazon) Master of None: "Parents" – Aziz Ansari (Netflix) Silicon Valley: "Daily Active Users" – Alec Berg (HBO) Silicon Valley: "Founder Friendly" – Mike Judge (HBO) Veep: "Kissing Your Sister" – David Mandel (HBO) Veep: "Morning After" – Chris Addison (HBO) Veep: "Mother" – Dale Stern (HBO) Game of Thrones: "Battle of the Bastards" – Miguel Sapochnik (HBO) Downton Abbey: "Episode Nine" – Michael Engler (PBS) Game of Thrones: "The Door" – Jack Bender (HBO) Homeland: "The Tradition of Hospitality" – Lesli Linka Glatter (Showtime) The Knick: "This Is All We Are" – Steven Soderbergh (Cinemax) Ray Donovan: "Exsuscito" – David Hollander (Showtime) Grease: Live – Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski (Fox) 58th Grammy Awards – Louis J. Horvitz (CBS) Adele Live in New York City – Beth McCarthy-Miller (NBC) Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo – Chris Rock (HBO) The Kennedy Center Honors – Glenn Weiss (CBS) Lemonade – Kahlil Joseph and Beyoncé Knowles Carter (HBO) The Night Manager – Susanne Bier (AMC) All the Way – Jay Roach (HBO) Fargo: "Before the Law" – Noah Hawley (FX) The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story: "From the Ashes of Tragedy" – Ryan Murphy (FX) The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story: "Manna from Heaven" – Anthony Hemingway (FX) The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story: "The Race Card" – John Singleton (FX)
Writing + Master of None: "Parents" – Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang (Netflix) Catastrophe: "Episode 1" – Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan (Amazon) Silicon Valley: "Founder Friendly" – Dan O'Keefe (HBO) Silicon Valley: "The Uptick" – Alec Berg (HBO) Veep: "Morning After" – David Mandel (HBO) Veep: "Mother" – Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck (HBO) Game of Thrones: "Battle of the Bastards" – David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (HBO) The Americans: "Persona Non Grata" – Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg (FX) Downton Abbey: "Episode Eight" – Julian Fellowes (PBS) The Good Wife: "End" – Robert King and Michelle King (CBS) Mr. Robot: "eps1.0 hellofriend.mov" – Sam Esmail (USA) UnREAL: "Return" – Marti Noxon and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (Lifetime) Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping – Patton Oswalt (Netflix) Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo – Amy Schumer (HBO) John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid – John Mulaney (Netflix) Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted – Tig Notaro (HBO) Triumph's Election Special 2016 (Hulu) The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story: "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" – D. V. DeVincentis (FX) Fargo: "Loplop" – Bob DeLaurentis (FX) Fargo: "Palindrome" – Noah Hawley (FX) The Night Manager – David Farr (AMC) The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story: "From the Ashes of Tragedy" – Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (FX) The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story: "The Race Card" – Joe Robert Cole (FX)
Most major nominations + Networks with multiple major nominations"Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. Network No. ofNominations HBO 40 FX 28 Netflix 17 ABC 12 AMC 9 Showtime 8 Amazon6 CBS NBC PBS Comedy Central 5 Fox 4 BBC America3 Lifetime USA