We've Hit The Emmy Eligibility Wall. Who Are You Rooting For?
Thursday, May 29, 2014 at 1:53PM Saturday May 31st marks the final day of Emmy eligibility for the 2014 ceremony. Given the wildly varying schedules of television series in our modern 1,000+ channel world, episodes airing after this date will still apply if the season has enough episodes out to qualify. Eligibility periods can get confusing. Take Penny Dreadful on cable and Black Box (with Kelly Reilly and Vanessa Redgrave) on ABC for perfect examples. Both debuted before the cutoff date but neither of them have aired more than half their first season episodes yet so do they qualify or do they have to wait until next year? (Any Emmy trivia experts out there know?)
Simpler examples that can still be a bit headscratching to the flow of the calendar happen over at Netflix. [Lots more after the jump...]
Simpler examples that can still be a bit headscratching to the flow of the calendar happen over at Netflix. House of Cards and Orange is the New Black were both huge smashes for Netflix in 2013. House of Cards which debuted in the winter, was eligible for the 2013 Emmys but Orange, which debuted in the summer just after the eligibility period but well before the actual Emmys, was not. So while Orange is the New Black's Second Season is enjoying its binge-watching love-in starting on June 6th (we'll cover it in a special experimental episode of Hit Me With Your Best Shot), Emmy voters will be gearing up to vote on its first season (balloting starts on June 9th) while they're also voting on the second season of House of Cards even though both shows have been around the same amount of time. Time is a flat circle.
They'll No Longer Be Hogging Nominations
Bad news for new shows. Only one real Emmy juggernaut went off the air in 2013 and that was 30 Rock, making the comedy series categories fluid this year. Otherwise nearly all the same shows Emmy loved in multiple categories are still around. Even Breaking Bad, which feels like it is long gone, is eligible due to that cheating "first half now. first half later" tactic -- the same one that Mad Men will try to game the system with next year. If it works for both shows, expect virtually every beloved TV program to drag out their final seasons for a year after the team has already disbanded.
Last Chance... for love ♫
The following shows are now off the air so this is their last shot at golden winged glory: Breaking Bad (the final eight episodes) and How I Met Your Mother (though Emmy love has always been fickle with that series)
Introducing...
Shameless (Showtime) isn't new but they've suddenly decided it's a comedy after years of trying to make headway as a drama and having virtually no luck. But on to the real newbies... The following shows are eligible for the first time but breaking through the heavy walls of recurring favorites can be tough outside of the more excitable awards realms of, say, The Globes or the Broadcast TV critics peeps. New and High Profile: Orange is the New Black (Netflix which will compete in comedy), The Blacklist (NBC), Getting On (HBO), Looking (HBO), True Detective (HBO which will compete in drama series rather than miniseries due to all the fluid categorizations these days), Silicon Valley (HBO), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox, and the Globe winner in January), Ray Donovan (Showtime); New but Lower Profile OR Less Likely: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Fargo (which will compete in miniseries), The Goldbergs, Turn, About a Boy... and so on...
WHO ARE YOU ROOTING FOR IN THE TOP CATEGORIES?
I'm more concerned with your opinion than my own this year since I wasn't watching much TV outside of a handful of series. I sampled some other things but these are the ones I watched every episode of and am thus qualified to judge...
MASTERS OF SEX
My pick for Best Drama for the 2013/2014 season... though the Globes (which have a different eligibility period) only nominated Michael Sheen last year, that outcome was strange since he's the show's weak link and one can argue, the thing preventing it from really being a hit. You can make a case for its scripts and direction with ease but the absolute #1 priority for a nomination is Lizzy Caplan for Best Actress, doing the best work of her highly enjoyable and quite singular career (quick, name an actress like her. It's hard, right?). My second choice is in Supporting Actress & Guest Actress fields where just about everyone is stellar, my favorites being: Helene Yorke (as the very willing participant / secretary), Julianne Nicholson (as a perpetual killjoy doctor), Annaleigh Ashford (as the lesbian prostitute) and Alison Janney (as the Provost's wife). They're all sublime. I assume Janney especially has a "Guest Actress" slot lined up but Emmy really needs to look at the rules regarding that category because she's on the show way too often to be a "guest" and not a regular. It's like Joan Cusack always getting "Guest" nominations for Shameless (the show's only Emmy pull, really) even though she's in every episode for multiple seasons.
I think Teddy Sears is wonderful on the show as a handsome promiscuous doctors who isn't too self-aware about his emotional life but unfortunately for him, I doubt it's the type of role that Emmy voters would think of as difficult even though I'm willing to bet it is.
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
If I had to bet -- not that I'm any good at Emmy prognostication -- I'd think this is a sure thing to fill any Emmy comedy hole left by the departure of 30 Rock. You could fill the whole supporting actress roster with this show for starters and not to have make any embarrassing choices to do so. The ensemble is so strong I don't even have a personal favorite. It changes by the episode. That right there might be the biggest problem for the show. If voters feel similarly how will any one performer win enough votes to break through the regular Emmy roster?
GETTING ON
Adore it. And it needs awards tractions given less than sizzling ratings. Will this low key comedy work for the voters?
NURSE JACKIE
Too long in the tooth for major awards traction (though Merrit Wever's surprise win last year for her awesome work as Nurse Zoe might indicate they're more interest than they appear to be) but the show keeps pushing itself and stays fresh with shifts in Jackie's sobriety or addiction and cast changes each year. Still I'd be hard pressed to say that this one thing needs to be nominated this year though I think it would be sweet if they finally recognized Peter Facinelli's often hilarious and surprisingly multi-note performance as Doctor Cooper.
TRUE DETECTIVE
Overrated by a country mile but that means LOTS of Emmy nominations are coming. It'll just be interesting to see which Drama Series regular nominees get pushed out of their categories since they're campaigning that way despite its anthology nature. For instance, if Emmy voters buy the non mini-series categorization, there's going to be a lot Emmy pain in Best Actor since they could take two of the six spots for Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey.
LOOKING
Hopes for this show's Emmy prospects are dim at best, since it's such a target of pissy scorn even within its key demographic. But it's really good! Can it manage any nominations?
MAD MEN
Since you should think only about the season you're watching when it comes to Emmy voting this is a tough one. 7 episodes is just not very much to go on at all so I wouldn't be surprised, given the downward plunge in the show's Emmy honors last season if we see it vanish from major categories. Mad Men has a gargantuan cast and no one beyond Jon Hamm's Don Draper gets much attention every episode, so I'm not sure who I'd even nominate this season particularly because we've only seen half of what we usually get in terms of screen time to pick those MVPs. They've got a gorgeous aggressive Emmy campaign this year and that might have been enough in previous years of full length seasons. This time I'm not so sure. That said, the beautiful send off for Robert Morse could well secure him another Guest Actor nomination.
All of the principle actors on this show should have won Emmys long ago but unless Emmy voters feel guilty about the shameful stat that the best acted show of the decade has not won a single Acting Emmy, I don't think their Emmy problem is going away.
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN
It was a fun hot mess but I'm not sure I'd nominate it for anything... unless they had a category for Most Adept at Providing Fodder For Social Media
OTHER SHOWS...
The Fosters started strong (Teri Polo is the MVP by a wide margin) but it quickly derailed falling curse to the dread Brothers & Sisters plague. I see this time and again with family or human-scale soaps and I wish they would all be forced to study classics of the genre from earlier decades like Six Feet Under, my so called life, Once & Again or Thirtysomething where sometimes entire episodes would hinge on one little detail about a relationship or someone's personality or a communication problem and you'd be in tears from the relatability. The genre is having such a hard time producing great series any more since writer's rooms seem convinced that dramatizing everyday interpersonal dynamics is just not supersized enough anymore. So instead they layer on crises after crises after crises usually with life or death and actual crime thrown in. Absolutely no one could escape mental institutions / jail / drugs / suicide if every week of their lives was this unstable and dramatic. The intent of The Fosters is not, by all indications, to make you question the parenting skills of the gorgeous open-hearted lesbians at the center, but the second half of the first season had me doing just that. No parent in their right mind, when they had this many crises going on would keep making such gigantic impulsive life decisions back to back to back. That is turning into one unstable home. The intimate sized every day details about raising blended interracial and adopted/biological families and winning and keeping the trust of people you love and so on can be beautifully judged but those key moments are now completely smothered in excess... especially toward the end of the season as if every single episode needed cliffhangers and hysteria and multiple variations (crime! possible murder! death! funerals! alcoholic relapses! incest!)... Seriously that writers room needs to breathe and calm the fuck down. I wouldn't have gone on about this at length but for my heartbreak at losing the thread of something so promising and touching. They're ruining a beautiful little show at breakneck speed with their hysteria. Is Ryan Murphy consulting or something? Good TV is about stamina so save some for later.
Agents of SHIELD did the reverse of The Fosters, starting weak but improving significantly as it went... but not enough.
I think that RuPaul's Drag Race is the best reality show on television but I've long since given up hope that Emmy voters will recognize its almost subversive brilliance. They're content to just xerox their nomination ballots in the reality categories each and every year as if their entire organization is just a sham storefront to mass-produce statues for The Amazing Race.
Reader Comments (54)
The Lesbian prostitute in Masters of Sex isn't Nina Arianda, its Annaleigh Ashford.
Frances Conroy was the MVP of American Horror Story this year and deserves a nomination. However I think bigger names like Bates, Basset and maybe even Roberts could get in before her.
-Tatiana Maslany should receive all of the Best Actress Drama Series nominations--one for Sarah, one for Helena, one for Allison, one for Cosima...ok, maybe Rachel should be supporting.
-All things Orange is the New Black.
-Anything but Modern Family. Never been funny. Never will be funny.
Victor - thanks. what a dumb error. my bad. fixed.
@ o.s.
FX is not mounting a campaign for Conroy.
I'm ALL about putting my eggs in the Orange is the New Black basket. That show needs to show up everywhere. Actress, Supporting Actress (x3?), Guess Actress, Writing, Directing, Casting(!), Comedy Series, etc. It was the (dramedy) comedy highlight of the season by a country mile and its acclaim needs to add up to something, Emmys! I'm really hoping for a double digit nomination splash the way House of Cards broke through last year.
Also, The Good Wife which had a stunning season. Josh Charles being invited back would be beyond sweet and here's hoping the fabulous Christine Baranski wins it this year for some career-best work to continue the actresses-from-that-show-being-rewarded trend. *knock on wood*
Dreading the True Detective domination already. HBO is pulling hard for that one and it could end up somewhere north of 15 nominations.
Tatiana Maslany, of course. That girl is doing something spectacular, groundbreaking and historic on tv right now and it would be simply foolish to leave her out of even a nomination.
It's insane to me that Game of Thrones is airing their three biggest episodes AFTER the cutoff date since they could very well be huge gains for their actors, writers and craftspeople. Way to uncharacteristically drop the ball on that one, HBO.
Frances Conroy NEEDS to win Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for AHS: Coven or this category can be put to sleep right now. No one spun straw into gold out of their material the way she did with Myrtle Snow. BALENCIAGAAAAAA.
Rooting for Mad Men, Hannibal and The Americans. To me, the three best TV shows of this season by far. Loved House of Cards new season and loving Game of Thrones too. Girls, Orange and Louie would be my favourite comedies. And, though it may look very 2006, I've really enjoyed Grey's Anatomy's thenth season, so moving...
Also, big fan of Frances Conroy, but to me, it would be hard to choose between her and Basset.
Now, a strange statement: Tatiana Maslany is great in Orphan Black... as Helena, Allison and Sarah (in that order), but not so much as Cosima, and I fInd her really dull as Rachel. She deserves the nomination (but no more than Keri Russell or Robin Wright, for example). I'm not enjoying this new season very much.
"True Detective" isn't "overrated" at all. It's like one of the best TV series of all time already and it had only 8 episodes! So I'm rooting for this series with all my heart.
And I'm still rooting for "Mad Men" (because it is THE best TV series of all time) and "Looking" (great new show).
Love The Fosters, but cosign everything Nate said. So much promise, holding out hope for season two. Give Frances Conroy an Emmy already.
LOVE 'Getting On' -- so glad HBO renewed and didn't give in The Comeback treatment. It kind of reminded me of that show.
Mad Men deserves to be there -- I'd love to see them give a nomination and win to Robert Morse for his glorious send off. And if they can only reward one person, give it to him. Hamm will never prevail, clearly.
True Detective. Also Game of Thrones and Mad Men. I didn't even get through Orange is the New Black and have given up on The Americans as well.
Mainly McConaughey for me. I thought it was just stunning, stunning work.
Would love to see Jon Hamm finally win an Emmy, but given True Detective -- or perhaps a final one for Bryan Cranston, it seems unlikely. I do think that with the crazy split season (and yeah, I hate that I had to wait for Breaking Bad and now I have to wait for Mad Men) he does have a shot with the last 7 episodes of the show -- sort of like how they finally gave Kyle Chandler the win for Friday Night Lights...
By the way, I'd still encourage you to watch Breaking Bad, which I'm guessing you haven't seen yet? I know that sometimes it can be hard to watch something that's been hyped so much, but it's my personal favorite of the last decade. I wouldn't say it is *better* than Mad Men, but I think in terms of acting it is just about equal (though maybe not quite as uniformly strong). And while I don't know how the Emmys will view that final half season, from my perspective it was a nearly perfect final 8 episodes -- just fun, gripping, surprising and satisfying, with perhaps its best episode airing during that span.
Amy Poehler NEEDS to be an emmy winner. This is getting GROTESQUE! Not that the emmy haven't been grotesque before: emmy award winner John Cryer (multiple times and that's only the tip of the big, VERY big iceberg...)
I'm rooting for anyone from Orange is the New Black. I'd even be happy if Jason Biggs was nominated, lol
If voters were paying attention beyond the obvious, Gillian Anderson would be a clear nominee and possible winner for her cliche-exploding, riveting work on Netflix show "The Fall". Only a five episode season so easy to binge and worth every fascinating, scary minute.
My top 5 musts for Emmy picks this year.
The Good Wife: just keeps gettin' better, had a wonderful season. I would love to see Josh Charles nominated for his last season. Also Julianna Margulies has been incredible as usual, the writing is superb and Michael J Fox for guest actor.
Looking: I really don't get the Looking hate, it's such a good series, maybe it's because it's not "quirky cool" as the overrated Girls. The day long date episode deserves an Emmy alone. And it would be really nice to see Groff nominated. Also Lauren Weedman.
Scandal: It kinda got a lil' too crazy this season but it's still finger licking good. Kerry Washington is the boss, but they should look at the rest of the cast and Joe Morton plus Kate Burton really deserve a nomination as well.
The Americans: another underrated gem. Both leads should get noms, and the series. It had an amazing second season. The only thing that was missing was more Margo Martindale, because she just killed it on the first season.
Rectify: The underrated gem of underrated gems. Aden Young gives such a layered interesting performance. Give him a nom, this series needs the spotlight a nomination would bring.
I'm not too worried about Breaking Bad or Veep getting some love, but others I'm rooting for...
The Good Wife, Shameless, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Orange is the New Black, Parks and Rec, The Americans, and Masters of Sex. And Tatiana Maslany (among other deserving performers).
Mad Men cast, Veep cast, OITNB cast and TATIANA FUCKING MASLANY.
Agree with others that Tatiana Maslany absolutely deserves a best actress nomination. I constantly have to remind myself that it is the same actress playing each character, she is amazing.
I also want Amy Poehler to finally win that Emmy, and how has Nick Offerman not been nominated for playing Ron Swanson? He is brilliant!
Mad Men. So many trendy series have come and faded since it premiered in 2007, but it's remained the best show on tv. I really, really wish Vincent Kartheiser could finally score a nomination, but I'm a realist.
Amy Poehler and Jon Hamm for the win, please.
daisy-...and EVERYBODY else in that brilliant, BRILLIANT show! The best overall cast on tv right now.
Everyone saying Tatiana Maslany -- i concur. I haven't seen that many episodes (the show doesn't do it for me somehow) but she is *incredible*. It's weird that mimicry (imitating one person really well) will get you so so far with awards traction. but creating several distinct characters coherently and consistently who all happen to look alike, does not. talk about range.
My tv gets 2 stations so I have nothing to add to the discussion except I LOVE reading all the comments. I've put holds on so many DVDs at my library in the past 20 minutes just from reading everybody's thoughts!
Nathaniel, can I ask what you mean by RuPaul's Drag Race being so subversive? I've only seen one episode so I'm no expert, but I didn't see how it was much different than any other reality show.
One more thing...
-Veep is great, but I hope they find some love for Timothy Simons as Jonah. Love him.
with Nathaniel on "RuPaul's Drag Race". There's absolutely no competition when it comes to reality TV. I like Top Chef too, but other than these two, reality shows are all crap, crap, crap.
@Nathaniel, since we're on the "drag" subject, how can you NOT love a show where two litle kids like their divine gay sex-worker male nanny so much for putting them in drag that they don't ever want him to leave?! Orphan Black is just crazy good. I'm kinda obsessed about it.
As always, I'm pulling for the criminally underrated Parks and Recreation and the supremely talented Amy Poehler. #EmmysForLilSebastian
- Getting On: Everyone plus June Squibb as guest actress
- Girls: Lena, Driver + Karpovsky (supporting), Mamet (supporting), Gaby Hoffman/Patti LuPone (guest) and Rannells (guest)
- Looking: Groff + Lauren Weedman (guest)
- Louie CK (as director, writer and actor) and Ellen Burstyn (guest)
- Masters of sex: Kaplan (lead), Janney/Nicholson (supporting) and Ann Dowd (guest)
- Orange: Taryn Manning, Kate Mulgrew and Yael Stone
- Shameless: Emily Bergl (guest?).
The Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series must be handed directly to Elizabeth Moss.
I would give Tatiana Maslany the award. She is so good!
For a 100th year in a row - please give Amy Poehler the Emmy for Comedy Actress! It is getting ridiculous!
I am on the OITNB ship, so please Emmy voters shower them with nominations.
Good seasons from Mad Men (season?!), Veep, True Detective, Game of Thrones.
I love the work of Elisabeth Moss this season, she is just incredible.
It would be nice if I see Looking...unrecognized. I am gay and I found it flat, I can't imagine what would people outside of its demographic think about it. Groff eating fast food for 8 episodes.
The same goes for Girls. Once a quirky little gem, now it has become a repetitive borefest with a whiny despicable leading character.
Y'all go see Treme
THE GOOD WIFE this season is one of the best series of the year
Julianna Margulies deserves emmy nomination and even win for her stellar work
Re: episodes that air after the cutoff date, see hanging episodes.
My picks (although I'm not entirely sure about some of these category placements):
Drama: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Masters of Sex, The Americans, Justified
Comedy: Parks and Recreation, Orange Is the New Black, Louie, Nurse Jackie, Archer
Lead Actor, Drama: Hamm, Cranston, Sheen, Rhys, Harrelson (True Detective)
Lead Actress, Drama: Moss, Caplan, Russell, Maslany (Orphan Black), Panetierre (Nashville)
Lead Actor, Comedy: Scott, C.K., Benjamin (Archer, although I doubt he's in contention in this category), Le Blanc (Episodes), Mangan (Episodes)
Lead Actress, Comedy: Poehler, Schilling, Falco, Louis-Dreyfus (Veep), Greig (Episodes)
Supporting Actor, Drama: Paul, Norris, Goggins, Wright (Boardwalk Empire), Peters (Treme)
Supporting Actress, Drama: Hendricks, Shipka, Gunn, Headey (Game of Thrones), Alexander (Treme)
Supporting Actor, Comedy: Offerman, Facinelli, Burrell (Modern Family), Young (Enlisted), Van Holt (Cougar Town)
Supporting Actress, Comedy: Retta, Aduba, Wever, Philipps (Cougar Town), Perkins (Episodes)
Guest Actor, Drama: Bridges (Masters of Sex), Tergesen (The Americans), Goggins (Sons of Anarchy), Herriman (Justified), Thomas (The Americans)
Guest Actress, Drama: Janney (Masters of Sex), Ashford (Masters of Sex), Nicholson (Masters of Sex), Arquette (Boardwalk Empire), Witt (Justified)
Guest Actor, Comedy: Schwartz (Parks and Recreation), Winkler (Parks and Recreation), Grodin (Louie), Merchant (Modern Family), Meloni (Veep)
Guest Actress, Comedy: Burstyn (Louie), Baker (Louie), Banks (Modern Family), Washington (Saturday Night Live), White (Nurse Jackie)
I cannot begin to think about movies and miniseries, which have been split back into two separate categories this year.
It would be nice if the trio of actresses (Margulies, Panjabi, Baranski) from The Good Wife as well as Tatianna Maslany from Orphan Black find some recognition. Still also holding out hope that Bellamy Young from Scandal finally gets some recognition.
paul -- still not sure i understand it. that implies you can just premiere a single episode before the cutoff and all the episodes would still be eligible which doesnt make sense to me. I wish the Emmys were stricter about it and then studios would just have to learn to work around it. there shouldn't be exceptions to rules with cutoff dates. - yours truly, ever the calendar purist.
I'd probably nominate The Americans, Hannibal, Orphan Black, Breaking Bad and The Originals. Oddly, with the exception of Breaking Bad, I wouldn't be surprised if those received 0 nominations between them. I'm also rooting for Veep, House of Cards, Mad Men, Orange is the New Black, Masters of Sex (although I've only seen 2 episodes - I know it's worthy) and Justified.
Damn tv is good nowadays. Awards bodies really don't have any excuses to get it so wrong, yet they do again and again.
Hanging episode rule: I'm pretty sure if only one episode premiered before the cutoff, it would be forced to go to the subsequent season
Biggest hopes?
Hannibal, Dancy and Mikkleson - horror and tragedy done amazingly, with an absolutely remarkable finale.
Game of Thrones: Well, duh.
The Americans: Rhys and Russell, of course, but Costa Ronin (Oleg), and Annet Mahendru are doing terrific, worthy work as well.
Orphan Black: Maslany is insane, but the show is really firing on all cylinders. Now, if they can get Enver.....
Masters of Sex: I don't think it's a great show, but Caplan is phenomenal
Enlisted: Parker Young and he's totally a lead.
Veep: Dreyfuss, Chlumsky, Scott for sure, but this is a can't miss ensemble.
Modern Family: I still love the show.
Looking: at least a directing or writing nomination.
Hannibal is the best-looking, best-acted, and possibly just plain BEST show on TV. Just freaking STUNNING on every level. I still pray for Emmy Rossum to get nominated for Shameless, but it ain't happening in Comedy. Not for this season (where she has done her best work, and that's saying something). Love The Americans, too.
But really, it's all about The Good Wife and Orange is the New Black. That the former had its best year ever - in its FIFTH season - is pretty amazing considering how consistently good it's been before. This season was thrilling, intricate stuff and, frankly, deserves ALL the awards. As for the latter, I want every single one of those actresses nominated. Especially Aduba, Mulgrew, and Cox.
Nat, Arkaan: I believe the rule stipulates that if your show premieres before the cut-off, you are allowed to webcast post-cut-off episodes prior to their actual TV broadcast dates, but those episodes cannot exceed a certain number, which I am not sure about. Ai yi yi.
It really is sad just how far Homeland has fallen. Don't get me wrong, I think it deserves to be missing out on most nominations this year, but two years ago this looked like the new Emmys juggernaut. Now I wouldn't be surprised if it gets shut out of all the major categories.
And as much as I think Breaking Bad deserves to win for this last 7-episode run which was absolutely stunning, I'm not totally convinced that it will just because as you pointed out, it already seems like it's been over for a long time. If it didn't win last year, it would be an absolute lock, but I'm wondering if they might not feel compelled to award it two years in a row. Then again, this is the Emmys, so what am I talking about? Of course they'd be willing to do that. Repetition is kind of their thing.
I want Orange is the New Black for everything even though it has a really off timetable.
I want Taryn Manning to get nominated, and I thought for sure she'd be the standout, but like you said the whole ensemble is great, plus now Laverne Cox is such a celebrity on her own, I'd put my money on her before any of the other supporting actresses whether she really deserves it over others or not (see: TV critics awards).
I also wouldn't nominated American Horror Story for anything but a few acting awards (although it'll get a bunch as always). I want Sarah Paulson to get nominated even though she didn't have as much to do this season simply because she should've won last time and I still feel bad.
I will also be pissed if Kathy Bates gets nominated and not Angela Bassett. Angela was the besttt. I could handle both getting nominated, but only Kathy feels so wrong to me... I know it was just a show, but it just feels like they didn't even take away the racist angle the show took. Idk lol, but how can you ignore Angela Bassett?!?
drama:
series: mad men
actress: tatiana maslany (orphan black)
actor: john hamm (mad men)
s/actress: kiernan shipka (mad men)
s/actor: vincent katheiser (mad men)
g/actress: allison janney (masters of sex)
g/actor: beau bridges (masters of sex)
comedy:
series: community
actress: martha plimpton (raising hope)
actor: garrett dillahunt (raising hope)
s/actress: gillian jacobs (community)
s/actor: chris pratt (parks and recreation)
g/actress: gaby hoffmann (girls)
g/actor: andrew rannells (girls)
animated: bob's burgers/rick and morty (tie)
reality: rupaul's drag race
reality host: cat deeley
movie: the normal heart
mini: fargo
actress: kristen wiig (the spoils of babylon)
actor: billy bob thornton (fargo)
s/actress: allison tolman (fargo)
s/actor: matt bomer (the normal heart)
Whoever said Parker Young in Enlisted is my new luvah. That show was surprisingly good, and I am annoyed that Fox just dumped it on Friday nights. PY really turned it on that show.
Remember ... like, 15 years ago ... when television just sucked? We are so lucky to have such many amazing television options now. It is wonderfully overwhelming.
Too bad cinema has sadly gone to shizz.
Agreed on Tatiana Maslany, even if the series itself is struggling to quite make the leap in its second season.
Mad Men continues to be the best show on TV by a country mile, with not a single slacker among the cast. It would be wonderful to see Elisabeth Moss rewarded, if only for her incredible moving and varied work in the last two episodes of the season, but it's long enough in the tooth for Emmy to be 'over it'.
The Good Wife will and should receive a ground surge of support for its radical fifth season restructure. Julianna Margulies, who I was never that into on ER, has been a fascinating, inscrutable centre, but Josh Charles, Christina Baransky and Matt Czuchry have all done sterling work.
It would be wonderful to see Rectify nominated for anything, but, like Hannibal, I suspect that it's too 'out there' for Emmy. Lizzy Caplan, Julianne Nicholson and Alison Janney absolutely deserve traction for their surprising characterisations on Masters of Sex. I found the show as a whole frustratingly uneven at times, but there's no denying its interest in its characters. Pretty much rambling now, but Erika Christensen was one of my biggest surprises of the TV year in Parenthood's otherwise weak fifth season. You can't fault anyone in the Orange Is The New Black cast, but will they siphon one another's votes? Taylor Schilling's unsympathetic lead performance deserves to get in, but I'm much more interested in pretty much every other cast member than Laura Prepon, who I think probably has the edge in Supporting.
I'm not sure about its eligibility, but Olivia Colman in Broadchurch was fantastic, and despite a wildly difficult and frankly bizarre season, Claire Danes, Damian Lewis and Mandy Patinkin continued to commit to all that madness on Homeland. Not a chance in hell, but Vera Farmiga is doing something very different on Bates Motel and it's baity too. Would be great to see Bellamy Young nominated for reaching above and beyond Scandal's ridiculous scripts (the praise for this show baffles me). Hayden Pannettiere is, shockingly, the best thing about Nashville, another otherwise mediocre show. Bound not to be recognised, but Katie LeClerc is marvellous on Switched At Birth, a real star.
Guest stars I'd like to see get in: Diana Rigg for GoT, Carrie Preston for The Good Wife, Matthew Lillard for The Bridge, Romy Rosemont for Glee.
Hopes:
Shows:
Parks & Rec
Justified
Orange is the New Black
The Trophy Wife (it's funny, too bad it's cancelled)
House of Cards
The Americans
Actors:
Anyone and everyone (Orange is the New Black)
Amy Poehler, Aubrey Plaza, Rob Lowe (Parks & Rec)
Christine Baranski, Alan Cumming (The Good Wife)
Keri Russell, Annet Mahendru (The Americans)
Charles Esten, the Stella sisters (Nashville)
Robin Wright, Michael Kelly (House of Cards)
Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins (Justified)
Michaela Watkins, Albert Tsai (The Trophy Wife)
Hamish Linklater (The Crazy Ones)
Ed O'Neill (Modern Family)
James Spader (The Blacklist)
And
Angela Bassett, because she's Angela freaking Bassett
Please no for Big Bang Theory, Downtown Abbey, and Survivor
Another vote for Tatiana Maslany.
Brooklyn 99, especially the supporting cast.
I really, REALLY don't understand how no actor from Parks and Rec aside from the perpetual Lead Actress nod to Amy Poehler has been nominated. Adam Scott is doing work worthy of anyone in Lead Actor and Nick Offerman has created one of the most iconic characters of the past decade. I just can't with Jon Cryer's multiple wins.
All I really want, though, is for Allison Janney to win for Masters of Sex. God, she broke my heart in that role.
Considering how shut out it's been from acting wins, I wouldn't be surprised if the Emmys took the next two ceremonies to hand out awards to Hamm, Moss, Hendricks, and Slattery.
I said it first (Parker Young), CharlieG. ;-)
Joe Morton as supporting actor for "Scandal." He continues to be the best thing about that absurd, melodramatic, uneven piece of television whose appeal I still don't get (I only started watching toward the middle-end of this season at behest of friends who said I'd like it. Do they even know me?). He makes ever bit of dialog work in ways that it definitely shouldn't and is so present and commanding in each moment.
I will not be surprised to see Kathy Bates get in. Remember, she was nominated twice for Harry's Law largely on the fact that Kathy Bates can do no wrong as an actress. Her episodes were the best of the season. That could also mean Angela Bassett getting in, but Bates seems like the stronger contender.
Jessica Lange might not make the cut this year, though. There wasn't a lot to the role and her main storyline was one of the weaker aspects of the season.
I will be over the moon if Laverne Cox gets in for Orange is the New Black. Taryn Manning is the more likely long shot with the juicy villain role, but I'm pulling for Sophia.
ben1283
Rectify is VERY strong, but the first season would've been during the 12/13 season
Farmiga was nominated last year for Bates Motel and best actress is quite weak (drama, anyway. Comedy's a thunderbastard of a category).
And unfortunately, Broadchurch is ineligible. The Emmys should look at their rules re: international productions, because the number of them airing stateside has shifted the hierarchy.