This year's 66th Emmy awards nominations have just been announced and HBO scored the most number of awards.

Their new series True Detective and Game of Thrones have both been nominated in major categories.

HBO made news when they decided to submit True Detective as a drama rather than a mini-series. The drama category is deemed more competitive, with shows such as Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, House of Cards, Mad Men and Game of Thrones contending there.

"Nic [Pizzolatto] pitched an anthology series, we marketed it as an anthology series and we think about it as an anthology series," explained HBO President Michael Lombardo at the Television Critics Association press conference.

The show's creator Pizzolatto had this to say about HBO's daring gamble to switch True Detective from miniseries to drama, "[It] was HBO's decision and it underscored their passion and enthusiasm for the show."

All in all, True Detective has 12 nominations, including all the major categories that they are eligible for: best drama series, best lead actor and actress, best writing, best directing, and best casting.

Both True Detective stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are nominated for best lead actor.

The success of the show owes a lot to Pizzolatto, who got all the right people to work on it. He chose director Cary Fukunaga for the series, and got in touch with McConaughey to star in his detective drama. The actor loved the idea of the story so much that he persuaded Harrelson to do the show with him.

True Detective has since been successful, creating a good following among viewers and keeping them on the edge of their seats about any news for season 2.

"We aren't keeping secrets, there's just empty rumors out there," says Pizzolatto.

The 66th Emmy Awards will be held on Monday, August 25, 2014. It will be hosted for the first time by comedian and talk show host Seth Myers.