Factbox: Nominees in key categories react to receiving Emmy nods

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nominees for the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards, television's highest honors, were announced by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on Thursday. The Emmy winners will be announced at a ceremony on Sept. 18 in Los Angeles. The following are reactions from some nominees. Aziz Ansari, nominated for three Emmys including best comedy actor and writer for his Netflix comedy "Master of None," said in a statement: “I'm bummed the medium sized dragon in Game of Thrones got snubbed in Best Supporting, but happy to see Master of None and our entire team get acknowledged. We are thrilled!” Bryan Cranston, best actor nominee for HBO movie "All The Way," said in a statement: ‘Yeehaa! As LBJ would have responded to hearing about the Emmy nominations for All The Way this morning. I am thrilled that this important story was recognized in so many areas. It was indeed a team effort. Especially delighted that my production company Moonshot Entertainment, received its first Emmy nomination. Thank you to all the artisans who made it possible for us to go all the way.” Liev Schreiber, best actor nominee for Showtime drama "Ray Donovan," said in an Instagram post: "Big love to the academy and my amazing cast and crew. Feels great to be acknowledged by my peers!" Bob Odenkirk, best actor nominee for AMC drama "Better Call Saul," said in a statement: "Wow! I am blown away! I am surrounded by excellence on 'Better Call Saul' and to be picked out of that line-up is a crazy honor." Julian Fellowes, creator and writer of PBS drama "Downton Abbey," which earned 10 nominations on Thursday for its final season, told Reuters by phone: "Your fear with a long running series is that you're going to kind of run out of puff and we were anxious to leave when people were sorry to see us go. And I feel that this is a recognition of the fact that we were able to keep at full pace until the end." Anthony Anderson was reading out names of Emmy nominees with actress Lauren Graham when she announced his best acting nod for ABC comedy "black-ish," prompting Anderson to yell out in joy. "Hi, mama! I know you're watching," Anderson said on the live broadcast. Thomas Middleditch, best actor nominee for HBO comedy "Silicon Valley," said on Twitter: "When I saw the amount of missed calls this morning I thought something terrible had happened. Phew. I'll take the Emmy nom instead." Ellie Kemper, best actress nominee for Netflix comedy "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," said in a statement: "I am in debt not only to the Television Academy, Netflix and Universal, but also to Tina Fey and Robert Carlock for creating this show in the first place. And by the way, with this nomination, I've already won ... a complimentary round-trip flight to Los Angeles, plus accommodations!" Courtney B. Vance, best actor nominee for the FX limited series "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story," said on Instagram: "It was an opportunity of a lifetime to work with such a dream cast and to portray a man like Johnnie Cochran. To receive an Emmy nomination today is the continuation of this phenomenal journey and is indeed a true blessing and honor." Felicity Huffman, best actress nominee for ABC's limited drama series "American Crime," posted a photo on Twitter of herself hugging her daughter. "My daughter telling me the #Emmys news! We hugged and then did a dance of joy," Huffman wrote. Lili Taylor, best actress nominee for ABC's limited drama series "American Crime," said in a statement: "I am over the moon to hear about the nomination this morning and to be included in such a great list of nominees this year." James Corden, host of CBS' "The Late Late Show" which was nominated for best variety talk series, posted a photo on Twitter of his show listed among the nominees, along with the caption, "Oh. My. God..." (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis, editing by G Crosse and Diane Craft)