All right, I’ll get into why this is total crap in a bit, but first let’s actually look at the The 64th Emmy nominations:
DRAMA SERIES
“Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
“Breaking Bad” (AMC)
“Homeland” (Showtime)
“Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)” (PBS)
“Game Of Thrones” (HBO)
“Mad Men” (AMC)ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter” (Showtime)
Damien Lewis, “Homeland” (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men” (AMC)
Hugh Bonneville, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Glenn Close, “Damages” (DirecTV)
Michelle Dockery, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
Claire Danes, “Homeland” (Showtime)
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife” (CBS)
Kathy Bates, “Harry’s Law” (NBC)
Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men” (AMC)COMEDY SERIES
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO)
“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
“Girls” (HBO)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“30 Rock” (NBC)
“Veep” (HBO)ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Lena Dunham, “Girls” (HBO)
Melissa McCarthy, “Mike & Molly” (CBS)
Zooey Deschanel, “New Girl” (Fox)
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie” (Showtime)
Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation” (NBC)
Tina Fey, “30 Rock” (NBC)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep” (HBO)ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jon Cryer, “Two and A Half Men” (CBS)
Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO)
Louis C.K., “Louie” (FX)
Don Cheadle, “House of Lies” (Showtime)
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock” (NBC)SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Ed O’Neill, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Bill Hader, “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Max Greenfield, “New Girl” (Fox)SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Mayim Bialik, “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
Merritt Wever, “Nurse Jackie” (Showtime)
Julie Bowen, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Sofia Vergara, “Modern Family” (ABC)
Kristen Wiig, “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Kathryn Joosten, “Desperate Housewives” (ABC)SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Giancarlo Esposito, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Peter Dinklage, “Game Of Thrones” (HBO)
Jim Carter, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
Jared Harris, “Mad Men” (AMC)
Brendan Coyle, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Archie Panjabi, “The Good Wife” (CBS)
Anna Gunn, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
Joanne Froggatt, “Downton Abbey” (PBS)
Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men” (AMC)
Christine Baranski, “The Good Wife” (CBS)MINISERIES OR MOVIE
“Game Change” (HBO)
“American Horror Story” (FX Networks)
“Hemingway & Gellhorn” (HBO)
“Sherlock” (PBS)
“Luther” (BBC America)
“Hatfields & McCoys” (History)LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Julianne Moore, “Game Change” (HBO)
Connie Britton, “American Horror Story” (FX Networks)
Nicole Kidman, “Hemingway & Gellhorn” (HBO)
Emma Thompson, “The Song of Lunch” (Masterpiece)
Ashley Judd, “Missing” (ABC)LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Woody Harrelson, “Game Change” (HBO)
Clive Owen, “Hemingway & Gilhorn” (HBO)
Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock Holmes” (Masterpiece)
Idris Elba, “Luther” (BBC America)
Kevin Costner, “Hatfields & McCoys” (History)
Bill Paxton, “Hatfields & McCoys” (History)VARIETY SERIES
“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central)
“The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central)
“Real Time With Bill Maher” (HBO)
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC)
“Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC)REALITY COMPETITION
“So You Think You Can Dance” (FOX)
“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
“Dancing With the Stars” (ABC)
“Top Chef” (Bravo)
“Project Runway” (Lifetime)
“The Voice” (NBC)REALITY COMPETITION HOST
Cat Deeley, “So You Think You Can Dance” (FOX)
Phil Keoghan, “The Amazing Race” (CBS)
Ryan Seacrest, “American Idol” (FOX)
Betty White, “Betty White’s Off Their Rocker” (NBC)
Tom Bergeron, “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC)
Now, for the sake of not completely piling on The Emmys, I’m going to divide this up into three parts: Who deserves to be here, Who should be here, and Who did they blow to get here?
WHO DESERVES TO BE HERE
For the most part, they got the Drama awards right, because I’d like to see anyone try and tell me that those shows aren’t objectively well-written and acted. I’m also delightfully happy to see Amy Poehler up here for Parks and Recreation, as well as Louis C.K. Top Chef and Project Runway both deserve nods I would think, and that’s about it. It’s also nice to see ingénue Lena Dunham‘s Girls take off the way it has.
WHO SHOULD BE HERE
First and foremost: Community. It had a bit of a rough season, but I would think the amount of fan support for the show, not to mention some incredibly comedic performances and top notch writing (Regional Holiday Music may be one of the funniest half-hours of television I’ve ever seen). There’s also a stunning lack of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which proved itself to be the little show that could. The season was a critical darling, pulled in huge ratings, and successfully launched Sharon Needles, Chad Michaels and Latrice Royale into the public eye. Why it didn’t get nods for Reality Competition and Reality Competition Host for RuPaul herself is baffling. Glee‘s Lea Michele should have earned a nom for Best Actress too for elevating Glee during some spotty moments this season (her break-up scene in Goodbye views like a masterclass in dropping emotional bombs). And finally, the lack of love for Parks & Rec’s supporting cast is just shameful. No love for Ron Swanson? You bitches are dead to me.
WHO DID THEY BLOW TO GET HERE?
The Big Bang Theory. I get that it’s easily palatable nerd humour, but Best Comedy? That’s a stretch. Most of the entries in the reality fields have absolutely no business being enabled the way they have been, especially when there are far more deserving people (RuPaul) this could have gone too.