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!
skip advertisement
1 of 38
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!
AHS seems to be in the mini-series category. Not sure they are doing supporting actresses for that. I guess because each season is stand alone that is why it can be put there.
Actually I don’t get Kathy Bates drama nod or John Cryer’s comedy nod… but really a lot of the nominations are pretty solid. I don’t watch a lot of comedies so I can’t judge that. I love Modern Family and New Girl. I don’t do NBC sitcoms so sorry I can’t cry foul for you on those. But I do watch almost all of the drama nominations and they all had solid years. Three of our favorites… Breaking Bad, Homeland and Mad Men are up there. I would have added Justified but I know last season wasn’t as strong as the year before. But Steve Buscemi vs Bryan Cranston vs Michael C. Hall vs John Hamm vs Damian Lewis??? (Sorry haven’t seen Downton Abby but I plan to) Of course Bryan Cranston acts circles around all of them right now but still that’s a very strong category and hard to pick. Drama is tough right now and Comedy is the ugly step child.
I personally think that Mark Harmon should be nominated for NCIS because frankly, he’s an amazing actor. Also, Fringe and more importantly John Noble who is a brilliant actor should most definitely be nominated. Although it’s Sci/Fi, it’s kinda hard to overlook him. Just my opinion.
let’s get real people………………….. just because you love a show doesn’t mean it deserves an Emmy. Glee? really? I love it too but maybe an Emmy for choreography or something. A few of the names and shows being thrown around here are crazy. Remember, they submit one episode to showcase their acting. Sometimes that’s all it take, one strong episode to make the voters take notice and sometime it’s the whole season that makes you want to see a person get a nomination. Also can be said for a show as a whole….. one episode might not be enough for voters to get it, to think it’s as great as we think it is. Especially slightly odd quirky sitcoms. If they aren’t watching it regularly, they might not get it when it comes time to screen them. The same goes in reverse …. one very strong episode can make the voters take notice when normally the show or actor isn’t that great as a whole. Just saying!
I keep seeing these comments that repeatedly say things like “if it wasn’t for Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, etc…” then my show would have gotten nominated. How do you make that comment and not realize what you are saying. You are admitting your show is not as good as these (or in some cases claiming bias from critics). These are GREAT shows with real characters and writing that is out of this world. Then people try to compare that to something like OUAT or Grey’s or Scandal or Revenge. Maybe I am biased, but you just got your answer right there as to why these shows didn’t get the nominations you wanted. They just aren’t as good. Many of them are fluff with some unrealistic soap opera story lines that revolve around silly “who is gonna hook up with who” “drama”. Then the solution is suddenly “lets ask the emmy’s to break up cable and network tv to make it fair.” That’s not fair. If you can’t compete with the outstanding shows on cable too bad. Why try to dumb the awards down just to make everyone happy? Sure there are nominations I don’t agree with, but there are plenty I like. And being objective, shows I don’t even watch but I know deserve to be there made it. I’m fine with that.
Look at the end of the day for me yes these dramas nominated are better in the eyes of the Emmy people who select them but there needs to come a time where the Emmy’s notice broadcast and cable in their categories instead of one full blown category. Nothing has changed in the awards in years. Our TV industry is moving forward while they are just living in the dark ages. Sorry but its how i feel. Even Best NEW Show category would be good but no they don’t do that either.
Is there something stopping the networks from making a good drama that I don’t know about? They care about ratings and ad revenue. That will never be in line with producing award winning TV because the ratings prove that the biggest award winners tend to get average ratings at best, with a few exceptions. I imagine pretty much every drama on CBS destroys the ratings of MM, BB, an GoT. But it’s all procedural stuff geared towards men and older viewers. Almost everything on ABC is geared towards women. Same with the CW for the most part. That is their target audience. They are in the business of generating ratings for their target demos and the show quality does not matter as long as it produces numbers. Like I said, why change the rules just to accommodate their business model. They choose making money over making quality tv and if they don’t get awards, too bad.
Your ratings comparison is somewhat suspect because not everyone HAS cable or HBO, whereas virtually everyone has the network channels. Also, as per your question “why can’t network produce same quality as cable?” it’s worth noting that the content restrictions on cable are laxer than network TV, and premium networks like HBO have no content restrictions at all. I don’t think you *necessarily* need lots of violence or sex or drugs to make a good show, but the fact is the less restrictions you are working under from FCC, the more freedom you have to do what you want and to be “edgy.” That has really helped shows like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under and Dexter, etc. that deal with things you could NEVER put on network TV. Acting like it’s apples to apples comparing cable/premium with basic network production is willfully obtuse. And it’s partly why I think people are justified in arguing they should perhaps be judged separately.
What do they show on breaking bad that could not be put on in the 10pm hour on a network? Or Mad Men as well? The FCC doesn’t regulate and censor content like you think they do. Nudity and language yes, but even network tv language in the 10pm hour is pretty bad. Not to mention all the sex. They get away with plenty that they could not before. Saying the networks are at a disadvantage just isn’t true if the shows are being judged solely on merit.
I must watch the wrong shows or something, because even in the snubbed shows I didn’t see one I watched. Even so, I’m not mad about any, though I do think Scott Caan deserves some props for his work on Hawaii Five-0.
Ugh modern family is so overrated. It’s ridiculous to have the entire cast nominated when the cast of Parks and Rec and Community have no recognition…
Happy for Bill Hader tho
I am a Glee fan but agree that it SHOULD NOT have been nominated. Their best moments this past season were actually more drama than comedy. It doesn’t have laugh out loud moments like it did season 1 that it doesn’t fit into a comedy anymore.
Glad to see AI didn’t get nominated either. The show just isn’t the same anymore. It is too overproduce and over dramatic that musical talents is lost.
Upset that Community and especially Joel McHale can’t get any Emmy love. But the whole cast really shines and makes the show work. Need to have a best cast category for shows like this.
The biggest snubs to me were Community, Fringe, and Once Upon a Time. I thought Jane Epsen deserved a writing nomination for “Skin Deep” on ONce Upon a Time. I think Fringe’s John Noble and Once’s Robert Carlyle deserved supporting drama nods.
No nomination for Idol makes me feel personally insulted…although I am too attached to that show. No love for Parenthood? The entire cast of The Office shut out? And I think Jennifer Carpenter deserves a nomination. Ugh, sad.
The P&R snub is really unbelievable. And while I am not surprised that he didn’t get a nomination, I am surprised that Mandy Patinkin’s incredible work on Homeland didn’t at least get recognized in your list of 37(?!) snubs (especially when you included Glee, Mariksa, Courtney Cox, etc. Really?)
I’m happy about Mayim Bialik and Bill Hader. But no Michael Pitt for Boardwalk?? And no Best Comedy nod for Louie??? That’s an absolute travesty, it’s one of best reviewed shows on tv!
By leaving out Louie, Parks and Rec, and Community I guess it will give them an excuse to give the award to 30 Rock yet again. If it goes to Girls I don’t think I could ever take their judgement seriously again.
Funnily enough I get the feeling that people have the impression that she, as an actress, is so much like the character she plays that it is not really ‘merited’ for her to get kudos for it. I don’t necessarily agree, but I think that might be the sensibility a good number of people have about her and her performance on 30 Rock.
Enlightened, Laura Dern as well as Parks & Rec were the biggest snubs for me. I’m happy though for all the Breaking Bad, Nurse Jackie, Girls, Veep and Damages nominations. Also happy for the Parks&Rec and Community writing nominations.
I am super angry about the lack of Son’s of Anarchy love. I am also really really irritated about Hugh Laurie not getting a nod for the final season of House. The finale was fantastic same thing for Robert Sean Leonard.
I love Glee,but this season was horribly written. If Santana’s storyline had actually been taken seriously Naya Rivera would be a shoe in for an Emmy. But as they always do the storyline of Santana’s coming out was written to highlight Finn and Quinn’s paralysis storyline was written to highlight Blaine. Actors can only work with what is written for them and in my opinion Naya Rivera acted the hell out of a poorly written script.
I know that sci-fi shows were always snubbed by the Emmys but knowing that John Noble didn’t get any nomination still hurts. Come on Emmys, you better give him a nomination next year for the final season of Fringe.
The reason I hate entertainment awards is because of the politics involved. The right people never win (or if they do it’s rare) because it doesn’t fit in with the industry’s politics.
Seriously…No Supernatural! It’s always the same. This GREAT show has been on the air for 7 going on 8 seasons and they don’t get any recognition. It is filled with very talented actors, both the leads and the supporting cast. Jensen is the best out there. You can’t convince me otherwise. When will the Emmy’s wake up and see this!!!!!! Somebody PLEASE sit them down and watch the show!! Come on!!
To suggest that Glee and American Idol were snubbed is LAUGHABLE. Does anyone think either show is actually good anymore? The writing on Glee is just plain horrific.
Biggest Acting Snubs:
Drama:
Jason Isaacs (Awake)
Nathan Fillion (Castle)
Stana Katic (Castle)
Anna Torv (Fringe)
John Noble (Fringe)
Robert Carlyle (Once Upon a Time)
Comedy:
Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory)
Mayim Bialek (The Big Bang Theory)
Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory)
Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory)
Wow… totally didn’t realize Mayim Bialek actually DID get a Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy nod. That’s great… but I’m still pissed about the other snubs.
I had a little hope that Courteney Cox or anything Cougar Town related would get some Emmy love, but apparently, this did not happen. Modern Family turned into utter garbage after the second season, I can’t believe that it’s still garnering all those nominations.
Biggesr Shocker: The Good Wife being shut out of Best Drama Series! MADNESS!
Snubs: Community, and all things related Community, Cougar Town, Courtney Cox, and Glee, and Lea Michele.
Unfortunately most procedurals (take Bones and Castle, hell most cop shows) and scifi shows (BSG, Fringe) won’t ever get a nod, because the emmies are very biased against it. Nevermind some of the actors deliver some outstanding performances at times.
While overhyped shows like Modern Family get all the spotlights.
No one can say Homeland was snubbed by any means (congrats to Damien Lewis, Claire Danes and the series itself), and I agree so much with this list, particularly Kurt Sutter’s masterpiece, Sons Of Anarchy. That having been said, I want to at least acknowledge Mandy Patinkin for his supporting actor work on Homeland. His multi-layered performance as Saul Berenson brought some real heart to an otherwise dark and twisty post-9/11 drama. Even if this doesn’t quite qualify as a snub, I happily give credit where credit is due.
OMG, Robert Carlyle! I totally forgot about him; his work as Rumpelstiltskin is phenomenal. He deserved a supporting actor nod for sure. But I also think he’ll have lots of other opportunities and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t pull off a Golden Globe or an Emmy nom at some point in the future.
Each year, it amazes me when John Noble isn’t nominated. I don’t know how anyone can watch him as Walter/Walternate/New-Time-Line Walter/New-Time-Line Walternate and not just hand him an Emmy. Same thing goes for Anna Torv and her many variations of Olivia. But then, this is why I don’t watch the Emmys. The nominees always seem to be either the same people or just another actor from a show that always gets nominated. For instance, I love “Modern Family” but don’t understand why all the actors are nominated every year. There are plenty of other comedies with great casts that are just as funny if not funnier, such as Happy Endings. And for once, it would be great to see a show or an actor from the USA Network get nominated.
Joel Kinnaman, Jason Isaacs, Sandra Oh, and Hugh Laurie were all at the top of their game this year. And Anika Noni Rose had two breakout guest starring turns this year – one on The Good Wife and the other was her incredible performance on Private Practice. Do the people that nominate actually watch any of the shows they submit? I’m very disappointed in the nominations.
Double-episode Season 3 premiere: Stanton hires a legal heavyweight (new cast addition Heather Locklear, 'Melrose Place') to help run the firm; the gang moves into Infeld's beach house.
Live midseason premiere: William Shatner ('Boston Legal') and Brian Baumgartner ('The Office') guest-star as Joy discovers what shady business Elka and Mamie have been up to.
No love for Parenthood? The entire cast of The Office shut out? And I think Jennifer Carpenter deserves a nomination. Ugh, sad.
![The Voice Season 4 Finale Recap: They're All Stars Tonight [Updated]](http://pmctvline2.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/the-voice-season-4-finale-recap1.jpg?w=514){kind=small}
Comments (552)