(From left) Brian Cox, Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin attend a promotional event for Succession season 3. Photo: IC

HBO's Succession topped 2022's Emmy nominations, earning 25 nods on Tuesday, as Squid Game became the first non-English-language drama series shortlisted for glory for television's equivalent of the Oscars.

Succession, which follows a rich, powerful family vying to inherit a media empire, led the drama nominees, while Ted Lasso and The White Lotus topped the comedy and limited series categories with 20 nominations each. 

Two other comedies - HBO's Hacks and Hulu's Only Murders in the Building - each racked up 17 nominations for the 74th Emmy Awards, to be handed out at a glitzy ceremony in Los Angeles on September 12.

"With production at a historic high, the Academy has received a record number of Emmy submissions this season," said Television Academy CEO Frank Scherma, praising "this platinum age of television."

Television productions have ramped back up, after being shuttered or scaled back in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Succession will compete for best drama with Squid Game, a violent South Korean satire in which society's marginalized compete for cash in fatal versions of children's games - and Netflix's most-watched series ever.

Squid Game also picked up multiple acting nominations, including best lead actor for Lee Jung-jae, to earn 14 nods in total.

The groundbreaking show is hoping to follow in the footsteps of South Korean film Parasite.

Others in the running for the best drama Emmy include Euphoria, Ozark, Better Call Saul and Stranger Things.

Succession stars Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong will compete with Lee for best actor in a drama series, while former Oscar winner Adrien Brody earned a guest actor nomination.

"I am a huge fan of Succession and am beyond thrilled to have been included in such an extraordinary show," said Brody of the series, which already won best drama in 2020 with its second season.

Euphoria star and past winner Zendaya, 25, became the youngest acting nominee to be shortlisted twice, for best actress in a drama - a category in which The Morning Show actress Jennifer Aniston missed out to co-star Reese Witherspoon.

HBO - and its streaming platform HBO Max - won the network nominations battle, earning a combined 140 nominations compared to Netflix's 105.

In the comedy categories, past winners Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso), Bill Hader (Barry) and Donald Glover (Atlanta) will battle it out for best actor, as will Jean Smart (Hacks) and Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs Maisel) for best actress.

Selena Gomez missed out on an acting nomination for Only Murders in the Building - even though her male co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short earned nods.

But she still made history as the second ever Latina nominated as a producer in the category.

Abbott Elementary, ABC's school-based mockumentary, earned seven nods including acting, writing and comedy series nominations for creator Quinta Brunson.

"Crying shaking and throwing up has new meaning to me because I real life did all three," Brunson tweeted. 

In the limited series categories, The White Lotus scored eight acting nominations for an ensemble cast including Jennifer Coolidge and Murray Bartlett.