Years since its first season premiered, "The Americans" finally broke into the major Emma categories.

The critically-acclaimed series is now a leading contender for the Emmy Awards with its five nominations, including outstanding drama. Two of its major stars, Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, have also been nominated for acting honors, and showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg have been nominated for their exceptional writing of "The Americans" season 4 finale.

 "The Americans" season 4's Emmy trailblazer Martindale has also earned his fourth consecutive nomination.

"I dropped my daughter off at a camp. Then I called by wife and said, 'I'm gonna come home to get the bad news.' It's been three years when it's the same, so I figured a fourth seems likely," he said.

Fields was also skeptical about his nomination, but he had mentioned to his wife the possibility of a nomination several times until he found the feed for the final announcement.

"As soon as I saw they were doing it, I thought, 'This is good, it's alphabetical order, and they'll say 'Better Call Saul' and I can move on with my day. I heard it then. I was with the kids, and it couldn't have been a better moment. The phone started buzzing and I heard about Matthew and Keri. It's been quite a great celebration since then," he said.

"The Americans" season 4 is the first FX series to land a drama series nomination since "Damages," so FX Network CEO John Landgraf describes it as "a really big deal."