The Emmy nominations are OUT! Click here to see the list, and see below for my initial reactions. I'll have a piece about why these noms shook out the way they did in a bit.
In Drama, Voters Look Backward
In my final analysis of the Drama Series categories, I wrote that “No incoming series fits the typical Emmy bill.” Despite the fact that two 2014 nominees were on the way out, and that the Television Academy actually tacked on an extra slot, it was hard to imagine the majority of the new contenders making any kind of a major impact.
That turned out to be especially true. The only new program nominated for Outstanding Drama Series was Better Call Saul, a spinoff of a (very) recent category winner in Breaking Bad. That left pop culture smash Empire, acclaimed Florida noir Bloodline, Golden Globe winner The Affair, formally ambitious The Knick and many others left picking up scraps (at best). And don’t get me started on second- and third-year dramas, respectively, Rectify and The Americans. The former went quiet again, while the latter had to settle for a perplexing guest acting nod (Margo Martindale, who only appeared in a single scene) and a well-deserved writing nomination.
What took those many series places? After being abandoned in the big category last year, the Television Academy relented and allowed Homeland to sneak back into Outstanding Drama Series for its improved fourth season, while Orange Is the New Black was predictably successful in the transition from comedy to drama.
What’s rather startling is what went on beyond Drama Series, in the acting, writing and directing categories. In Best Actor, Oscar nominees Terrence Howard (Empire) and especially Clive Owen (The Knick) looked very good to bring some fresh blood into the wide-open category. Instead, in an extremely bizarre choice, they brought Liev Schreiber into the fold for the second season of Ray Donovan with the show all-but-dead in the conversation. They brought back Jeff Daniels, now on his third consecutive nod for the critically-maligned, barely-watched and canceled-back-in-the-fall The Newsroom. Forget about Matthew Rhys of Americans or Aden Young of Rectify. In Best Actress, meanwhile, Ruth Wilson’s lauded The Affair performance was replaced by the ridiculously-overdue Tatiana Maslany, but the latter is being recognized for a season of Orphan Black most perceived as weak and unworthy. But there you have it: Emmy voters, looking backward.
Indeed, despite the strong prospects of newbies Empire, The Affair and The Knick (among others), only Bloodline (in addition to Better Call Saul) managed multiple major (acting/writing/directing) nominations. Kyle Chandler, a Best Actor winner from 2011 for Friday Night Lights, seems to have been a familiar-enough name to sneak into this year’s lead acting race. But given the way the votes went here, it’s pretty miraculous that Ben Mendelsohn, a lesser-known actor giving a lauded performance on the Netflix drama, snuck into the supporting category. Indeed, the only other actors from new shows to get recognized were Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder) and Taraji P. Henson (Empire) in Best Actress; Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) in Best Actor; and Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul) in Best Supporting Actor. Either the performance was among the most talked-about of the year (Davis, Henson) or a Better Call Saul actor.
The trend continues with the writing/directing categories, which were headed up by exlusively veterans with the exception of a directing nomination for The Knick’s Steven Soderbergh (shocker) and a writing nomination for the standout Better Call Saul episode “Five-O.” For the most part, there seems to be one new series eating up the lion’s share of “new” nominations -- and it’s a spinoff. That’s how unfriendly this climate was to freshmen, and for that matter, critical darlings still young in their runs (Rectify, Americans).
In general, we saw a big showing for Game of Thrones at 24 noms (mostly technical, but impressive even only considering its major recognition) and the final season of Mad Men. The latter earned three acting nods, including a well-deserved Best Actress return for Elisabeth Moss and a pair of writing nominations. House of Cards and Downton Abbey held on better than expected, despite poorly-reviewed seasons. These were the four returning dramas and all held on strongly, proving that in such a volatile year the power of familiarity was vital. Even Orange Is the New Black suffered in the switch to drama, earning just a single acting nomination and nothing in writing/directing. It’s safe to say that the Television Academy is more than a little behind in the world of new dramatic television.
In Comedy, a Very Different Story
Don’t take this article as pure complaint, however. Indeed, voters favored fresh and different over old and stale. Transparent led all comedies with 11 nominations, competing in three acting categories in addition to writing and directing. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt also snuck into Outstanding Comedy Series and three acting fields. (Though its success renders Ellie Kemper’s omission all the more puzzling.) The Big Bang Theory was finally dropped (including Jim Parsons!), in favor the superior in quality and inferior in past nominations Parks and Recreation (for its final season).
The good news didn’t stop there: among niche comedies recognized in big categories as they hadn’t been before include Inside Amy Schumer, Getting On (Niecy Nash deserved this nomination and then some), Key & Peele and the revival of The Comeback. The Last Man on Earth, FOX’s ambitious newbie, competes in writing and directing in addition to Lead Actor (Will Forte). Black-ish scored a nomination for Best Actor (Anthony Anderson); Lily Tomlin expectedly snuck into Best Actress for the uneven Netflix serio-sitcom Grace and Frankie. Lots of new blood, and even better, it’s in addition to continued adoration for greats like Silicon Valley, Veep and Louie. We can lament the absence of The CW’s superb contender Jane the Virgin, or a few vets like It’s Always Sunny that have never earned the recognition they deserved, but this is a solid lineup and proves Emmy voters are more willing to check out new half-hours than their 60-minute counterparts.
Streaming Is on the Up, But What of Broadcast?
The comedy nominations also affirm the strength of online outlets Netflix and Amazon. The former didn’t really disappoint anywhere, with a pair of Best Drama Series nominees in addition to two acting nominees for newbie Bloodline (which, again, fared better than just about any other new drama series) and a Comedy Series nominee on the other side in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Lily Tomlin made Best Actress for Grace and Frankie as well -- really, the only high-profile launch that didn’t fare well for Netflix was Daredevil, which in all truth isn’t that unexpected. (It’s a comic book adaptation, after all.) And, as mentioned earlier, Amazon’s Transparent led all comedy series with 11 nominees -- given the reduced strength of Modern Family, it might even have a shot at victory.
Netflix’s decision to expand in programming clearly paid off, and it probably would have fared even better had Orange Is the New Black been permitted to stay in comedy. (Which it should have.) But not even Empire could revitalize the Television Academy’s interest in broadcast. Despite finding favor with critics and breaking out with audiences like nothing else in the past decade, the hip-hop soap was near-entirely snubbed, with Taraji P. Henson’s heavily-buzzed-about performance the only major nod there. The Good Wife and The Big Bang Theory also faded in presence. In drama, only Davis, Henson and Good Wife pair Christine Baranski & Alan Cumming were broadcast acting nominees. That’s a rather disastrous count. In comedy, meanwhile, Modern Family crashed and burned and Parks and Rec is the only other major broadcast nominee, for its final season. It’s hard to see this trend reversing at this point.
Diversity explosion
Even with Jane the Virgin and Empire ignored (seriously, no music nod?), the Television Academy nicely embraced the diversity boom happening on the small-screen. Actors of color scoring first-time nominations include the ridiculously overdue trio of Khandi Alexander (Treme; nominated for Scandal), Regina King (Southland; nominated for American Crime) and Michael K. Williams (The Wire; nominated for Bessie); supporting comedy players Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele) and Niecy Nash (Getting On); and lead actors Anthony Anderson, David Oyelowo (Nightingale) and Viola Davis. That’s in addition to returning nominees Taraji P. Henson, Andre Braugher, Cicely Tyson, Uzo Aduba, Reg E. Cathey and Don Cheadle.
As with any Emmy year, it’s worth taking the good with the bad. This year, there happened to be a lot of good.
Stray observations:
* Again, it’s really gratifying to see the work of Michael K. Williams, Regina King and Khandi Alexander recognized this year. Williams has been one of TV’s most impressive presences of the past decade, between The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, while King and Alexander were criminally unrewarded for their breathtaking work on Southland and Treme, respectively.
* Nobody watches it and it aired way back in the fall, so extra kudos to the Academy for throwing Getting On some love. Niecy Nash would probably win my personal Emmy ballot, and this was the morning’s best surprise.
* The Leftovers joins the list of deserving freshmen that got nothing. It never had a chance in the big category, but it had some remarkably-written episodes and some truly transcendent performances that deserved recognition. What a shame.
* Worth repeating: how did Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt snag three acting nominations while Ellie Kemper was snubbed?
* The Good Wife really fell this year, and I’m neither surprised nor disappointed. It had a rough season and dropping Julianna Margulies for Elisabeth Moss (I presume) is the right move.
* I mentioned it briefly, but I’m really surprised (and enlightened) by Clive Owen’s omission here. As we saw with Kelsey Grammer on Boss, even a prestige effort on a less-than-visible network will have an extremely difficult time pushing through. It’s no coincidence that his spot was taken by Schreiber, a film actor giving a performance on the more Emmy-friendly Showtime.
* Other actors it’s great (and a little surprising) to see recognized: Lisa Kudrow for her brilliant Comeback performance, Timothy Hutton for his wrenching work on American Crime and Zoe Kazan for her empathetic and wildly weird turn in Olive Kitteridge.
* Really, really disappointed the final season of Justified got nothing. Just a great season of TV with so many worthy performances.
* Really, really disappointed the final season of Justified got nothing. Just a great season of TV with so many worthy performances.