What the 2012 Emmy Nominations got Wrong

The 2012 Primetime Emmy nominations were released today, and there are several notable omissions on the list, and there are several nominees who don’t deserve to be on there.  I’m going to go over the things I have the biggest problems with in this post.  Keep in mind, these are all just my opinion, which may be different than yours, but these are the ones that I had a problem with.

Best Drama Series: Justified gets snubbed

This is a tough one, because I only watch 3 of the nominated shows (Mad Men, Game of Thrones, & Breaking Bad-not totally caught up on that last one, but based on what I’ve seen thus far, no reason not to include it) and I thought they all deserved inclusion.  I’ve heard very good things about the other nominated shows (Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey, & Homeland), but man, this is a great show, and I really wanted it to get nominated.  I can’t objectively say which of the nominated shows shouldn’t have made it, since I don’t watch half of them, but this is such a good show, I would have thought there was room somewhere.

Best Comedy Series: Community/Parks & Rec/Louie/Archer/Happy Endings/It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia/Bob’s Burgersget snubbed

ds

HOW DID NONE OF THESE GET NOMINATED?!  I know that if these all got nominated, it would be an entirely different category, but two or three of these deserved to make it in there.  As much as I love 30 Rock, it is NBC’s 3rd best comedy and has been for the last two years.  Curb Your Enthusiasm is a great show, and I really liked this season, but I just don’t know that it was better than Louie was, and given the similar nature of the shows, I don’t see how you pick Curb over Louie this year.   Fat Mac alone should have earned Always Sunny a nomination.  H. Jon Benjamin was doubly snubbed with Archer & Bob’s Burgers failing to earn nominations here, but my hopes were never really high for a nomination because the Emmys don’t like to nominate animated shows in this category, which is wrong.  Modern Family had a down year (more on this show soon), and I haven’t watched Girls or Veep yet, but I just don’t see how they were better than all of these other shows.   The fact none of those seven were nominated proves we are in the darkest timeline.

Best Actor in a Drama Series: Timothy Olyphant (Justified) gets snubbed

Raylan Givens misses the Emmy boat for the second year in a row.  Again, the only shows I watch that are represented here are Mad Men & Breaking Bad, but again, this is such a good show, and he’s such a great character, I can’t believe there wasn’t space for him on there.

Best Actor in a Comedy Series: Jon Cryer & Jim Parsons got nominated.

I don’t know anyone who watches either of these men on their respective shows (Cryer: Two and a Half Men/Parsons: The Big Bang Theory), mainly because they are both slaps in the face of comedy.  The fact that both of these guys got nominated when Joel McHale (Community), Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), H. Jon Benjamin (Archer/Bob’s Burgers), & Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down) were all snubbed is beyond ridiculous.

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) is snubbed

I don’t really have a problem with the leading actress nominees in either genre, but Cersei Lannister is such a great character on a show that has several very good characters (mainly due to the fact there are so many characters), so the fact that she is able to rise above almost all of them (Tyrion is pretty much the only one better) is a testament in itself to the acting of Lena Headey.  I would have thought she would make it on the nomination list easily.

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Modern Family gets 4 nominees while many better characters got snubbed.

As previously mentioned, Modern Family had a down season.  There is no way all four of the male adult cast members deserved nominations at the expense of Danny Pudi/Donald Glover/Jim Rash (Community), Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Damon Wayans Jr./Adam Pally (Happy Endings), J.B. Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Dan Mintz/Eugene Mirman/John Roberts (Bob’s Burgers) orAziz Ansari/Chris Pratt/Adam Scott (Parks & Rec).  Of course, there is one person who I left off of that list because my brain still can’t comprehend how Nick Offerman failed to earn a nomination…..again….for his portrayal of Ron Swanson on Parks & Rec. The only one of the four nominees for Modern Family who deserved to stay is Ty Burrell.  The fact the rest of them earned spots over those guys is beyond me.

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: No Community/Parks & Rec/Bob’s Burgers/Archer/Happy Endings representation

The above picture must be the opinion of Emmy voters for failing to include Alison Brie and/or Gillian Jacobs from the nominees.  Aside from Community‘s snubs, Aubrey Plaza/Rashida Jones of Parks & Rec, Kristen Schaal of Bob’s Burgers, Jessica Walter/Amber Nash/Judy Greer/Aisha Tyler of Archer & Eliza Coupe/Elisha Cuthbert/Casey Wilson of Happy Endings all failed to score nominations while Big Bang Theory scored a nod & Modern Family grabbed two (Sofia Vergara can stay, Julie Bowen shouldn’t have been nominated, in my opinion).  Emmy voters must still think Britta is the worst.

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Justified is snubbed again

Walton Goggins was nominated last year for his portrayal of Boyd Crowder on Justified, but failed to repeat his bid this year.  While his omission is the biggest in this category, his co-stars Mykelti Williamson & Neal McDonough should have earned nominations as well, either in this category or in Best Guest Actor.

Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series: Ben Schwartz gets snubbed

How does Jean-Ralphio miss this category at the expense of Greg Kinnear’s very forgettable appearance on Modern Family?  Easily the best “non-regular” on one of the best shows on television, the decision to include him should have been a no-brainer.

Best Animated Series: Archer gets snubbed

I don’t know how this show fails to earn a nomination when The Simpsons can get one.  Not that The Simpsons isn’t one of the best shows of all time, but there is no way that the 2012 version of The Simpsons is better than Archer.

Best Voice-Over Performance: No Archer/Bob’s Burgers/South Park

The three best animated shows on television fail to earn a single nomination in this category?  Desperate Housewives is nominated here, for crying out loud!  Surely one of the following people (H. Jon Benjamin, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, Dan Mintz, John Roberts, Amber Nash, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, Judy Greer, Chris Parnell, Adam Reed, or Lucky Yates) deserved nominations for their respective shows.

 

So, there you have it, all the things that I think Emmy voters got wrong.  There will be a post soon about what I think they got right, but the omissions were more glaring to me than the things I agreed with.

 

Hope you liked this post, and I hope you like what else I have to say.