Emmy Nominations: Snubs and (Non)Flubs

Chris posted yesterday about his Own Personal Emmys, and while I can get behind most of what he would have nominated, I deal in reality. (The difference, I guess, in being an English Teacher vs. being an Accountant.) Therefore, below are the actual nominations for the 2012 Emmys, along with a little bit of commentary by me.

Drama:
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Downton Abbey (PBS)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Homeland (Showtime)
Mad Men (AMC)

No "traditional" broadcast dramas, three pay cable dramas, two standard cable drams. The shift into cable seems to be complete. I feel like Boardwalk Empire is weirdly underrated, even though it always seems to get a slew of nominations for things. So glad that Homeland replaces Dexter as the Showtime nomination. I can't really argue with any of these being nominated (though I wish the dearly departed Luck or the is-it-a-drama-or-a-comedy Enlightened would have gotten some love, too.)
Who should win: I'm a sucker for  what's new-and-fresh, so I would vote Homeland.
Who will win: Mad Men.


Actress in a Drama Series:
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law (NBC)
Glenn Close, Damages (Audience Network)
Claire Danes, Homeland (Showtime)
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)

LOLZ at Kathy Bates for Harry's Law. You just can't help yourselves, can you, Emmy voters? Glenn Close also fits in the "movie actor gravitating to television" type of nomination (though her interplay with Rose Byrne is the one and only reason to watch Damages anymore.) Can't really argue with the rest of them. Some year, Lorraine Bracco will finally win in her title role for Emmy Justice. (Hat tip to the TV on the Internet podcast.)
Who should win: Claire Danes is so fantastic in Homeland in so many ways that she is clearly deserving, probably even moreso than my vote for the series itself above.
Who will win: Danes, because Homeland won't get the series, but it's gotten enough nominations that it needs to get something. Plus, the Emmys will be praised for voting for someone new, even though Claire Danes actually isn't really new.

Actor in a Drama Series
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
Damian Lewis, Homeland (Showtime)
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

*Sigh*...Michael C. Hall. You don't always have to nominate him when the show has gone down the tubes, Emmys. This is a pretty stacked category now, though, especially with Damian Lewis joining the fold. I'm sure there are lots of snubs here (Timothy Olyphant, for example...) but meh.
Who should win: Jon Hamm is always great on Mad Men, though he never wins because he's often more subtle than his nomination peers. But this should be the year he wins, since he got to do some stuff where he was all crazy-like.
Who will win: My gut says Cranston, but my heart says Hamm.

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife (CBS)
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife (CBS)
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men (AMC)

I love how this category is "AMC stars versus Downton Abbey versus The Good Wife." So little diversity in the nominations. I'm kind of disappointed that none of the other Game of Thrones actresses got a nomination; Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey and Michelle Fairley were all tremendous in season two. But, these are all picks I can't really argue with at all.
Who should win: I'd always go with Anna Gunn, because her character has gotten so much more complex as Breaking Bad has gone on and Gunn has captured all of that tremendously.
Who will win: Thrice-nominated never-won Christina Hendricks has a chance, especially given the Joan-centric episode I would surmise she was submitted for ("The Other Woman"), but here's where Downton Abbey will break through. Give it to the dramatic version of Betty White, Maggie Smith.

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Brendan Coyle, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)
Jared Harris, Mad Men (AMC)

I looove Giancarlo Esposito's nomination here -- a very pleasant surprise. And again, it's basically "AMC vs. Downton Abbey vs. Something Else" -- in this case, the very worth Peter Dinklage is the Something Else. A big snub: Mandy Patinkin for Homeland.
Who should win: As awesome as Esposito was as Gus in season four, Aaron Paul just completely owns Breaking Bad and is every bit an equal to Bryan Cranston. A constantly impressive body of work, which slightly edges Dinklage's scene stealing in Game of Thrones.
Who will win: Tough call, but I predict Dinklage gets the back-to-back Emmys.

Comedy Series:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Girls (HBO)
Modern Family (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Veep (HBO)

This is another example of Emmy voters not knowing when to stop giving a series nominations once it gets in the game. 30 Rock is still a worthwhile show, but it is far surpassed by shows on its own network like Parks and Recreation and Community. Also: Modern Family and Big Bang. (Brigitte gets mad at me when I point out how Modern Family really should be a multi-cam sitcom.)  And no Louie nomination. Sad. But hey! Girls! That's exciting! And Veep! Surprising, but also exciting!
Who should win: Louie, or Parks and Recreation, or Community, but none of them are nominated. So, Girls, the next best thing. Although, the invention of the Car Periscope could be enough to convince me to give the award to Curb. I seriously needed one when I was stuck in traffic yesterday. (And now as it turns out, it was actually invented on Seinfeld. Good reference, Larry David.)
Who will win: Modern Family. Remember the thing about not knowing when to stop giving series nominations? Same applies to series victories.

Actress in a Comedy Series:
Lena Dunham, Girls (HBO)
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly (CBS)
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl (Fox)
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)

Lena Dunham! So great in Girls! Ah! Swoon! Really, all of these actresses are tremendous, so I'm pleased for all of them. The bits of Nurse Jackie I have sampled recently leave me feeling good about Ms. Falco, although she's not really comedic at all in the show (nor, is the show at all comedic. Half hour does not always mean comedy, Emmy voters / networks that submit themselves to those categories.)
Who should win: Amy Poehler, because she is the ray of bright sunshine in an already very sunny show.
Who will win: This seems like a tough one to predict, but I'll go with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, because the Emmys are a club like that.

Actor in a Comedy Series:
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Don Cheadle, House of Lies (Showtime)
Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men (CBS)

Ay-yay-yay, Jon Cryer? To be nice, I'm assuming this is a "we feel bad for you having to work with Charlie Sheen" sympathy nomination. I mean, he's not the reason Two And A Half Men is what it is, but, geeze. I actually enjoy Jim Parsons in Big Bang, which probably doesn't make me the most popular Blogulator member, but popularity be damned! Don Cheadle = rewarding movie actors who make it in television (is House of Lies any good, anybody? It got pretty mixed reviews.)
Who should win: In terms of acting, I don't really think Larry David or Louis C.K. are tremendous actors in the traditional sense, but they are both indispensable to each of their shows. I'll give the edge to Louis C.K. since he has much more range than David.
Who will win: Probably Parsons, again.

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (ABC)
Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Kristin Wiig, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Oof, this is a bit of a rough category. For one, I don't understand why Saturday Night Live keeps getting nominations -- did NBC just recently figure out they could submit actors here? I'm a little tired of Modern Family's schtick, but the actors are all good at what they do. So, yeah.
Who should win: Probably Martha Plimpton for Raising Hope but she's not nominated. So, between Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergera, I go with Bowen.
Who will win: Probably Vergera.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family (ABC)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family (ABC)
Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (ABC)
Max Greenfield, New Girl (ABC)
Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Again, the Modern Family awards, everybody! The biggest snub of all is not including Nick Offerman for Parks And Recreation. This might be the biggest snub that I can think of this year.
Who should win: If we're assuming someone from Family will win, then I'd give it to Eric Stonestreet, who is my favorite part of the show. Ty Burrell used to be until his character became a more cartooney version of Michael Scott.
Who will win: Burrell.

Writing for a Comedy Series:
"Pregnant", Louie (FX), written by Louis C.K.
"Pilot", Girls (HBO), written by Lena Dunham
"The Debate", Parks And Recreation (NBC), written by Amy Poehler
"Win, Lose, or Draw", Parks and Recreation (NBC), written by Michael Schur
"Remedial Chaos Theory", Community (NBC), written by Chris McKenna

Hooray for writing nominations for all the shows that actually should have been nominated for Comedy Series! I'm looking at you, Louie, Parks and Community.
Who should win: As far as individual writing awards go, "Remedial Chaos Theory" is one of the best-written scripts of the year, so I'd give it to that, even if I think the overall writing for the entire season of Girls is probably my favorite.
Who will win: This might be the Girls category that wins, so I predict Dunham will walk away with the trophy.

Writing for a Drama Series:
"Episode 7", Downton Abbey (PBS), written by Julian Fellowes
"The Other Woman", Mad Men (AMC), written by Matthew Weiner
"Commissions and Fees", Mad Men (AMC), written by Maria Jacquemetton & Andre Jacquemetton
"Far Away Places", Mad Men (AMC), written by Matthew Weiner
"Pilot", Homeland (Showtime), written by Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa & Gideon Raff

Ladies and gentlemen, the Mad Men awards! Again, I think it's weird that you can have one show get nominated more than once for writing, but I guess that's the rule.
Who should win: That pilot for Homeland was one of the best pilots I've seen in a long time, and since the better episode "The Weekend" wasn't nominated, I'll give it to "Pilot".
Who will win: Probably "Far Away Places" so Matthew Weiner gets his annual Emmy for writing, and because it was a season finale (something-something Matthew Weiner writes circles around everybody else.)

Other Snubs and (Non)Flubs

• Nothing for Archer. Boo. But yay for Bob's Burgers making it over Family Guy.
• Nothing for Treme or Enlightened or Luck. Boo.
• Community and Parks And Recreation don't get series nods but get the acting and writing nods. Very Oscar-like giving the consolation-type nominations to shows that aren't as popular as the others.
• No The Vampire Diaries! I mean, not that I was expecting anything, but still. There should be a "Most Holy Crap! Moments In A Drama Series" category next year, cuz it would clean house.
• Obviously there are a million other categories that I did not discuss here. 
• All in all, this is a pretty decent list of nominations.

This entry was posted by Unknown, on Thursday, July 19, 2012. You can leave your response.