As the ravenous TV fans among you may know, the nominations for this year’s Emmy Awards were announced last Thursday. In 2009, I wrote about the inherent problem with the Emmys (really a problem for all attempts to reward television), and before proceeding, you should click on that link and read what I had to say. Because I’m totally right. So…seriously, go ahead. I’ll wait. Click the link, read the piece, and then come back here for some brief thoughts on this year’s nominations.
Okay, you’re back. We’ll go on the honor system, and I’ll assume you read the older post. Having done that, obviously you agree with my argument, because it’s rock-fucking-solid. So how did things go with this year’s nominations? Well, in case you haven’t even seen them, take a look first, and then we’ll answer that. Here are the nominations in the major categories (major by my standards, at least).
BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Girls
Modern Family
30 Rock
Veep
BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Lena Dunham – Girls
Melissa McCarthy – Mike & Molly
Zooey Deschanel – New Girl
Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation
Tina Fey – 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory
Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm
Don Cheadle – House of Lies
Louis C.K. – Louie
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock
Jon Cryer – Two and a Half Men
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
Mayim Bialik – The Big Bang Theory
Kathryn Joosten – Desperate Housewives
Julie Bowen – Modern Family
Sofia Vergara – Modern Family
Merritt Wever – Nurse Jackie
Kristen Wiig – Saturday Night Live
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
Ed O’Neill – Modern Family
Jesse Tyler Ferguson – Modern Family
Ty Burrell – Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family
Max Greenfield – New Girl
Bill Hader – Saturday Night Live
BEST GUEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Dot-Marie Jones – Glee
Maya Rudolph – Saturday Night Live
Melissa McCarthy – Saturday Night Live
Elizabeth Banks – 30 Rock
Margaret Cho – 30 Rock
Kathy Bates – Two and a Half Men
BEST GUEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Michael J. Fox – Curb Your Enthusiasm
Greg Kinnear – Modern Family
Bobby Cannavale – Nurse Jackie
Jimmy Fallon – Saturday Night Live
Will Arnett – 30 Rock
Jon Hamm – 30 Rock
BEST DIRECTING, COMEDY
Robert B. Weide – Curb Your Enthusiasm (Palestinian Chicken)
Lena Dunham – Girls (She Did)
Louis C.K. – Louie (Duckling)
Jason Winer – Modern Family (Virgin Territory)
Steven Levitan – Modern Family (Baby on Board)
Jake Kasdan – New Girl (Pilot)
BEST WRITING, COMEDY
Chris McKenna – Community (Remedial Chaos Theory)
Lena Dunham – Girls (Pilot)
Louis C.K. – Louie (Pregnant)
Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation (The Debate)
Michael Schur – Parks and Recreation (Win, Lose, or Draw)
BEST DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad Men
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Glenn Close – Damages
Michelle Dockery – Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife
Kathy Bates – Harry’s Law
Claire Danes – Homeland
Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall – Dexter
Hugh Bonneville – Downton Abbey
Damian Lewis – Homeland
Jon Hamm – Mad Men
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
Anna Gunn – Breaking Bad
Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey
Joanne Froggatt – Downton Abbey
Archie Panjabi – The Good Wife
Christine Baranski – The Good Wife
Christina Hendricks – Mad Men
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
Aaron Paul – Breaking Bad
Giancarlo Esposito – Breaking Bad
Brendan Coyle – Downton Abbey
Jim Carter – Downton Abbey
Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones
Jared Harris – Mad Men
BEST GUEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Martha Plimpton – The Good Wife
Loretta Devine – Grey’s Anatomy
Jean Smart – Harry’s Law
Julia Ormond – Mad Men
Joan Cusack – Shameless
Uma Thurman – Smash
BEST GUEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Mark Margolis – Breaking Bad
Dylan Baker – The Good Wife
Michael J. Fox – The Good Wife
Jeremy Davies – Justified
Ben Feldman – Mad Men
Jason Ritter – Parenthood
BEST DIRECTING, DRAMA
Tim Van Patten – Boardwalk Empire (To the Lost)
Vince Gilligan – Breaking Bad (Face Off)
Brian Percival – Downton Abbey (Episode 7)
Michael Cuesta – Homeland (Pilot)
Phil Abraham – Mad Men (The Other Woman)
BEST WRITING, DRAMA
Julian Fellowes – Downton Abbey (Episode 7)
Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff – Homeland (Pilot)
Semi Chellas & Matthew Weiner – Mad Men (The Other Woman)
Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton – Mad Men (Commissions and Fees)
Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner – Mad Men (Far Away Places)
BEST MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
American Horror Story
Game Change
Hatfields & McCoys
Hemingway & Gellhorn
Luther
Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia
BEST ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Connie Britton – American Horror Story
Julianne Moore – Game Change
Nicole Kidman – Hemingway & Gellhorn
Ashley Judd – Missing
Emma Thompson – The Song of Lunch
BEST ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Woody Harrelson – Game Change
Kevin Costner – Hatfields & McCoys
Bill Paxton – Hatfields & McCoys
Clive Owen – Hemingway & Gellhorn
Idris Elba – Luther
Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Frances Conroy – American Horror Story
Jessica Lange – American Horror Story
Sarah Paulson – Game Change
Mare Winningham – Hatfields & McCoys
Judy Davis – Page Eight
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Denis O’Hare – American Horror Story
Ed Harris – Game Change
Tom Berenger – Hatfields & McCoys
David Strathairn – Hemingway & Gellhorn
Martin Freeman – Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia
BEST DIRECTING, MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Jay Roach – Game Change
Kevin Reynolds – Hatfields & McCoys
Philip Kaufman – Hemingway & Gellhorn
Sam Miller – Luther
Paul McGuigan – Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia
BEST WRITING, MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Danny Strong – Game Change
Ted Mann, Ronald Parker & Bill Kerby – Hatfields & McCoys
Abi Morgan – The Hour
Neil Cross – Luther
Steven Moffat – Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia
BEST VARIETY SERIES
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live
BEST WRITING, VARIETY SERIES
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Portlandia
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live
BEST ANIMATED PROGRAM
American Dad!
Bob’s Burgers
Futurama
The Penguins of Madagascar: The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole
The Simpsons
(I’d also be remiss not to mention that former Daily Show head writer David Javerbaum and That Thing You Do! songwriter Adam Schlesinger were nominated in the Best Original Music and Lyrics category for their brilliant opening number from 2011’s Tony Awards – see first clip here.)
So again, how did things go with this year’s nominations? Well, not bad, actually. The Emmy voters managed to spread their love around to a lot of deserving shows, and while not everything got recognized where it should have, it was still nice to see such shows like Girls and Veep – which aren’t necessarily in Emmy voters’ traditional sweet spot – get some deserved love.
But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some glaring omissions or just a lack of creative, more outside the box thinking. I don’t want to point to anything and say it didn’t deserve to be nominated, since – as explained in my rock-fucking-solid Emmy post linked to above – there’s no way I could have seen all the nominees and evaluate every possible contender. Still, I can point out some nominations that didn’t come to pass, but deserved to. So here are just a handful…
Best Supporting Actor, Drama – Jon Bernthal (as Shane) – The Walking Dead
Things started off hard for Shane in season two of the humans vs. zombies vs. other humans drama, and they only got worse as time went on. And from the beginning, Bernthal did an outstanding job at playing all of Shane’s conflicted emotions. There’s that saying that acting is reacting, and in reacting to a whole lotta problems, he gave us a riveting portrayal of a man coming to a breaking point. His reactions were sometimes subtle and internalized, and sometimes they were explosive and violent. If he had to submit a single episode to showcase it all, the midseason finale “Pretty Much Dead Already”, which centers around the newly-discovered contents of Hershel’s barn, was a perfect vehicle. Shane deals with some hard truths in that episode, some of which he’s doling out and some of which he’s taking in. The episode builds to a shattering climax in which Shane plays an instrumental role. Whatever happened during the rest of the season, Bernthal had earned his seat at the Emmys by that hour’s end.
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Best Writing, Comedy – Lena Dunham & Jenni Konner – Girls – “Welcome to Bushwick aka The Crackcident”
When it comes to writing and directing, pilot episodes often get nominated, as if the voting committees are operating on, well, auto-pilot. But rarely do pilot episodes feature the best work of an inaugural season. Any show usually requires a bit of time to find its footing, so they tend to get better as they go along. Now, I’ll admit that Girls had no such growing pains, arriving fully formed thanks to the wonderfully distinct voice of writer-director-star Lena Dunham. Still, though she was nominated for the pilot episode, the less obvious, more thoughtful choice would have been the season’s seventh episode, in which all the major characters converge at a chaotic warehouse party in Brooklyn. This installment stands out because it was one of the few episodes of the season that provided rich material to all four main characters, while also giving good moments to four of the show’s key male supporting cast. Furthermore, it was a turning point episode. The events that unfold here set-up where things are headed for Hannah, Adam, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna. The humor and incisive observation that marks every episode of Girls is present, but from a standpoint of structure, it was the season’s best.
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Best Directing, Drama – Neil Marshall – Game of Thrones – “Blackwater”
Seriously, not a single Directing nomination for Game of Thrones? It’s already the most ambitiously scaled series on TV, but then they went ahead and took it even further with an episode depicting a massive battle on land and water, as the invading forces of Stannis Baratheon enter Blackwater Bay for their attack on the capital city of King’s Landing. With a budget far below the kind afforded to film projects like Lord of the Rings and Kingdom of Heaven, Marshall – the man behind the acclaimed horror film The Descent – managed to give the episode the epic look and feel it deserved. Thrones is such a well-produced show that its absence from this category makes no sense, but the oversight of “Blackwater” in particular lands like one of Tyrion’s bitchslaps across Joffrey’s face.
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Best Supporting Actor, Comedy – Nick Offerman (as Ron Swanson) – Parks and Recreation
Four years of Parks and Rec, and Offerman still hasn’t been nominated? C’mon people. In a show where the ensemble is jelling like crazy and firing on all cylinders, Offerman’s anti-government government employee still manages to stand out. I wonder if Ron’s dry monotone and unwavering steely gaze cause voters to mistake this for a one-note performance. I hope not, because Offerman brings plenty of shadings to Ron’s beleaguered bureaucrat, and he’s no more one-note than, say, Seinfeld‘s Kramer…a character that earned Michael Richards five nominations and three wins. Offerman is overdue…and frankly, while I love Modern Family, Jesse Tyler Ferguson is not that great an actor. Time to bump him.
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Best Supporting Actor, Comedy – Adam Driver (as Adam) – Girls
I surprise myself with this, because there were times when I could barely stand to watch Driver’s character. He was so skeevy that he often made my skin crawl. At one point, Hannah tells him how charming he is, and I think I started yelling out loud at the TV set, “No! He is not charming! He is the polar opposite of charming. He’s repellant! Why are you with this guy? So gross, so gross, so gross, ahhhhhrrrrrrrgggghhhh.” And yet…credit goes to Driver for making Adam as fascinating as he is creepy. Toward the end of the season, the writers shifted the dynamic between Adam and Hannah, and despite every instinct to be turned off by him, the bastard kinda started to win me over, even while I still found him fifty shades of oooky. Love him or hate him, Adam is a compelling character thanks to Driver’s original and unpredictable performance.
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Best Supporting Actress, Drama – Maisie Williams (as Arya Stark) – Game of Thrones
Unfortunately, because the TV landscape is full of shows bursting with ensemble talent, too few members get singled out for their work. Peter Dinklage is carrying the torch for the Thrones cast, though several other actors on the show are also deserving of recognition. Chief among them is 15 year-old Maisie Williams as the brave and clever Arya Stark, who spent this season incognito as a boy, hoping to elude capture by the Lannisters. So what happens? She gets captured by the Lannisters…except they don’t realize it. She winds up as a cupbearer to the family’s formidable patriarch, Lord Tywin Lannister, who immediately recognizes her for a girl, but doesn’t realize she’s that girl. The scenes between Arya and Tywin were among the season’s best, not just because of the obvious tension, but because Williams is such a capable actress, going delightfully toe to toe with veteran actor Charles Dance (outstanding as Tywin). She excels in all of her scenes, though, and has made Arya into one of show’s strongest and most engaging characters.
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So, anyway…just a few things that should have been included. I’d probably have more, but I wasn’t thinking about it consistently enough during the TV season to make the necessary notes. Maybe I’ll do better next year. In the meantime, this year’s show will air on Sunday, September 23, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. I’m pulling for Game of Thrones (with Homeland an acceptable substitute), Amy Poehler, Claire Danes, Peter Dinklage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Lange. And with all love and respect to The Daily Show, it’s time for The Colbert Report to win Best Variety Series. Even Jon Stewart knows it.
On that note, let’s end with one of my favorite Emmy moments, taken from the 2006 ceremony.
I Am DB 
What the Emmy’s love are certain actors and it shows in these nominations all the time. Even when the actor is having a down year, you see them get nominated over and over again. I’d be surprised if all of the voting panel actually watched all the submissions instead of looking at the ballot and going “Oh I know that person, I like them. I know they have won before, they do good work, I’ll vote for them.” While I agree with the advent of cable (hello all of this year’s Best Drama nominees being from cable or PBS) it makes it harder and harder to see everything. Which actually makes the repeat nominee theory hold a heavier weight.
In the clip you provided, Stewart reads the line of how reality is “dramatic and unexpected” except “The Amazing Race” has won that award every year it’s been presented except one. Is “Race” often the best in this weak catagory, yes. But the repetitiveness is actually exhausting to an award viewer (you pointing out Colbert should finally win and break Stewart’s streak as well).
Let’s look at 2009 nominees and 2012 (since I have your two posts up):
Best Comedy: One repeat in “30 Rock” but it wasn’t until this year that “The Office” was finally left off despite being on a big decline. From the others in ’09: two aren’t on the air, three have dipped big time; and I think everyone was surprised that year “Family Guy” got nominated. But from the list only “Girls” and “Veep” (both in their first years) aren’t repeats
Comedy actor: 3 the same (if you count Cryer who moved himself up to lead nominee after Sheen left and he was a staple in supporting before that with 6 noms). The four official from ’09 that don’t match aren’t even on the air anymore. Larry David is on nom 5. Cheadle has to be movie star to TV nom as “House of Lies” as all but unwatchable.
Comedy supporting male: Tough to compare thanks the the “Modern Family” train that has seen Jesse, Ty and Eric be nominated all three season and Ed the last two. There are more comedies out there Academy.
Comedy Actress: While Fey is the only holdover from ’09; Melissa won last year, Julia is on a first year show but is an award nominee staple (13 noms), Edie Falco is an award nominee staple (I’ve never watched it, but the sound of it “Nurse Jackie” doesn’t scream comedy). Zooey got her nom based on another Emmy love fest of movie person doing TV (see Close, Glenn in drama). Amy has three straight noms now for “Parks” which leave Lena has the newbie.
Comedy supporting female: Kristin Wigg only official repeats from ’09 (though Amy is now in lead) and her 4th straight nom. Julie and Sofia are on their third straght for “Modern”‘s train; Kathryn has noms before in guest role (two wins)
Best Drama: Two the same “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men., two others from ’09 aren’t on the air, one got shipped to dish, “Dexter” is a joke now and “House” had an uneven final year. But from ’12 “Boadwalk” and “Game” are repeats from previous year; “Downton” has major hype and can be a Cryer really since it was in Miniseries last year (and won) but now got pushed to full drama; making “Homeland” the lone newbie.
Drama Actor: Cranston, Hall and Hamm all repeats from ’09 (Cranston going to 4 straight in years he was eligible; 4th in row for Hall and 5th in row for Hamm – not to mention all the guest noms he gets). Buscemi on second straight (also see movie person on TV). Hugh got the “Downton” bump and shows switch in category, leaving Damien as the quote-unquote newcomer (though I enjoyed his work on the show “Life”)
Drama Actress: Close and Moss carry over from ’09 (rest of shows not on air); Bates on second straight nom (movie to TV) for a show I can’t find anyone who watches – and they can’t anymore anyway; Julianna is an award staple; Danes is a name they are all familiar with especially after just giving her award for “Temple Grandin”). Dockery new but on “Downton” ride.
Drama supporting male: Aaron Paul only hold over from ’09 (only Slattery still on air and he had to have gotten bumped out by the “Downton” guys since had been nomminated prior 4 years). Dinklage won last year. While the rest are new
Drama supporting female: no hold over from ’09 but Baranski, Panjabi and Hendrickson are on 3rd straight noms; Maggie won last year in miniseries when “Downton” was there.
Was ’09 a bad year to pick to make the impact of the point, maybe but you gave the link for it so it was easy to compare. If you look though, you see many repeat noms and while I’m sure some are earned – I think a lot of them are gained more on reputation than performance.
Comment by Charles — July 23, 2012 @ 10:47 pm |
Wow, impressive analysis, Charles. And yeah, I think to some degree the nature of TV series going on year after year means you’re going to see a lot of the same shows and actors nominated again and again. Sometimes, they deserve it. Other times, as you point out, voters just seem to be making safe, unconsidered choices out of habit.
I’ve debated – with myself – the idea that if an actor wins an Emmy, they should be ineligible the following year, just to give a chance not just for someone else to win, but for someone else to be nominated. I think that would be nice to see, yet it might result in someone missing out on a chance to be recognized for truly outstanding work, which goes against the whole reason for having these awards in the first place. If an actor wins one year, but then the next years does even better work – maybe has an episode that just shows them at their very best – shouldn’t they be eligible for recognition even if they won the previous year? I don’t know – I have mixed feelings about that. Still, when I think how many times Alec Baldwin won for 30 Rock, while Steve Carell never won for The Office, it just doesn’t seem right.
Comment by DB — July 24, 2012 @ 10:56 am |
Please excuse all the typos, it was 1:30 a.m. ET and I really should have been in bed.
More people who would have maybe gotten an award if previous year’s winner was not eligible: Hugh Laurie for “House” (never won for the role); Jon Hamm for “Mad Men” (almost seems destined not to win at this point) are just two of the names that might have had their names read in recent years if Cranston wasn’t eligible by winning the previous year. Kyle Chandler only got his award because “Breaking Bad” took a year off and thus by default Cranston wasn’t eligible.
In Comedy, Carell would have won if not for Baldwin (who has actally only won 2 Emmy’s for the role, but a lot more Golden Globes) or Tony Shalhoub.
And if you apply that to Oscar then maybe Travolta or Freeman win instead of Hanks for the second year in a row back in 1994.
If the nomination is deserved, I have no problem with nominees gettign the nods in consecutive years or winning. Just don’t tell me, while I love “Modern Family,” that 4 of the 6 best supporting comedy roles were on that show when I watched people like Nick Offerman and Adam Pally have better years than Jesse; or how Kathryn, may she rest in peace, gets a nod for “Desperate Housewives” when that is so far removed from being a comedy.
Comment by Charles — July 24, 2012 @ 1:46 pm |
I’m happy to see some new faces added to the nomination list. Despite not knowing where in the world American Horror Story could possibly go from here, it derserves a nomination or two. The big injustice here is the lack of recognition towards Parks and Rec. How did Nick Offerman get overlooked for the Comedy Actor Award? He nails Ron Swanson’s character, who reminds me so much of my boss at Dish that it’s a little unnerving! I think half the problem is that Parks and Rec has such a steady following that no one talks about it that much. In fact, I didn’t know what it was all about until I got my Hopper DVR! It has this awesome little feature, called PrimeTime Any Time, that auto-records everything on the major networks during primetime hours so, out of sheer boredom one day, I decided to give the show a try. And I have been hooked ever since that fateful day! All I’m saying is that I am going to scream if they don’t at least win the few awards the show is nominated for.
Comment by kayla — July 26, 2012 @ 9:14 am |
I think Amy Poehler has a real good shot. She should have won last year, but Melissa McCarthy was riding that wave of Bridesmaids goodwill. I’m hoping Poehler rightfully takes it this year.
Comment by DB — July 28, 2012 @ 1:50 pm |