Netflix surpasses HBO but 'Game of Thrones' still leads Emmys 2018 nominationsJuly 12 (AZINS) HBO's medieval fantasy series Game of Thrones led nominations on Thursday for the Emmy awards, the highest honours in television.

Games of Thrones got 22 nods, including for the top prize of best drama series, followed by NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live and HBO's sci-fi series Westworld with 21 nominations each, and Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale with 20.

Streaming service Netflix had the most nominations, at 112, followed by HBO with 108. NBC had 78 nods.

The Emmy awards will be handed out at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sept. 17 hosted by Saturday Night Live cast members Michael Che and Colin Jost.

Game of Thrones will compete for best drama with last year's Emmy champion, dystopian tale The Handmaid's Tale, supernatural series Stranger Things for Netflix, British royal series The Crown, NBC's family drama This Is Us, Cold War spy series The Americans on FX and Westworld.

Game of Thrones was out of the running in 2017 because the show aired later than usual.

In the comedy categories, hip-hop-themed FX show Atlanta is up against Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, ABC's black-ish, female wrestling show GLOW, Curb Your Enthusiasm, quirky comedy Barry, tech comedy Silicon Valley and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Perennial Emmy favourite comedy Veep is out of this year's race because of a production delay caused by the cancer treatment of star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has won best comedy actress six years in a row.

FX's true crime dramatization The Assassination of Gianni Versace, led the booming limited category with 18 nominations, including a best actor nod for Darren Criss who plays the killer of the Italian fashion designer.