The best of television been recognised by the Hollywood Foreign Press Associations following the announcement of today’s nominees.

The acclaimed melodrama Big Little Lies dominates the 2018 contenders with six mentions which include the important Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television category. Leading stars Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon compete in Best Actress in a Mini-Series / Motion Picture with co-stars Alexander Skarsgard, Laura Dern and Shailene Woodley earning nods for their supporting roles.

In the drama groups, The Handmaid’s Tale and This is Us performed well with three mentions apiece and both are up for the coveted Best Television Series (Drama) category which also includes Netflix duo The Crown and Stranger Things plus HBO’s fantasy epic Game of Thrones.

Surprisingly, Thrones failed to land a nomination elsewhere though British star Claire Foy will be looking to land her second successive win in Best Actress (Drama) for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown. However she faces stern competition from category favourite Elisabeth Moss (Handmaid’s Tale) as well as the likes of Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Deuce) and newcomer Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why).

In the Best Actor (Drama) group, British starlet Freddie Highmore will be targeting a win for his role in The Good Doctor and competes against television big guns like Jason Bateman (Ozark), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) and Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan).

The Comedy/Musical line-up sees NBC’s Will and Grace receive its first nominations since 2005 following its successful comeback series this year. The sitcom competes in the main category with Black-ish, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Master of None and SMILF.

Will and Grace’s Eric McCormick is up against the likes of veterans Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) and William H. Macy (Shameless) in Best Actor (C/M) while the surprise absence of Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus means that Best Actress (C/M) will be contested by underrated stars like Pamela Adlon (Better Things), Alison Brie (Glow) and Frankie Shaw (SMILF).

Finally, Big Little Lies’ key challenger in the Mini-Series / Motion Picture made for Television category is the Hollywood biopic Feud: Bette and Joan which has four nominations including acting nods for stars Jessica Lange, Susan Sarandon and Alfred Molina.

Fargo, The Sinner and Top of the Lake: China Girl complete the main group of MS / MP nominees while high-profile names like Robert De Niro (The Wizard of Lies), Jude Law (The Young Pope), Ewan McGregor (Fargo), Jessica Biel (The Sinner) and Michelle Pfieffer (The Wizard of Lies) and all recognised in the acting lineups.

The full list of nominees are below (predicted winners in blue):

BEST TELEVISION SERIES (DRAMA)
THE CROWN
GAME OF THRONES
THE HANDMAID’S TALE
STRANGER THINGS
THIS IS US

BEST PERFORMANCE BY ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES (DRAMA)
Jason Bateman, OZARK
Sterling K. Brown, THIS IS US
Freddie Highmore, THE GOOD DOCTOR
Bob Odenkirk, BETTER CALL SAUL
Liev Schreiber, RAY DONOVAN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES (DRAMA)
Caitriona Balfe, OUTLANDER
Claire Foy, THE CROWN
Maggie Gyllenhaal, THE DEUCE
Katherine Langford, 13 REASONS WHY
Elisabeth Moss, THE HANDMAID’S TALE

BEST TELEVISION SERIES (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
BLACK-ISH
THE MARVELLOUS MRS MAISEL
MASTER OF NONE
SMILF
WILL AND GRACE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Anthony Anderson, BLACK-ISH
Aziz Ansari, MASTER OF NONE
Kevin Bacon, I LOVE DICK
William H. Macy, SHAMELESS
Eric McCormick, WILL AND GRACE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Pamela Adlon, BETTER THINGS
Alison Brie, GLOW
Rachel Brosnahan, THE MARVELLOUS MRS MAISEL
Issa Rae, INSECURE
Frankie Shaw, SMILF

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
BIG LITTLE LIES
FARGO
FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN
THE SINNER
TOP OF THE LAKE: CHINA GIRL

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Robert De Niro, THE WIZARD OF LIES
Jude Law, THE YOUNG POPE
Kyle MacLachlan, TWIN PEAKS
Ewan McGregor, FARGO
Geoffrey Rush, GENIUS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Jessica Biel, THE SINNER
Nicole Kidman, BIG LITTLE LIES
Jessica Lange, FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN
Susan Sarandon, FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN
Reese Witherspoon, BIG LITTLE LIES

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
David Harbour, STRANGER THINGS
Alfred Molina, FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN
Christian Slater, MR ROBOT
Alexander Skarsgard, BIG LITTLE LIES
David Thewlis, FARGO

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Laura Dern, BIG LITTLE LIES
Ann Dowd, THE HANDMAID’S TALE
Chrissy Metz, THIS IS US
Michelle Pfieffer, THE WIZARD OF LIES
Shailene Woodley, BIG LITTLE LIES