My Thoughts on the Emmy Nomination Snubs

The Emmy nominations were announced Thursday morning, and boy do I have thoughts and opinions. I just have to keep reminding myself about the intricacies of the Emmy's nominations and the Academy of the Television Arts and Sciences. One of my favorite people to follow on Twitter, Todd VanDerWerff, wrote a great article about the nominations process. (Side note: he just started a new position at Vox, before this he was at the A.V. Club and I read every review he wrote about The Americans when I binged on season 2 last month. I would watch an episode, read the recap he wrote with Genevieve Koski, watch the next episode, read that recap, repeat. It really enhanced my binging.)

My takeaway from the nominations:

The Americans, The Good Wife and Scandal were all snubbed in the drama categories (I don't watch Orphan Black) and network comedies might never be able to gain a strong foothold in their categories again.

The one glimmer of hope for The Good Wife is that they did garner some individual nominations. Julianna Margulies was nominated for best actress in a drama; Josh Charles, best supporting actor in a drama and Christine Baranski for best supporting actress in a drama. It is a shame the show overall wasn't recognized - especially with such a strong, large, cast.

The Americans didn't fare nearly as well. Despite the fact their second season was strong from start to finish and Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys acted their asses off, they got a meager consolation nomination for Margo Martindale for best guest actress in a drama. Sure, she deserves that, but to not even been nominated for a technical award - writing, costumes, sound - must hurt. 

Then finally there is Scandal. Kerry Washington 100% deserves a nomination as best lead actress in a drama, as she has embodied a woman many try to emulate (just think about how "it's handled" has become a touchstone phrase in the social media lexicon. 

The Academy might not appreciate you
but we do, Bellamy. 

Bellamy Young deserved that nomination for best supporting actress in a drama so much, I think Twitter might cast a new Emmy just to give her. The way she captures Mellie, the villainous First Lady who is the wedge in Fitz and Olivia's relationship, is just phenomenal. One episode, she's drunk and bitter and you hate (but love) her, the next, she's vulnerable and her emotion's raw and your heart breaks for her.

Despite a strong 22-episode season, it's not a total surprise Scandal was not nominated for best drama. It's on a network. It can't have it's characters fly through the book of swears, or show the aftermath of a gore-y shootout. The idea of a show like Masters of Sex being picked up by a network like ABC is frankly, laughable. 

Network's have it tough now. There's more competition now than ever before - and they are getting the short end of the stick by being relegated to the tame and censored shows that appeal to the masses. Cable, premium and online content are constrained by those terms. They can have as much niche programming as they want and reap the benefits come awards season.

It's also just flat out hard. It is hard to narrow it down to five-six nominees in every category. You could wax poetic about the saturation of television - no longer is there network stations and the occasional HBO nomination, there's HBO and Showtime, FX, PBS, Netflix, mini-series and TV movies, the list won't end. 

But in the end, we must remember that those voting on the nominations - and ultimately, the winners - are a small fraction of the audience these shows command. The Mindy Project might not win an award for best comedy (though it should - season 2 was insanely good) but I will still tune in weekly.