The Emmy Nominees - Everything else

Outstanding Variety Series
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight
Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

That's really all that needs to be said about that category.

Outstanding Limited Series
American Crime
American Horror Story: Freak Show
The Honorable Woman
Olive Kitteridge
Wolf Hall
Babylon?

Poldark was not eligible. That said, Freak Show? Really? REALLY? I'm glad it's up for title design, but that season was a MESS. What about Babylon? I've yet to see it, but a Danny Boyle show MUST be better. And I heard good things about the Wrong Mans... There aren't a lot of limited series, but you don't HAVE to nominate something when it goes wildly off the rails (see: The Good Wife).

Helen McCrory did it better.

Outstanding Television Movie
“Agatha Christie’s Poirot” Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case, Acorn
Bessie, HBO
Grace of Monaco, Lifetime
Hello Ladies: The Movie, HBO
Killing Jesus, National Geographic
Nightingale, HBO

Aw, yay, Poirot! I also appreciate that the BoJack Horseman Christmas episode was eligible. I'm not sure why Death Comes to Pemberly wasn't eligible - I really enjoyed that.

Outstanding Actress in a Mini-series or Movie
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Queen Latifah, Bessie
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
Emma Thompson, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Live from Lincoln Center

WHAT? LIVE SWEENEY TODD IS ELIGIBLE? IS IT ONLINE? EXCUSE ME I NEED TO GO SEE IT.

Outstanding Actor in a Mini-series or Movie
Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge
David Oyelowo, Nightingale
Adrien Brody, Houdini
Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Ricky Gervias, Derek

Ok?

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Richard Cabral, American Crime
Denise O’Hare, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Finn Wittrock, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Michael Kenneth Williams, Bessie
Bill Murray, Olive Kitteridge
Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall

Yay. I'm glad Finn got a nomination to committing so hard for some very bad writing. And... Denise?

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
Regina King, American Crime
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Angela Bassett, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Mo’Nique, Bessie
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Zoe Kazan, Olive Kitteridge

Okay.

Outstanding Special Class Program
Beyonce and Jay Z On the Run
The 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards
The Oscars
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Live From Lincoln Center)
68th Annual Tony Awards

SWING YOUR RAZOR WIDE, SWEENEY!


And finally:

Pajiba has a great reaction post to the nominations. To which I would add:

Biggest waste of a potential story line: Finn - Good Wife

(Runner up: Sansa and Petyr Baelish on Game of Thrones. I was so excited to see these two all through the hiatus, and then he goes and marries her off? Boring. Stupid.)

Best way to hide a pregnancy: Shaw - Person of Interest

Best tracking shot: It's Always Sunny - Charlie Work
Runner Up: Daredevil - The Hallway Fight

Best sketch: Inside Amy Schumer - 12 Angry Men (runner up: Key & Peele - Aerobics Meltdown)

Best balloon: Daredevil

Best score: The Knick

Best intro music: True Blood - Eric meeting Ginger for the first time, #1 Crush - Garbage

Best Wedding: Outlander. Duh.

Most Underwhelming: Galavant. Doesn't it seem like a musical with a Mel Brooks sensibility should have been more memorable?

Most welcome return: SNL Celebrity Jeopardy - 40th Anniversary show. Not the best bit, but... Sean Connery! Burt Reynolds!

Best gag that I couldn't believe had never been done before: Doctor Who - the TARDIS getting smaller on the outside.

Best thing that should fit in a category somewhere - wait, what was nominated for best song: Too Many Cooks [Update: it's not up, but Darren Criss is for Glee. Aww.]

Not Eligible in 2015, but amazing: Hannibal's European Vacation.

THANK YOU BRYAN

Dumbest enjoyable plotline: Orphan Black - Alison & Donnie become drug dealers

Best Fight Music: Agent Carter - Peggy Lee 

Biggest bombshell: The Americans - "I need to know the truth. I don’t care what it is. But if you love me, if you really love me, then please tell me. What are you, in the witness protection program? Did you kill someone? Are you guys drug dealers like your friend Gregory? Are we adopted? Are we aliens? What?”

Best character ever: The Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher

Best Finale: Justified. Way to stick the landing, guys. 

The Emmy Nominees - Comedy

I care much less about the comedies, as I've seen fewer of them. If only I didn't need sleep...

Outstanding Comedy Series
Louis
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
Jane the Virgin, Broad City, It's Always Sunny, Moone Boy

I'm very excited!

This is a pretty great category! (Terrible Modern Family inclusion aside.) Inside Amy Schumer and Key & Peele are down under Variety Sketch Show. I couldn't get into Last Man on Earth, but I know a lot of people were disappointed in its exclusion.

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
Drunk History, Comedy Central
Inside Amy Schumer, Comedy Central
Key & Peele, Comedy Central
Portlandia, IFC
Saturday Night Live, NBC

Yay Key & Peele, Inside Amy Schumer, and Portlandia!

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy
Anthony Anderson, Blackish
Louis CK, Louis
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
William H Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambour, Transparent
Adam Scott, Parks & Rec
Joel McHale, Community
Jonathan Groff, Looking 

Om nom nom

Well, it's silly that Shameless is in comedy at all. I had to finally quit season 4 because it got too dark for me. I didn't like writing of Last Man, but I generally like Will Forte, so good for him. As the true dramedy entry (shouldn't that be a category now? It could be Shameless, Transparent, OITNB, Nurse Jackie...), I'm guessing Jeffrey Tambour has the lead here. And I like Matt LeBlanc, but... really? That said, I don't watch a ton of comedies, so I don't have a long list of snubs here. I would have liked to see Adam Scott recognized for Ben Wyatt at some point. He played a believable funny straight man, which is a hard line to toe. And while I eventually stopped watching Community, I with Joel McHale would have been recognized once for his work there. I've heard good things about Jay Baruchel in Man Seeking Woman and have been meaning to watch it.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Aya Cash, You're the Worst 

Yay Amy Poehler! Yay Amy Schumer! Yay Lisa Kudrow and Lily Tomlin. I've yet to see veep, but go JLD. That said, Gina Rodriguez. She won the Golden Globe, for chrissake. Also, Constance Wu has been getting acclaim for Fresh Off the Boat. And, as stupid as it is for Shameless to compete as a comedy, Emmy Rossum was consistently great on it (as far as I watched). Finally, I feel like I should give a shout out to Aya Cash, who was once my roommate at summer camp.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Niecy Nash, Getting On
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Allison Janney, Mom
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent
Jane Krakowski, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Why does this category get 8??? That said, yay Anna Chlumsky! Yay Kate McKinnon! I'm not even mad at Mayim, because I like her. That said, if Keegan-Michael Key is up for supporting, it feels like Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer should be in here.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Adam Driver, Girls
Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tony Hale, Veep
Jordan Peele, Key & Peele
Nick Offerman, Parks & Rec

Key without Peele, really? Again with the Shameless: I've heard Cameron Monaghan and Noel Fisher did their best work this season, and Jeremy Allen White was always my favorite on the show. And I know a lot of people thought that other members of the Veep and Silicon Valley casts were snubs.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Mel Brooks, The Comedians
Paul Giamatti, Inside Amy Schumer
Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live
Louis C.K., Saturday Night Live
Bradley Whitford, Transparent
Jon Hamm, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Josh Charles, Inside Amy Schumer
John Hawkes, Inside Amy Schumer 

I'm surprised the Comedians was canceled - I heard good things. I also heard mixed things about Jon Hamm on Kimmy Schmidt. Yay everyone else. But Josh Charles and John Hawkes were also brilliant on Inside Amy Schumer.

Fun with the ballot: I enjoyed Werner Herzog on Parks & Rec.

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory
Gaby Hoffmann, Girls
Pamela Adlon, Louie
Elizabeth Banks, Modern Family
Joan Cusack, Shameless
Tina Fey, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Kathryn Hahn, Parks & Rec

Sure? I will say I always liked Kathryn Hahn on Parks & Rec.

Outstanding Directing of a Comedy Series
The Last Man on Earth, “Alive in Tucson”
Louie, “Sleepover”
Silicon Valley, “Sand Hill Shuffle”
Transparent, “Best New Girl”
Veep, “Testimony”

It's Always Sunny, "Charlie Work"

IT IS CRIMINAL THAT CHARLIE WORK IS NOT NOMINATED.

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Episodes, “Episode 409″
The Last Man on Earth, “Alive in Tucson”
Louie, “Bobby’s House”
Silicon Valley, “Two Days of the Condor”
Transparent, “Pilot”
Veep, “Election Night”
Broad City, Knockoffs

It is boring that the same 5 shows are up for directing and writing. As I mentioned, I'm not a fan of the writing for Last Man on Earth, but the pilot was the best of the episodes I saw, so good on Will Forte there. But... Parks and Rec? Jane the Virgin? Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which got so many other nods? Girls? Hell, I even heard New Girl rebounded this year.

The Emmy Nominees - Drama

Predictably terrible. Granted, Hannibal wasn't eligible this go-around, but JUSTIFIED AND THE AMERICANS SURE AS HELL WERE.

(Here were my wishes last year and the eventual reactionary post).

Okay. Let's do this.

Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mad Men
Orange is the New Black
The Americans
Justified 
The Knick
Daredevil
Outlander 

Me, too, Raylan. Me, too.

Clearly, The Good Wife and The Fall whiffed this season, nor was I entirely thrilled with Broadchurch S2. Sons of Anarchy was a snub for lots of folk, and the Leftovers and Rectify have small, but devoted followings. I've heard S2 of Halt and Catch Fire is a huge improvement from S1. I haven't finished Outlander quite yet, but the first half was fab (THERE'S A COSTUME DRAMA FOR YOU, OLDER EMMY VOTERS), and easily better than Downton. I mean, seriously: nominating Downton and Homeland at this point is ridiculous, I'm kinda almost okay with HoC and OITNB, but GoT is just fucking irresponsible. THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD TV OUT THERE AT THIS POINT, EMMYS. YOUR JOB IS TO WATCH IT.

(Fun with the ballot: True Blood was submitted for its final season! BWAHAHAHAHA.)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Timothy Olyphant, Justified
Matthew Rhys, The Americans 
Sam Heughan, Outlander
Charlie Cox, Daredevil
Grant Gustin, The Flash
Josh Hartnett, Penny Dreadful

I know several of those sound like fan service, but hear me out.

First off, no Timothy Olyphant? Unacceptable.

ME TOO.

I'm surprised that Josh Hartnett was submitted as a lead for Penny Dreadful, but he had a terrific arc this season. I've never been a fan of his, but he's really surprised me on this show. Plus, he is responsible for my single favorite, most believable moment on tv this year:

And, in that moment, we were all Ethan Chandler.

And granted, it shouldn't surprise me that the Emmys overlook genre work - it took Tatiana three years to be nominated - but it's such a shame to have so much good work overlooked. Speaking of which:

*sniffle*

Daredevil was surprisingly good, and with Charlie Cox's portrayal of Matt Murdock gave us some great scenes, like Matt being surprised by Fisk, his chats with his priest, or - what I think is the crowning bit of the series - Matt and Foggy's episode long-fight when Foggy discover's Matt's secret. It was so devastating and so well played by the two of them. Oh - and he played blind really well.

*open sobbing*

The Flash is, let's face it, a superhero show on the CW, and one that has astoundingly stupid villain names and a hyper-intelligent talking gorilla. Plus it took a few episodes to find its footing -- but damn if it didn't get great. Part of that was due to the season-long arc with Tom Cavanagh's excellent, complex villain. But at this point? I care waaaaay more about Barry Allen's emotional well-being than... most other superheroes. Certainly most of the Avengers. And Grant Gustin gets several great scenes to play: meetings with his father in prison, any father/son scenes with Jesse L. Martin - particularly the finale, watching his mother die AGAIN. Basically, what I'm saying is: the boy cries well.

(I haven't seen S2 of Peaky Blinders yet, so I can't be sure, but I'd be surprised if Cillian Murphy weren't excellent. And I've heard the same for Aden Young in Rectify. He'll never be up, but I love Michael Emerson on Person of Interest.)

OH. PETER CAPALDI. Why is he not eligible for Doctor Who? I LOVED his take on the character.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Taraji P Henson, Empire
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Keri Russell, The Americans
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Hayley Atwell, Agent Carter 
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander 
Olivia Colman, Broadchurch 

Helena to all the other nominees

Huzzah for Tatiana! ABOUT DAMN TIME. (Even if I was less thrilled with S3 than previous ones).

And I would like to have seen these ladies included as well:

That is some serious intensity

At least someone does

Finally, The Fall fell off a cliff (heh) at the end of S2, but Gillian Anderson did some more great work up to that point. I haven't seen The Affair, but I love Ruth Wilson so much from Luther, that I'll add her in here.