Since the Emmy nominations announced today, some celebration is in order! We polled our lively Team Experience for their thoughts on today's results, starting with their favorite nominees across any of Emmy's umpteen categories. Before we bemoan what got left out, let's pop a cork and spend some time on the many exciting nominees that made the cut:
What nomination made you the happiest?
JASON - LAURA DERN, OBVIOUSLY. I mean what am I, an animal?
LYNN - B.D. Wong as Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Mr. Robot). While Emmy voters cooled on Mr. Robot this year - a shame, since I maintain the second season was actually stronger than the first - I'm happy to see they did recognize one of its standout turns: B.D. Wong as the enigmatic White Rose. Whether appearing as the female leader of the Dark Army or the male Chinese Minister of State Security, he was always absolutely mesmerizing to watch, offering glimmers of insight but never full access to the character's agenda and putting a slyly subversive spin on the old trope of the "inscrutable Oriental."
CHRIS - I'm going to cheat times eight, because the eight nominations for RuPaul's Drag Race was even more than we could have hoped for! That Reality Competition nomination has been a long time coming for a category of repetitive players, but each of noms it earned feel like a nod to a crucial element of the show - Untucked, casting, editing, etc. The cherry on top is that two former contestants landed a nomination for their behind-the-scenes work on the show: season 2's Raven for makeup and season 3's Delta Work for hairstyling!
JORGE - I was truly surprised Pamela Adlon made it in for Comedy Actress. She was my favorite performance last year and was ready to dismiss it as the Biggest Snub. I was also thrilled for Kathryn Hahn and Alison Wright, both overdue.
SPENCER - In a field dominated by bleak dramas and stuffy period pieces, it was such a breath of fresh air to see Black Mirror: San Junipero being recognized in TV Movie. Both heartbreaking and life affirming, this was one of television's finest hours of the last season, and it was rightfully represented.
ERIC - I'm thrilled to see Kathryn Hahn get in for her sophisticated, transcendent acting in Transparent, and nominations for both Bill Camp and Alexander Skarsgard in the Supporting Actor, Mini/Movie category are both wonderful surprises for character actors who don't usually get this kind of well-deserved recognition.
DENNY - Given the character's arc, I probably shouldn't have been so worried about Ron Cephas Jones getting nominated for his touching performance on This Is Us, but I was worried it would seem too easy or too baity somehow. But his performance is so perfectly rough around the edges, never leaning into the saintly glow the show tried to frame him with, that I was pulling for him more than any other member of that sterling ensemble.
SEAN - Vanessa Bayer's inclusion in Supporting Actress in a Comedy for Saturday Night Live is truly a shock, and welcome recognition of a hardworking ensemble member in her final year on the show, and one not helped on the way to awards attention by a big budget film.
KIM - Give Elisabeth Moss the Emmy she deserved for Mad Men. She is magnificent in The Handmaid's Tale. I'm also thrilled for Sterling K. Brown who owns This is Us and gave the best male performance on TV last year. He's on a completely different level than the rest of his castmates, and that's saying a lot because they are all excellent.
BEN - I have never been the biggest Shailene Woodley fan, but I thought she was spectacular in Big Little Lies. No one really predicted it, but I'm great with the inclusion.
MARGARET - For the second year running the brilliant Crazy Ex-Girlfriend struck out in all major categories - expected, though disappointing. It managed to net just one nomination this year, sneaking into the Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics category for the song "We Tapped That Ass." It's a joyful and hilarious number that expertly riffs on Singin' in the Rain's "Moses Supposes" (with a raunchy twist) and features, naturally, an extended duo tap-dance routine. I love it with all my soul and I'm so glad it was recognized.
What were your favorite nominations, readers?