To think we questioned in our Emmys nominations predictions piece whether there would be any real surprises this year. Not only did the Television Academy provide a ton of them, but a significant number of eyebrow raising snubs as well. Of course, “Game of Thrones,” “Atlanta,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Westworld,” “Saturday Night Live,” “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” “The Voice” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” dominated the nominations as expected, but consider these snubs and surprises.
READ MORE: 2018 Emmy Award Nominations – All The Major Categories
Surprise: John Legend
The Grammy, um, legend’s nomination in Lead Actor or a Mini-Series or Movie for his work in “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” was initially seen as a reach. Especially with competition from actors such as “Paterno’s” Al Pacino and “Farinheit 451’s” Michael B. Jordan. This is Legend’s first Emmy nomination. If he wins, a tall order versus favorite Darren Criss, that would make him the 13th person to win EGOT and the first African-American man to win.
Snub: “Real Time with Bill Maher”
Perhaps Bill Maher‘s window is coming to an end. “Real Time” missed out on an Outstanding Variety Talk Show nomination for just the second time in four years and just the second time in 13 years when the previous category, Outstanding Variety Series, is taken into consideration. Instead, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” repeated despite some major controversy and “The Daily Show”earned its first nod with Trevor Noah at the helm. Neither “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” or “Late Night with Seth Meyers” earned nods. It appears Hollywood still hasn’t forgiven Fallon for “normalizing” Donald Trump during the 2016 election. The late night institution hasn’t been nominated since.
Surprise: “Barry”
Anyone who thinks “Barry” was too dark for the 20,000 plus members of the Television Academy can sit down now. The show earned 13 nominations including acting directing, writing and producing nominations for creator Bill Hader as well as an Outstanding Comedy Series nod. It’s a very real Comedy Series contender.
Snub: “Will & Grace” foiled again
Pundits, media and consultants keep thinking “Will & Grace” is the same Emmy and award season player it was in its previous incarnation, but that’s turning out not to be the case. The show has consistently underperformed since the year-end awards and now it landed just one major Emmy nod, Megan Mullaly in the Supporting Actress category. Needless to say, everyone, including NBC, has learned their lesson about the show’s future awards prospects.
Surprise: Issa Rae
After missing out last year, the critical darling and “Insecure” co-creator landed an Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series nomination despite fierce and we mean fierce competition. And just in time for the show’s return for a third season on August 12.
Snub: “Twin Peaks”
So, arguably one of the most celebrated TV events of 2017 earned directing and writing nominations, but missed out on Lead Actor (Kyle MacLachlan) and Outstanding Limited Series nods? Did Showtime take both categories for granted? Was the fact it aired beginning over a year ago a bigger detriment than expected? We’re still scratching our heads on this one.
Snub: “This Is Us”…?
You can’t say it wasn’t as successful day for NBC’s rating blockbuster as it earned eight nominations including Outstanding Drama Series. That being said, it earned 11 nods last year and both Chrissy Metz (an Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee last year) and Justin Hartley (an expected nominee in the Supporting Actor fiend) were shut out. Is the Television Academy cooling on the melodrama? Let’s just say we’re not 100% sure Sterling K. Brown is the lock everyone expected to go back to back in the Lead Actor category.
(Not so) Surprise: Diversity rules the Emmys again
Where to start. The Television Academy nominated multiple People of Color in every Comedy Series acting category including Guest Actor and Guest Actress. And on the Drama Series side only Supporting Actor was without a PoC in the fold. In the Comedy Directing side there were only two white men out of the six nominees. And even in categories such as Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program there was not a white, straight man to be found (four of the seven nominees were even LGBTQ+).
Surprise: Sandra Oh pulls through
Talk about an underground, word of mouth success story. “Killing Eve’s” Sandra Oh earned a Lead Actress in a Drama Series nomination taking out some considerable competition (including a well known Queen of Dragons) while becoming the first Asian-American actress to earn a nod in that category. Add in Phoebe Waller-Bridge‘s writing nomination and yet another nod for “Orphan Black’s” Tatiana Maslany and it was a very, very good day for BBC America.
Snubs: Alison Brie, Marc Maron and Ellie Kemper
“Glow” earned 10 nominations including Outstanding Comedy Series, but both stars Alison Brie and Marc Maron were snubbed in the Lead Actress and Lead Actor categories. Happily, Betty Gilpin earned a Supporting Actress nod to soften the blow, but taking into account the snubs of Ellie Kemper (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Jane Fonda (“Grace and Frankie”) in the same Lead Actress field and Netflix had something to be disappointed about despite a record 112 nominations. Speaking of…
Surprise: Netflix out Emmys HBO
You knew it was coming, but sometimes life hits you fast, huh HBO? For the first time, Netflix earned more Emmy nominations than perennial leader HBO. The streaming service too 112 while the newly christened WarnerMedia division earned 108. That’s very close and, frankly, the runaway success of HBO’s “Barry” had a lot to do with closing the gap. It could have been much, much worse.
Snub: Al Pacino
He’s an Oscar winner and a two-time Emmy winner, but the Television Academy were not impressed with Pacino’s work in Barry Levinson’s “Paterno.” This had to be something of a shock to HBO who had to think Pacino was something of a shoe-in. Not this year.