Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood in House of Cards.

Television favourites of seasons past such as Mad Men and Homeland lost out to new, edgy shows like Masters of Sex and House of Cards in the Golden Globes nominations announced on Thursday, as voters seek out TV’s next big thing.

In the category of best TV dramas, Netflix’s political thriller House of Cards and Showtime’s racy sex history series Masters of Sex will take on AMC’s gritty drug drama Breaking Bad, PBS’s British period series Downton Abbey and CBS’s law and corruption yarn The Good Wife.

Showtime’s domestic terror drama Homeland, which won Golden Globes for best TV drama for the past two years, failed to garner a single nomination. Other past favourites such as AMC’s advertising drama Mad Men and HBO’s epic fantasy Game of Thrones were also pushed aside for new shows.

“It’s the job of the people in the industry to try and prepare people for the next generation of shows, and make sure something strong is on the upwards escalator, so I welcome the new shows in the category,” Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes said in an interview.

Past comedy favourites including NBC shows The Office and 30 Rock, both of which concluded this year, also failed to win any nods on Thursday. In this year’s nominations for best comedy/musical TV series, new Fox cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine will compete against CBS’s The Big Bang Theory, ABC’s Modern Family, HBO’s Girls and NBC’s Parks and Recreation.

Online streaming platform Netflix barged in this year with its first forays into original programming

The Golden Globes, voted for by the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are one of Hollywood’s top honours for film and television, and winners will be announced at a televised ceremony in Beverly Hills on January 12.

Online streaming platform Netflix barged in this year with its first forays into original programming: House of Cards snagged four nominations, while female prison drama Orange is the New Black and comedy Arrested Development picked up a nomination each.

A surprise entry into the mix was premium cable channel Starz, which had two shows vying for honours in the TV miniseries/movie categories, landing a network record of six nominations.

Starz received nominations for Dancing on the Edge, a BBC drama about a black jazz band in 1930s London, and The White Queen, a medieval period piece co-produced by the BBC and Starz. They will challenge HBO’s Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra, Sundance Channel’s New Zealand thriller Top of the Lake and FX Networks’ American Horror Story: Coven for best miniseries/movie.

“The wealth is spread around more than it was before. Starz’s significant nominations are clearly a reflection of the network’s desire to support and produce quality drama,” said Colin Callender, executive producer of Dancing on the Edge and The White Queen.

Newcomers and new roles also shook up the acting categories in the TV race on Thursday.

Orphan Black actress Tatiana Maslany, Orange is the New Black lead actress Taylor Schilling, Scandal actress Kerry Washington and House of Cards actress Robin Wright will compete in the best TV drama actress category alongside previous Globe winner Julianna Margulies for The Good Wife. This is the fifth time Margulies has been nominated in the category for her role as a wife and litigator in the CBS show.

“The Globes have always done a great job of honouring people first. They always look out for new shows, and if not new talent, then talent in new roles,” James Hibberd, senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, said.

In the race for best actor in a TV drama, the only returning nominee is Bryan Cranston for his role as school teacher turned meth dealer Walter White in AMC’s Breaking Bad, which concluded after five seasons amid great hype in September.

Cranston, a favourite to win the category, will be up against Liev Schreiber for Showtime’s Ray Donovan, Michael Sheen for Masters of Sex, Kevin Spacey for House of Cards and James Spader for NBC’s The Blacklist.

New roles also feature in the best comedy TV actor race, as Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andy Samberg, Michael J. Fox from The Michael J. Fox Show and Jason Bateman from Arrested Development, take on previous Globe winners, Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory and House of Lies star Don Cheadle.

The best comedy TV actress race comprises previous nominees and winners, with Zooey Deschanel from New Girl battling Lena Dunham from Girls, Nurse Jackie star Edie Falco, Veep actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Amy Poehler from Parks and Recreation.

Poehler will host the awards ceremony with Tina Fey for the second year in a row.