Biggest Snubs, Shocks and Surprises at 67th Emmy Nominations

Erik Anderson July 16, 2015

There were some pretty big Emmy snubs and surprises this morning as their are with almost every Emmy nomination morning but some are stinging a bit harder today.

Some of the biggest shocks:

Empire misses Drama Series
Yep, the biggest network show of the year, of the last 10 years, is snubbed in the top category and although Taraji P. Henson made it into Lead Actress in a Drama Series the show only managed a paltry two more nominations, both in Costuming. Granted, both are well deserved but clearly are coattails of Henson, making it clear that Empire is all about Cookie and not much else.

The Big Bang Theory misses in Comedy Series, Lead Actor for Jim Parsons
A really big shock since Parsons has won this category for the last four years running. CBS’s The Big Bang Theory was the last man standing (as The Good Wife was in Drama a few years ago, also from CBS) in the Comedy Series category for the last few years and even though network television is still represented here (Parks and Recreation on NBC landing a series nomination for its final season) it seems like this could be the death knell for network television to make it to the top spot.

Bill Maher in Variety Talk Series
The Variety Series bridesmaid Bill Maher, up until the last year the most nominated individual without a win, his eponymous show finally found itself on the chopping block in favor of new blood in the form of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Orange is the New Black
It seems like the category switch really hurt. After coming off a huge nomination tally last year in Comedy, new rules from the Television Academy pushed the show into Drama and it earned just four nominations as a result. Granted, one was for Outstanding Drama Series, nothing to sneer at. And while last year’s winner in Guest Actress in a Comedy Series winner Uzo Aduba makes the cut this year in Supporting but none of the other 16 supporting actress did, much to the chagrin of many who feel that Aduba had far less to do in season two and that Lorraine Toussaint, Kate Mulgrew, Danielle Brooks and Yael Stone deserved a shot.

The Americans only in Writing and Guest Actress
Yeah, it’s good that the show finally got into a category like writing but it’s almost worse to get that nomination and not any other top tier. And BOO to the Television Academy for name-checking…er, nominating former winner Margo Martindale for a nothing cameo last season over the brilliant work by Lois Smith. Where’s the Shame Nun from Game of Thrones when you need her?

Justified gets zero nominations for its final season
Ridiculous. The Television Academy knows the show and has nominated it before in multiple acting categories but its final season gets nothing.

Ellie Kemper and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Bittersweet. The show gets in Comedy Series and no less than four performers get acting nominations (Jane Krakowski, Titus Burgess, Jon Hamm and Tina Fey) but poor Kemper is left out.

The Affair, which won Drama Series and Lead Actress at the Globes
See above.

The Leftovers gets zero nominations for its freshman series
Probably too divisive but for the extraordinary work of Carrie Coon and Christopher Eccleston to go unrecognized is a true departure…of the senses.

Modern Family loses its footing
The 5-time Comedy Series champ took it on the chin this morning, missing out on both writing and directing (which it normally dominates) and only managing acting nominations from two previous winners (Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen). I think we’re seeing the end of its reign and keeping it just shy of a new record.

Only Christina Hendricks makes supporting (or guest) cut for Mad Men
Despite some stellar work from Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones and Kiernan Shipka in the show’s final season only three from Mad Men make the acting cut (Hamm, Moss and Hendricks).

Gina Rodriguez and Jane the Virgin snubbed
Despite winning the Golden Globe for Comedy Actress, Rodriguez and Jane the Virgin came up short today, managing a single nomination in the voiceover category. The CW really pushed hard for this, more than any show they’ve ever had and it’s definitely the closest they’ve been to a major nomination.

Will Forte in Comedy Actor and the show in Directing and Writing
A pretty big surprise and a good one. Especially if it helped dump Jim Parsons in Comedy Actor and Modern Family in writing and directing.

Constance Wu snubbed
Perhaps the best find in television comedy of the year. The woman is brilliant and deserved a nomination over the tired name-checking of Edie Falco.

Grace of Monaco in TV Movie
So yeah, um, ok. The flop release of 2014 that opened the Cannes Film Festival only to be pulled from theatrical release and sent to Lifetime managed a TV Movie nomination over Worricker and Derek: The Final Chapter.

Tatiana Maslany in Lead Actress in a Drama Series
A surprise, really. It seemed like if she was going to make it in it would have been for season two but here she is! Never too late, that’s for sure.

Keegan Michael Key in Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Feel bad for Peele but this is pretty badass.

Niecy Nash in Supporting Actress in a Comedy
The nomination NO ONE saw coming. No one. Ever.

Return of Homeland
And a welcome return. After a creaky 3rd season the 4th came back with all guns blazing and really scored, critically and with the Emmys.

Amy Schumer breaks out
I mean, we knew this was going to happen but it doesn’t make it any less awesome. 2015 is the year of Amy Schumer and she’s a real threat to upset Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who’s won Lead Actress in a Comedy three years in a row.

Anthony Anderson in for black-ish
A fun surprise (again, especially as it meant a Parsons snub) but his co-star Tracie Ellis-Ross is better.

Drunk History in Variety Sketch
Thsi sohw is ducking hlairous.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.