30 Highlights from the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations

The Emmy nominations are officially here! As usual, there’s a laundry list of pleasant surprises and unforgivable omissions to talk about. Here are my 30 personal highlights:

Top 10 Best Nominations

1. Game of Thrones leading the pack with 24 nominations. It’s so winning Outstanding Drama Series this year!

2. Patrick McHale’s magical, timeless miniseries, Over the Garden Wall, got a highly deserved nomination for Outstanding Animated Program.

3. After being overlooked for two years, Tatiana Maslany finally got into Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for Orphan Black.

4. Will Forte earned multiple nominations for The Last Man on Earth in Outstanding Comedy Actor and Outstanding Comedy Writing. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller additionally got in for Outstanding Comedy Directing.

5. After a mediocre third year, Homeland resurfaced in Outstanding Drama Series for its exceptional fourth season.

6. Finn Wittrock received a Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series nomination for his scene-stealing performance on American Horror Story: Freak Show.
   

7. Bob Odenkirk, who never merited any recognition for Breaking Bad, got a Drama Actor nomination for Better Call Saul, which also pulled off a surprise Outstanding Drama Series nomination.

8. Parks and Recreation, which had one of the best final seasons ever, got back into Outstanding Comedy Series.

9. Tress MacNeille, who’s been one of our finest voiceover performers for years, is finally an Emmy nominee for her work on The Simpsons.

10. This was truly a breakthrough year for Amy Schumer, who got nominations for Outstanding Comedy Actress, Directing for a Variety Series and Writing for a Variety Series. Plus, her movie, Trainwreck, comes out this Friday!

Top 10 Most Unforgivable Snubs

1. Ellie Kemper not getting into Outstanding Comedy Actress for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, but at least Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski, Tina Fey and Jon Hamm were all recognized. Plus, the show itself got in for Outstanding Comedy Series!

2. No love for Lizzy Caplan, who easily could have won Best Drama Actress for Masters of Sex if she submitted the episode, Fight. To be fair, though, that whole category is a bloodbath.

3. No Galavant, Empire or Over the Garden Wall for Outstanding Music and Lyrics, despite the fact that music plays such a huge role in all three shows.

4. The Affair getting zero recognition when it was one of the most exquisitely acted, written and directed dramas of the season.

5. Margo Martindale gets an Outstanding Drama Guest Actress nomination for The Americans, but Lois Smith was left out for her infinitely superior performance. Smith’s episode, Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep, was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, however.

6. Neither James Nesbitt nor Frances O’Connor getting nominations for their work on The Missing.

7. Game of Thrones gets two directing nominations for Unbowed, Unbent, and Unbroken and Mother’s Mercy, but voters failed to recognize the best episode of the year, Hardhome.

8. 24: Live Another Day couldn’t get into any major Outstanding Limited Series categories.

9. The Big Bang Theory failed to get into Outstanding Comedy Series. The real shocker, though, is that Jim Parsons didn’t even get nominated for Outstanding Comedy Actor. Then again, he already has more than enough Emmys.

10. Why can’t T.J. Miller break into Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Silicon Valley?

Top 10 Things I Can’t Be Too Mad About Because I Knew They’d Never Happen Anyway

1. Nick Offerman never getting nominated even once for playing Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation.

2. Gravity Falls: Not What He Seems, Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars and Family Guy: The Simpsons Guy couldn’t get into Outstanding Animated Program.

3. No major love for any superhero shows. At the very least, Marvel’s Daredevil got three technical nominations and The Flash got a Special Visual Effects nomination.

4. Broad City, the funniest show nobody’s talking about, couldn’t score nominations for Ilana Glazer or Abbi Jacobson.

5. Charlie Day, who gave his best performance ever in the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode, Charlie Work, couldn’t get an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nomination.

6. Wendi McLendon-Covey, who continues to kill it on The Goldbergs, failed to get an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nomination.

7. Lubna Azabal, who gave one of the most underrated performances of the year for her work in The Honourable Woman, couldn’t break into Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series.

8. Andy Smaburg and his fellow Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-stars were snubbed again, but at least Andre Braugher got back in for Outstanding Comedy Supporting Actor.

9. Neither Carrie Coon nor Christopher Eccleston were recognized for their powerful supporting performances in The Leftovers.

10. Very little love for Outlander, which only got one nomination for Outstanding Music Composition.

Five Bonus Observations:

1. While it is a good, important and relevant show, especially considering Bruce Jenner’s recent transition into Caitlyn Jenner, it’s possible we’re overhyping Transparent, which leads the Outstanding Comedy Series race with 11 Nominations. However, Jeffrey Tambor does deserve all the acclaim he’s received for his performance, which will undoubtedly win him an Outstanding Comedy Actor Emmy.

2. Speaking of overdue wins, Jon Hamm has to take home an Emmy this year either for the final season of Mad Men or his guest performance on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If not, it will be one of the greatest Emmy injustices ever.

3. As somebody who just couldn’t get into Jane the Virgin, I’m personally indifferent to Gina Rodriquez being snubbed. My sympathies go towards her dedicated fan base, though. What does the CW have to do to be taken seriously?

4. Modern Family only got six nominations this year, getting left out of Outstanding Comedy Writing and Directing. After winning Outstanding Comedy Series five years in a row, could this be the year it finally gets dethroned?

5. Despite being a huge ratings hit for network television, Empire only attained three nominations. Taraji P. Henson will go head-to-head with Viola Davis of How to Get Away with Murder to become the first African American to win Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.

The winners for the 67^th Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced September 20^th on Fox.