Emmy nominations: Predictable as usual, plus some stuff you'd hoped would happen that did

Here its comes: awards season! That special time of year when the days get shorter and more famous people celebrate each other for doing all those things that made them rich while we pay for cable and become slightly less rich! It's the Primetime Emmys, and while the usual suspects have received their usual amount of nods (Mad Men, Modern Family, Breaking Bad, 30 Rock, The Good Wife), there were some surprises (Girls, American Horror Story, Game of Thrones, Sherlock, lots of Betty White), pleasant and otherwise. And after reading through the entire list of nominations, I can comfortably conclude the following things: the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is just as obsessed as everyone else is over Downton Abbey and NBC's Community is existing in another dimension than the people who nominate excellent shows for Emmys. (Yup -- almost totally snubbed.)

Jimmy Kimmel and Kerry Washington announced the list of nominees this morning, and naturally, the consensus is in partial agreement with mostly everything while wondering about the head-scratchers, like if there is some deep, evil connection between the Academy and Two and a Half Men that manages to garner that show at least one nomination every year despite it being Two and a Half Men. (Congratulations, John Cryer.) Most believe that the shows that are up for awards are plenty deserving, like 30 Rock and Modern Family, Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire. And then there are the shows that people are relieved to see nominated, like Louie, Game of Thrones, and Homeland. Always good to see that happen, right?

And then people get their hate on. I give you the multiple nominations for shows like Harry's Law, Grey's Anatomy, and Saturday Night Live, because some people love to hate Saturday Night Live while simultaneously remaining a regular viewer. (Yeah, I'm talking to you, haters -- why do you watch a show every week it's on and then spend your breath talking about it if it hasn't been good since "whatever year you feel it was good that was over 10 years ago"? Stop watching it if you don't like it, silly! Problem solved!) And shows that people generally aren't into, but they have excellent people on them (see: Mike & Molly and last year's Best Actress in a Comedy winner, Melissa McCarthy, who should win everything). But then there are the spaces filled by shows receiving multiple nominations in certain categories that many feel could have been filled by more deserving shows. Example: Modern Family, which has two nominees up for the Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy (out of six) and four in the Supporting Actor category (also out of six). Really? Not trying to undermine the talents of the Modern Family ensemble, but there really wasn't anyone else on a different show worth honoring? Like, say, from Community?

Yeah, let's talk about Community. The Rodney Dangerfield of sitcoms. How many nominations does this show get? One. For writing, which it deserves, absolutely. (For the episode "Remedial Chaos Theory.") But that was it. Nothing for the actors, nothing for the directors, not even for art direction. (Congratulations, 2 Broke Girls.) Honestly, it's depressing, I tell ya -- no respect. The Academy said to Community, "We wanna wish your mother a Happy Mother's Day Eve -- because the day before she became your mother was the happiest day of her life!"

(Sorry.)

Also nearly left out completely was The Walking Dead. One nomination: for makeup. However, that first half of the season (which should have just been called "Waiting for Sophia") did drag, and despite some truly gut-wrenching and suspenseful moments later on, it's probably not a huge injustice that it missed out on other major nominations this year. Please, feel free to disagree with me. I am totally cool with it. I just think that the change in showrunners may have thrown it off its game, which means this upcoming third season may very well be amazing.

In other genre news, though, great to see Game of Thrones get the attention it deserves and another nomination for Peter Dinklage.

I think the biggest surprise, for me, was the 17 nods for American Horror Story, the same amount of nominations as Mad Men. (In related news, Ryan Murphy's other show, Glee, was shut out of all the major categories, but Glee had a weird year. Even die-hard fans will admit that.) This is one of the biggest examples of a "sleeper hit" that I've witnessed on TV, and as a horror fan, I'm just kinda tickled that this show got this kind of attention.

And then there's Downton Abbey, the show about British people that all the people you know on Twitter were talking about earlier this year nonstop. With 16 nominations, The Guardian has a laugh at our expense from across the pond: "Looking at this year's Emmy nominations, it's hard not to crack the old joke about Americans being rendered powerless by the sight of a stately home." Well played, The Guardian. Well played.

But hey, awesome to see Breaking Bad get accolades for heading into the most unsympathetic, dark territory that, in full disclosure, I've only seen glimpses of in the fourth season's premiere. (Season four just arrived on Netflix and I'm playing catch-up. Bear with me!) Meanwhile, its AMC compatriot Mad Men had one of its more uneven seasons in its entire run, though it was sprinkled with some excellent moments throughout; Jared Harris got his going-away present for playing the doomed Lane Pryce in the form of a Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series nod, Christina Hendricks was rightly nominated for her work as Joan.

In summary, this is an unremarkable day in Emmy history. No big shockers, no bigger disappointments than usual. At least a lot of good TV was nominated. Like Robot Chicken and Children's Hospital. And Benedict Cumberbatch, Kristen Wiig (for SNL and for her voice work as Lola Bunny on The Looney Tunes Show), and Betty White.

You can read the full list of nominees at Emmys.com, in convenient pdf form! A decent abridged list on a regular-looking web page can be found at E! Online.

• [bzishi]

  The Emmy’s are a failed institution and are unable to award excellence.

  My evidence: The Wire

  I rest my case.

  • [D L]

    Still the best show ever made….especially season 1. 

• [Thad Boyd]

  I’m just happy that June Foray finally got one.

  Granted, that was the Daytime Emmys.  But JUNE FORAY!

• [Dr P Fenderson]

  “Because Community is for the geeks, while Big Bang Theory is for the non-geeks.”

  I think that sums it up perfectly. No matter that it’s one of the more innovative shows to come out in the last 10 years or so (along with Jon Benjamin Has A Van – the episodes Breakdown, The Curse, and House on the Lake were stunning). It’s just too perfect, beautiful, and niche (keyword being niche) to garner the attention of the general public. 

  Another problem could be the presentation at the beginning of the show which, even to myself and other current die-hard fans I’ve talked to, was very bland and offputting. I have to keep telling people “Just wade through the first 5 episodes or so”…because everything after it tends to be gold. Cliche sitcom drivel seems to perfectly mask the deeper currents beneath the surface, crumbling over 3 seasons into a perfect madness as the characters explore the cycle of the Hero in Campbell’s monomyth – a perfect mirror of Harmon’s embryo.

  Where else can you go to see a live-action, college sitcom do an entire “fake flashbacks” episode, 8-bit animated episode, claymation, Law & Order parody, musical Glee-parody, etc, etc? It’s like every episode is a new show.  

  Chris McKenna deserves his due, but so does Megan Ganz, Dan Harmon, and all the other amazing people involved. Too bad NBC decided it needed to boot Dan to reach a wider audience, and Chris left. Hope the ship doesn’t sink too fast.

  • [David Hughes]

    While I appreciate your support for Community and Dan Harmon, I think it’s disingenuous to say that NBC booted Harmon to reach a wider audience. Harmon appears to be a brilliant but difficult showrunner. He dragged a previously private feud with Chevy Chase public for no reason. He got snippy with NBC over various issues. He was apparently a nightmare to work and write for. I understand that he wants to maintain creative control, but there’s no reason to be so erratic and unreasonable (for lack of a better description). To quote Dustin Rowles at Warming Glow (who is an admitted Harmon devotee) ”Dan Harmon is a genius, but he’s also kind of a dick.” http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2012/05/a-showrunners-take-on-the-dan-harmon-shtcanning/#ixzz217a05jh5

    • [Dr P Fenderson]

      But, of course. However, comments from NBC exec Robert Greenblatt, the movement to mid-season last year, the change of broadcast night, comments from NBC and Sony about trying to reach a more general audience,  and the subpar ratings over the last season lead me believe that it was a more pragmatic choice – and that his bristly management tactics just made the choice more easy for them. Dan Harmon is not the easiest person to deal with, as he admits himself. But, as many said, it won’t be the same without him.

• [Eric Riley]

  Can I just say that I look forward to lots and lots more Jamie Frevele posts.  I crack up laughing every single time, and feel like these reviews are spot on target.  Kudos to BoingBoing for this!

• [Romeo Vitelli]

  Joss Whedon’s shows were routinely snubbed when they were on the air.  I fully expect the Oscars to do the same now that he’s switched to movies…

• [Nathan Hornby]

  I watched the first few episodes of Community and thought it was  awful .  I can’t help but feel I missed something, or maybe it got better?

  • [Steve Wells]

     It has it’s moments, but it is mostly awful.

  • [Rotoapi]

    I’ve enjoyed the show from the beginning, but I have heard from others (such as @drpfenderson:disqus above) that it takes a few episodes at the start to find itself, but after that, does get steadily better. I’d definitely recommend sticking with with, because it is one of the best written, clever, funny sitcoms currently on the air.

  • [giantasterisk]

    I love it, but then I’m definitely a geek. If you want to know why people love it, watch this tiny throwaway bit they did as a tag at the end of the show:

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/97892

    If you don’t like that, then yeah, you won’t like the show.

  • [penguinchris]

    It’s uneven, but the brilliant moments make up for the lackluster ones (and yeah the first half of the first season isn’t that great). I didn’t like it, at all, when I first saw it. It’s a show you have to get into, and then once you get into it, you like it a lot. But of course, not everyone will be able to get into it.

    • [Nathan Hornby]

      Well I’d like to give it a chance. I like to think that my tastes are pretty well honed, but at the same time I can generally appreciate anything for what it is. Community is something that a lot of people I know watch and like, so I figure there must be something to it. Maybe I just need to persevere and hope for the best!

      My initial impression was that it was cheap and saccharine, but then it took a couple of episodes for me to get into Modern Family, and that’s pure gold.

      • [penguinchris]

        It’s funny you describe it that way because part of its brilliance is that it does have that veneer of cheap/saccharine sitcom garbage, but subverts it relentlessly. It’s usually subtle but the whole thing is a subversion of comedy cliches if you’re paying attention – while also (theoretically) appealing to the people who like those kinds of shows, and having a whole lot of well-done completely original stuff too of course

        In other words, you have to look beneath the surface, and it’s worthwhile to do so because once you do, you find there’s a whole lot there that is absent in other shows. I’d even call it groundbreaking in that regard.

        I had seen bits and pieces from seasons 1 and 2 and didn’t like it, and then later watched all of season 3 when the season was close to ending earlier this year because there was a lot of buzz about it on Twitter (particularly from John Hodgman, who has a brilliant cameo role in one episode). I was hooked and went back and watched the first two seasons. I think I might suggest to you to skip season 1 and try to get into season 2. You can go back and watch season 1 after watching season 3.

        • [Nathan Hornby]

          Ah, maybe that’s it.

          Like how the first time I watched Scream I just thought it was a shit horror, and it wasn’t until I was a bit older that I appreciate the fact it was all tongue-in-cheek (still wouldn’t say I was a fan, but at least I can appreciate it for what it is)

          Now I just have to convince the girlfriend!

• [swell]

  I’m all for Jamie, go girl, glad you’re here !  But, if constructive criticism is still allowed, I felt like your conclusion kind of summed up by my feelings as I read the post:

  “In summary, this is an unremarkable day in Emmy history.”

  Then why does it deserve such a long play by play analysis?  You didn’t really convince me to care about the Emmy’s.  Funny/astute observations (after all I did read the whole thing)  but needs a tighter edit.  Not all posts need to continue after the jump. 

• [IronEdithKidd]

  I’ve now read the entire list.  I had no idea there was an emmy for hairstyling.  :/

  • [Romeo Vitelli]

     That hair doesn’t mousse itself, you know.

• [Jeffrey Chenette]

  Peter Dinklage is great and everything, but if any one character really shined this last season it was Arya Stark. Her scenes with Tywin Lannister were amazing. 

• [D L]

  How about Always Sunny?  I didn’t see it on there. Parks and Rec got some nominations, which was good.  Treme didn’t get any, but HBO knows it’s good so they renewed at least. 

  American Horror Story was good for the first half of the season and then completely fell apart. 

  Walking Dead was soooo slow early on, I understand it not getting awards.  Heck, they should be punished for inflicting humanity with that old timey Vet/farmer guy. 

  Breaking Bad I’ve never understood.  It seems like a wannabe Weeds (show that went off the tracks after season 3…but they still share the basic premise of middle class white people dealing drugs), but it’s just too slow for me. 

  • [luisella]

    The point of  Breaking Bad is not the drugs, is the dark side of humanity. It’s a reverse of the coming of age trope.

• [SAMO1415]

  AMC’s blog has an error on it!  They do not mention Giancarlo Esposito’s nom for best supporting actor in Breaking Bad.  They mention him in the initial text but not in the lists.

  http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-blog/2012/07/amc-2012-primetime-emmy-nominations.php?t__ts=1342730797357&t__ts=1342730808893&ts=1342730897247

  WHY WON’T THEY FIX IT?  GUS WILL SLIT THEIR THROATS!

• [Steve Wells]

  The fact that John Noble has never been nominated shows how broken these awards shows are. (Yes, he was nominated for a couple of Satellite awards and won a Saturn a few years ago, but C’Mon….”

• [decriss]

   I’m so sick of the Community and Big Bang Theory rivalry on the internet.  The problem is Community is an acquired taste.  It’s clever and it’s meta and it breaks a lot of molds for TV comedy, but that doesn’t make it better, just different which does mean a lot when TV is filled with clones and retreads.  Aside from the Dungeons and Dragons episode, I’ve never been able to fine another episode I liked.  I do have to try an episode with Inspector Space Time (please give recommendations).
  For me, I think it mostly has to do with not liking the characters.  I don’t want to spend a half hour with these people no matter how interesting what they are doing is.
  Now my love of The Big Bang Theory is really because I identify with the characters.  They are geeks and nerds like me.  My geek friends all love this show too.  My one friend’s wife has posted after certain shows about how he does exactly what Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, or Raj has done on that night’s episode. 
  I’m amazed that my parents and co-works love the show and how it lets them get their geek on a bit.  The show is very accessible to non-geeks. 
  Community isn’t that accessible and gets less so every season as the episodes are built so much on what has happened before. 

  I don’t think one is better than the other, I just know that I laugh out lout when watching BBT and when I try Community I think “oh that’s clever” but don’t really laugh.

• [P.F. Bruns]

  Congrats to Kristen Wiig, but holy CRAP.  “The Looney Tunes Show” is virtually unwatchable, and their rewrite of some of the characters–including Lola Bunny, ironically–is a major reason.  The others include the tired old sitcom setting, presented here with no irony whatsoever.  Honestly, if you’ve seen the old NBC show “Empty Nest,” you’ve almost seen this show.  Warner Bros. needs to go, as Bugs or Daffy themselves would say, back to the drawing board.  They need to figure out what made the classic shorts funny (without rehashing that, of course).