The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards nominations were announced this morning by Aaron Paul, Neil Patrick Harris and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chairman/CEO Bruce Rosenblum at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood, CA. The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards telecast will air live on Sunday, September 22nd (8 PM ET/5 PM PT) on CBS from the NOKIA Theater L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

Here are the major nominees:

Outstanding Drama Series

Breaking Bad • AMC • Sony Pictures Television

Downton Abbey • PBS • A Carnival / Masterpiece Co-Production

Game Of Thrones • HBO • Bighead, Littlehead, TV 360, Startling TV and Generator Prodns with HBO Ent

Homeland • Showtime • Showtime Presents, Teakwood Lane Prods, Cherry Pie Prods, Keshet, Fox 21

House Of Cards • Netflix • Donen/Fincher/Roth and Trigger Street Prods with Media Rights Capital for Netflix

Mad Men • AMC • Lionsgate Television

When we first heard about Showtime’s drama Homeland we have to admit we were a tiny bit skeptical. The truth is we had a bit of a hard time imagining Claire Danes as a CIA analyst gone rogue.

Fortunately, after watching the first few minutes of the first episode, we realized how wrong we were. She kills it, as do the rest of the cast, writers and everyone involved in this excellent show. Soon, the award-winning Homeland will be back for a second season and Showtime has released a new teaser for that season to help get you excited for it.

In it we see the return of our favorite cast members: Claire Danes is back in action, this time both as a blonde and a brunette, joined by Damian Lewis and Mandy Patinkin. Looks awesome and we cant’t wait.

Homeland season 2 premieres September 30th on Showtime. Click through for the video.

In the wee hours of the morning (on the west coast anyway), the nominations for the 2012 Primetime Emmy’s were announced. As usual the list included some happy surprises, some ludicrous choices and even a few head scratchers.

The Flickcast favorites Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad both got some solid recognition in the Drama categories, while some of our Comedy favs, Community and Parks & Recreation, got snubbed for the most part.

Not listed in the main nominations list, because it is oddly not apart of the main Emmy broadcast, was the Outstanding Animated Series category. Both Bob’s Burgers and American Dad shockingly were recognized for their awesomeness, but the incumbent Futurama should be the odds on favorite to win. Oddly South Park, who lately have dominated this category, is absent.

Speaking of incumbent winners who extra-deserve the award again this year, Peter Dinklage thankfully was recognized for the second year in a row. In season one he was a bad ass, in season two he was downright epic. If there is any justice he becomes a two-time winner in September.

Check out the full list of nominees after the jump, and be sure to hop on the comments and register your biggest snubs and surprises!

In an effort to raise awareness, NBC’s Awake is the latest series pilot to be put online ahead of the series premiere to drum up interest. In a part of a growing trend, the opening episode of the parallel universe drama starring Jason Isaacs is being made available 2 weeks before the series’ premiere on March 1.

This comes one day after the network put out the first seven minutes of the mid-season replacement series. The show is created by Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and also executive produced by Howard Gordon (24, Homeland).

A similar tactic was used for Smash, which premiered Feb. 6 to 11.4 million total viewers and a 3.8 rating following The Voice. NBC released the first episode for the “making of a Broadway musical” show beginning Jan. 16 via digital platforms, three weeks before it launched. The network also screened the pilot in select cities.

Awake makes its way to the small screen Thursday, March 1 at 10 p.m., taking over the slot previously occupied by Prime Suspect and The Firm, the latter now airing on Saturdays.

Awake centers on police detective Michael Britten (Isaacs) who finds himself living in two realities after a brutal car accident, one where his wife Hannah (Laura Allen) is alive and the other where his son Rex (Dylan Minnette) is.

Watch the full pilot after the jump.

When you’ve spent so much time being a bad guy on TV and then, during a break from your series wearing a dress in a college comedy, what would you want to do next? The answer for actor Michael Rosenbaum who, of course, played the evil and misunderstood Lex Luthor for seven seasons on Smallville, is that he wants to direct.

That’s right, Lex Luthor is now a director and will be helming his first feature film, the drama Old Days. Rosenbaum also wrote and will star in the new project. The lovely and talented Morena Baccarin, who can currently be seen in Homeland on Showtime, has been cast as the female lead.

In the film Rosenbaum plays Jim Owens, a discouraged actor who returns home to Indiana for his 15th high school reunion. Once there he gets into trouble with his friends and rekindles a romance with his high school sweetheart (Baccarin).

The film is scheduled to start shooting on March 5 and will also co-star Sarah Colonna, Harland Williams, Jay Ferguson and Kris Palohu. No word yet on likely distribution for the project but with the names involved and the likelihood of a relatively modest budget, you can bet this one will probably get picked up rather easily.