Without rage and incredulity, there are no Emmynominations, a wise philosopher once said*. And while today’s announcement of the 2012 contenders certainly contained some pleasant surprises — hooray for Veep! — there are still enough major snubs to leave one’s jaw paying a visit to one’s kneecaps. Here’s our rundown of the 37 most glaring omissions. (*Or, if he didn’t, he should have!)
And for all the wall-to-wall Emmy coverage and interviews your TV-lovin’ heart can handle, keep checking back at TVLine.com over the next 48 hours. Oh, who are we kidding? Keep checking back between now and the Sept. 23 ceremony!
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Which Emmy snubs have you most upset? Sound off in the comments!
Parks and Recreation
Katey Sagal, (Sons of Anarchy)
John Noble, (Fringe)
Gillian Jacobs, (Community)
Garret Dillahunt, (Raising Hope)
American Idol
Damon Wayans Jr., (Happy Endings)
The Good Wife
Laura Dern, (Enlightened)
Hugh Laurie, (House)
The Walking Dead
Jason Isaacs, (Awake)
Kelly Macdonald, (Boardwalk Empire)
Regina King, (Southland)
Nick Offerman, (Parks and Recreation)
Morena Baccarin, (Homeland)
Kelsey Grammer, (Boss)
Charlie Hunnam, ( Sons of Anarchy)
Courteney Cox, (Cougar Town)
Community
Joel Kinnaman, (The Killing)
Maggie Siff, (Sons of Anarchy)
Martha Plimpton, (Raising Hope)
Shawn Hatosy, (Southland)
Danny Pudi, (Community)
Eden Sher, (The Middle)
Andrew Lincoln, (The Walking Dead)
Cheryl Hines, (Suburgatory)
Adam Scott, (Parks and Recreation)
Sons of Anarchy
Emmy Rossum, (Shameless)
Joel McHale, (Community)
Glee
Josh Charles, (The Good Wife)
Casey Wilson, (Happy Endings)
John Slattery, (Mad Men)
Mariska Hargitay, (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
Which Emmy snubs have you most upset? Sound off in the comments!
Parks and Recreation
Katey Sagal, (Sons of Anarchy)
John Noble, (Fringe)
Gillian Jacobs, (Community)
Garret Dillahunt, (Raising Hope)
American Idol
Damon Wayans Jr., (Happy Endings)
The Good Wife
Laura Dern, (Enlightened)
Hugh Laurie, (House)
The Walking Dead
Jason Isaacs, (Awake)
Kelly Macdonald, (Boardwalk Empire)
Regina King, (Southland)
Nick Offerman, (Parks and Recreation)
Morena Baccarin, (Homeland)
Kelsey Grammer, (Boss)
Charlie Hunnam, ( Sons of Anarchy)
Courteney Cox, (Cougar Town)
Community
Joel Kinnaman, (The Killing)
Maggie Siff, (Sons of Anarchy)
Martha Plimpton, (Raising Hope)
Shawn Hatosy, (Southland)
Danny Pudi, (Community)
Eden Sher, (The Middle)
Andrew Lincoln, (The Walking Dead)
Cheryl Hines, (Suburgatory)
Adam Scott, (Parks and Recreation)
Sons of Anarchy
Emmy Rossum, (Shameless)
Joel McHale, (Community)
Glee
Josh Charles, (The Good Wife)
Casey Wilson, (Happy Endings)
John Slattery, (Mad Men)
Mariska Hargitay, (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
Which Emmy snubs have you most upset? Sound off in the comments!
The only one I agree with is Katy Sagal as an overlooked nom. The Emmy’s name should change to the TV Cable Awards. Yes, some network shows squeak in, especially for comedy, but there are terrific shows that will never have a chance because of the limitations in that the cable shows have the ability to do things that the regular networks are to chicken to do. I feel like the relevance of the Emmy’s has faded… it used to mean something, now it doesn’t. And may I say that the love for Mad Men is sooooo overdone!! I find the show ridiculous, so I don’t watch, but it does NOT deserve to be treated as if it’s the second coming.
need to say it again: it really sucks if you’re too funny for a drama nom and too serious for comedy.stereotypical thinking is the death of creativity. so please for the sake of all those great actors, actresses, writers, directors and everyone else: add categories!!!
and btw, how could you forget the biggest emmy snub of all times: lauren graham?? just saying…
Dude, it’s not just Glee. There are lots of shows and actors that aren’t getting the proper recognition they deserve because there is no place for them in the categories that currently exist. And BTW, if you’d read the comments on here you’d see that even Glee fans agree season 3 was horrible and was not deserving of hardly any recognition, though there were a few performances that still merited it IMO – Max Adler, and Naya Rivera in particular.
oh believe me, i’m not a glee fan at all. can’t stand the show so i was definitely not talking about that it was a general comment about a lot of shows and actors
Oh ok, Glee fans keep bringing this up is why I said it. Just out of curiosity what other shows do you feel don’t fit? I thought of Smash since it is more a musical than anything and there is no musical category, unless I overlooked it. Though about SciFi/Fantasy/Horror maybe getting one big category. What else would be good?
totally agree on a SciFi/Fantasy/Horror/Mystery category which would be perfect for shows like The Walking Dead. GoT could fit into that category as well. Another one could be Dramedies / Dramadies, really depends on what you prefer. I have to say Castle would fit perfectly Also, shows like Gilmore Girls (yeah, I know it’s history).. What do you think?
I think Castle fits the Dramedy category although its probably more drama. Game of Thrones, Fringe, Supernatural, True Blood, and all those type shows could definitely use a different category. I have never seen Gilmore Girls. Pretty much all the CW shows get the snub when it comes to the emmys though lol
I might support a Genre category, but definitely not a dramedy one. That’s just how it is. It’s a show’s choice to be an hour-long drama that also happens to be funny. But if that’s the excuse for not being taken seriously, we’d have to take a long, hard look at the merit of its dramatic source material, and I’m willing to bet it won’t hold up under the same scrutiny “non-dramedies” receive. Besides, what would be the rules of qualifying as a dramedy? With all the strategic switching between mini-series and drama categories, that would just be opening a can of worms.
Comment by Emily – July 19, 2012 03:25 PM PDT
Lauren Graham has been REPEATEDLY snubbed for her work on both Gilmore Girls and Parenthood because she has the audacity to find herself in roles where she flawlessly balances comedy with drama and can’t really find a home in either one. Which is why the academy needs to add a “Dramedy” category of some kind. Then maybe people like her will get the recognition they deserve. Also someone like Nathan Fillion for Castle.
I agree with a lot of these but I don’t agree with Mariska Hargitay. Much as I love Mariska and how well she does on that show, SVU has been awful for years now, and she’s been nominated over and over again. It’s not her fault but nothing she’s been given to do lately is Emmy worthy. John Slattery and Joel Kinnaman were definite snubs, and though I haven’t watched Fringe in forever, I’m sure John Noble was snubbed too. But I’ve sort of given up on any genre show ever getting recognized (Supernatural, Fringe, etc…) particularly in performance categories.
Why the overabundance of love for Modern Family? Come on, the entire cast is nominated?? I agree with most of the snubs but find some of the cable shows way too violent for my tastes. I have tried watching Breaking Bad and SOA but could not get through all of season one. I think Justified was snubbed…..love me some Raylan! Edem Sher definitely deserved a nomination
Breaking Bad and SoA are too violent but Justified isn’t? Wow interesting. Justified is just as bad as either of them. I agree with you that Timothy deserves some emmy love though. Great show.
It seems a lot like Emmys are picked on reputation alone, not on actual performance. Modern Family was great early on, it even has some really funny moments now, but the whole cast should not be nominated. The show has not been THAT great for a couple of seasons now.
I’ve decided I’m snubbing the Emmys until they can get their act together and recognize the REAL best shows on TV: Sons of Anarchy, Southland, and Justified. The fact that SoA is always overlooked screams Politics, and if they’re going to be that blatant about it, it makes the show no fun to watch and they don’t deserve my viewership. And I say this as a lifelong awards show watcher. But the Emmys are the worst. No better than the People’s Choice at this point.
1 nomination per show per category. I’ve have enough of mediocre modern family taking up all the nominations….Emmy’s have been a joke for years now. There are just far too many channels with far too many shows. This is why all these critic awards have been coming out these past few years because Emmys don’t mean much anymore.
I’m actually a little surprised that Fringe slipped past the typical genre snub for sci-fi/fantasy shows. I always think that Jensen from Supernatural gets snubbed – that show may have been crap the last two seasons, but he’s always amazing, even when he has next to nothing to work with script-wise or actor-wise. The Emmys are notorious for snubbing these guys and ladies, though, and maybe they should just start Sci-Fi/Fantasy categories (show, actor, actress, etc.) so they don’t have the option to ignore them.
But the Saturn Awards aren’t NEARLY as prestigious as the Emmys or Golden Globes, and I don’t think it is fair to discount certain shows/actors because they are classified as genre series. The academy needs to stop being so pretentious and actually give Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror shows their proper due. And I agree that particularly Jensen Ackles work on Supernatural has been drastically overlooked by both the Academy, and by critics.
Oh yeah definitely not as prestigious. Battlestar Galactica never won any major Emmys. It won some technical ones but that’s it. Not even any nominations above technical awards really and that show was one of the best dramas/scifi shows every made. Won a Hugo and a Peabody. After that I kinda feel they should have a SciFi/Horror/Fantasy category all it’s own. I enjoy Supernatural as well and Jensen is a great actor. They should have stopped at season 5 though and let him pursue bigger things.
Do not agree with this list just like I do not agree with most of the nominations. Most of them represent obscure shows with a small viewership. And mostly all of them are on cable. And how shows with despicable and devious characters get lauded as great entertainment is beyond me. And just how many times is Juliana Margulies going to be nominated? She’s good but not great, and I’m saying that as a fan. And Archie Panjabi, again? What is it going to take for someone of the caliber of Sandra Oh to actually be recognized? Few actors can match her depth, range and level of craftmanship. And Glee? Really? Who can seriously believe that train wreck of a show deserves any recognition at all? Even their own fans are abandoning it in droves.
Our despicable, devious, HUMAN characters are interesting. If you want disgustingly sweet, cookie cutter characters, go watch Little House on the Prairie reruns.
I think part of the problem with the Emmys is that TV has gotten SO MUCH BIGGER and the Emmys haven’t. Nobody wants a 6 hour award show but there is so much more, better TV than there used to be. In general, films come out in around the same number every year. So many studios can only produce so many films in a twelve month period, but the Oscars expanded to include more best picture noms. Emmy should expand some of its categories too.
Happy you included Glee. That was a huge snub for me because I don’t think Glee has ever been better. Season 2 was an uneven mess and Season 1′s back nine episodes were constantly awful but Season 3 was absolutely the best-written and most consistent season to-date. I wish it would have been recognized but I’m not surprised because the Emmys care more about shows’ reputations than what they actually bring to the table. Would have loved to see some acting nods for Lea Michele, Naya Rivera and Max Adler.
Anna Torv and John Noble and Fringe were robbed! They were spectacular this last season and deserved a nod for it.
More The Walking Dead love would have been much deserved as well.
Parks and Rec needs to be recognized by the Emmys! It gets better every season. It’s a shame. But it’s a tough race for comedies this year, and I’m happy that Amy Poehler got nominated!
What about the fact that they never show Castle the respect they should get?!
and what about The Big Bang Theory? Each of them deserve an Emmy – particullary Jim Parsosns (yes, another one)
Sons of Anarchy, Justified, House, Fringe, and the list goes on. For none of them to be nominated disgusts me. There’s a long list of talented actors and actresses on these shows. For Anna Torv to not receive a nomination is appalling.
Probably because the cut-off for eligibility is in May; by that time the regular season shows/finales are fresher in voters’ minds and the summer shows have been forgotten.
They submit episodes and the voters watch all of them and vote. That is all they are supposed to judge off of so the “fresh in their minds” argument doesn’t really work. At least it doesn’t if they actually sit down and watch all the submissions and then vote. It’s not like they just watch TV for a year and then fill out a ballot. These are all based on specific episodes.
Honestly, I highly doubt they watch all of those episodes. Emmy voting is no better than Presidential elections; everyone either votes for people they know, work with, or they recognize the name. It’s no more complicated than the vast majority of political voters who vote based on who has a “D” or “R” next to their name.
What about Lea Michelle? Kerry Washington? Sandra Oh? Madeleine Stowe? Emily Vancamp? Lana Parilla? Robert Carlise? Not to mention Once Upon a time and Revenge. Seriously these were he biggest snubs if you ask me. The Emmy’s and Globes have lost me now. Its just the same old same old year in year out.
I was happy to see “Veep” get a little love, but I was disappointed to see Anna Chlumsky get overlooked. Her “he’s s**t” speech from the first episode is MUCH quoted in my house.
None of these bother me, because the Emmy’s like all the othe Awards shows tend to be irrelevent drivel controlled by special interest groups who would rather reward crap than anything truly deserving.
How do Zooey Deschanel and Max Greenfield get nominated for acting, but New Girl gets snubbed for Best Comedy (replace Glee with New Girl and your list is spot on)? New Girl even got writing and directing noms. I am confused…
Lena Headey got completely snubbed for Game of Thrones. I am shocked she was not nominated. Her performance alone in the Blackwater episode, as Cersei gradually unravels, is one of the most solid performances I have seen this year
I just can’t believ SOA has been snubbed AGAIN!! And nothing fro the Walking Dead at all either!!! I just don’t understand hoe these great shows keep getting passed by????????
They’re genre shows and the academy is snooty about giving out nomination for those types of things. Which is stupid and something they need to get over.
CASTLE (best tv-drama, best actress- Stana Katic, best actor Nathan fillion) Fringe (John Noble, Anna Torv, Blair Brown and Jasika Nicole … and yes also Joshua Jackson ), The whole cast of Raising Hope! Morea baccarin
I really disagree with Emmy’s committee
!
Mireille Enos got snubbed even in the snubs list..
Comment by Gustavo Oliveira – July 19, 2012 09:13 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I have three names for you: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Eric Kripke. Jensen gave the performance of a lifetime in season 5 of SUPERNATURAL, Jared did the same this year with his Lucifer-hallucination arc, and I’m sorry, but Eric Kripke just needs to be handed the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series because he has created 7 solid seasons of a show that got moved from midweek to the Friday death slot BACK to midweek for next season.
Cosigned! Particularly Jensen Ackles in season 5. He needs some kind of retroactive Emmy for that. Also think Jim Beaver deserves a supporting actor nod. He’s been consistently amazing as Bobby.
Ohmygod, he is amazing as Bobby, he’s one of the staples holding the show together, not that it’s falling apart. And I think Mark Shepperd as Crowley deserves a nomination for Best Supporting Actor too, because he was just insanely awesome. And HOW did Genevieve Cortese not get one for Ruby?? This show is so overlooked it’s not even funny.
I like Supernatural but there is no way in hell that it is or ever will be Emmy nominated. Just not up to snuff. It’s great for what it is, but not gonna win an Emmy any time soon.
I am a die-hard, obsessed Castle fan, but even I can acknowledge the fact that the show in general is not Emmy-worthy. It’s a procedural and the story lines are cheesy. I think shows like Castle, Glee, and Big Bang Theory thrive in the Critics Choice Awards, where TV shows can be hit-or-miss without being criticized.
With that being said, I DO think Stana Katic deserves a nod for her (dramatic) work, throughout this season specifically. Not even the show or Nathan Fillion. I just think Stana deserves some recognition for her work.
As amazing as Castle is, I like it in a different way than I would like, say, the show Girls. I respect the acting, writing, directing, etc way more with Girls, but Castle is still my favorite. And the Emmys are all about the latter.
Nothing personal, I do like Glee. But I used to LOVE it, and now is just a show I see when there’s nothing else on the DVR. I don’t think is a snub, I think is justified and a hit for the show runners who should know by now that the series is not working anymore.
I would say Castle was snubbed, as a series and as a cast. I know that with GoT or MadMen out there they don’t get a chance, but…
And in comedy I’ll call it on DropDeadDiva, an amazing series, really funny that is snubbed every year by everyone.
I’m absolutely shocked that Glee wasn’t nominated. But I don’t think they would’ve won considering the competition in that category anyway. It’s still sad though!
Yes to Hugh Laurie. Just because the show went to hell doesn’t mean his acting did because let’s face it he is one of, if not the best actors on television. Yes to everything else on this list as well, except Glee because this season was the absolute worst.
Back-to-back series premiere: Anne Heche ('Hung') stars in this comedy as a pretty terrible wife and mom who survives a near-death experience to find she now receives messages from God.
it was a general comment about a lot of shows and actors
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