---
description: There were some pleasant surprises in this year's nominations, but it looks like Emmy voters still have a big DVR backlog to get through.
title: 2014 Emmy Nominations Snubs and Reactions
image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b594308e680c132/69869b3735ba6fd9acc02f6a/sarah_20131126_orphanblack_21131.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9
---
* [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/)
## Entertainment
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# As TV Keeps Changing, the Emmys Stay a Few Steps Behind
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[James Poniewozik](/author/james-poniewozik/)
## James Poniewozik
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Jul 10, 2014 3:03 PM CUT
Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany
Orphan Black's Tatiana MaslanyBBC America
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[James Poniewozik](/author/james-poniewozik/)
## James Poniewozik
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Jul 10, 2014 3:03 PM CUT
Thursday morning’s live [announcement of the Emmy nominations](http://time.com/2972672/2014-emmy-nominations-awards-list-game-of-thrones/ "undefined") began with a statement about how dramatically the business of TV is changing. And it’s true–Emmy nominees can come from broadcast TV, premium cable, basic cable, streaming and public TV. I watched the announcements on Yahoo TV, which next year could be a (theoretical) contender with the sixth season of _Community_. In December, a live-action drama, Powers, will [premiere on a video game platform](http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/06/09/powers-tv-show-bendis-playstation/ "undefined"), the Sony Playstation Network. It was almost quaint that the major awards nominations were announced by Mindy Kaling and Carson Daly, two broadcast TV personalities.
But have the Emmys kept up with it? The awards opened the books to some deserving new shows and performers this year–_Fargo_, _Orange Is the New Black_, _Silicon Valley_–but overall the inclusions and omissions in the major categories suggested that Emmy voters have a two- or three-year DVR backlog they’re still catching up on.
So the doors were open, happily, for some new faces (yay, Lizzy Caplan! alright alright alright, Matthew McConaughey!). But there are also a number of series and actors returning seemingly on the forces of momentum. _House of Cards_ had an absolutely zooey second season, but Emmy still regards it as a top-quality drama because it has all the outward trimmings of one. Jeff Daniels in _The Newsroom_ is up for best actor against McConaughey and the departing Bryan Cranston–and if history is a guide, [he could actually win](http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/emmy-awards-jeff-daniels-talks-best-actor-in-a-drama-shocker-1200660651/ "undefined"). It’s been a year of fresh comedies like _Brooklyn Nine-Nine_, _Broad City_ and _Review_, yet _Modern Family_ will have a permanent home in the comedy category long after it’s become _Antique Family_ (speaking of which, _Downton Abbey_ apparently has the same sinecure in Best Drama).
The best possible spin on the situation is that, in a strange way, it’s a side effect of how much TV has grown and how much quality TV there is to judge today. If Emmy voters were too overwhelmed to consider everything back when they gave David Hyde Pierce a permanent trophy in the 1990s, it’s that much harder now to expect them to keep completely current. So the Emmys will probably keep advancing in fits and starts, having the occasional breakthrough year for new talent, who then become the new guard of usual suspects for a few years. The more things change in TV, the more likely that one is to stay the same.
That’s the big picture. Here, in no particular order, are some of my biggest grievances, joys, and general observations:
\* _Orphan Black_‘s Tatiana Maslany was robbed. Every one of her.
_\* The Americans_ had arguably–that is to say, I’m arguing it–the best season of TV so far this year, but except for Margo Martindale, the spies were left out in the cold. (Give Matthew Rhys Daniels’ slot and Keri Russell Michelle Dockery’s.)
\* As for _Masters of Sex_, I’m half-happy because of Caplan’s well-deserved honor, but I had actually talked myself into believing its publicity blitz might have gotten it a best drama nod. (Sub out _House of Cards_ or _Downton_, easy.) Maybe saddest, though, is Michael Sheen not being acknowledged for best actor as the achingly repressed William Masters, because apparently male performers have to bellow and blow a dramatic gasket to get Emmy’s attention.
\* Of course, as usual, many of my grievances are not really surprises. One that genuinely was a surprise was _The Good Wife_, after its best season, since it had actually been nominated as Best Drama before.
\* OK, let’s say something nice! I’m happy for _Fargo_, for Julianna Margulies (up for best actress despite _The Good Wife_‘s snub), and for even the flawed seasons of _Game of Thrones_ and _Louie_. And here’s a usual suspect that actually deserved it: it would have been easy to ignore _Mad Men_ this time out, since it aired a half-season and will get another shot next year for its finale. But it packed a lot of emotion and resonance into its seven episodes–especially the last two–and I have my fingers crossed for Christina Hendricks. (Jon Hamm? Nominated, but history shows that we could learn that he was also secretly playing Sally and Joan, and he still wouldn’t win the category.)
\* I’m happy that _Silicon Valley_–by no means perfect but one of the season’s pleasant surprises–got a best comedy nomination. I’m perplexed, though, that Christopher Evan Welch didn’t get a posthumous nomination for the last performance of his life; if anything, I thought he’d get named and the show itself overlooked.
\* In general, HBO shows again that it knows how to get Emmy nominations–not just for _True Detective_ and _Game of Thrones_ (which had the most of any series) but even for the final season of the underrated _Treme_, which snuck in with a nomination because HBO put up its shortened season in the miniseries category.
\* Maybe the best-deserved Emmy nomination that _Orange Is the New Black_ is up for is casting; the show put together a murderer’s row (so to speak) ensemble full of lesser-known actresses. It’s only too bad that TV’s best platform for actresses of color saw none of them nominated in the big categories, though Taylor Schilling and Kate Mulgrew were. (Uzo Aduba and Laverne Cox–as well as Natasha Lyonne–were nominated as “guest actresses,” because of the [intricacies of the crediting and submissions process](//time.com/2972865/orange-is-the-new-black-emmys-guests/ "undefined"). Better than nothing.)
\* But is _OITNB_ really a comedy? I can’t say I really care. A lot of TV’s best shows are both dramatic and hilarious, and it’s just one of those things that doesn’t fit the dualistic comedy/drama model we’re stuck with. If I’d rather see Andy Daly as comedy actor than Ricky Gervais, for instance, it’s because he gave a better performance, not because _Derek_ was maudlin.
\* And I’ll stop here, though I’ve barely scratched the surface–[the full Word document of Emmy nominations](http://www.emmys.com/downloads "undefined") runs 43 pages, making it amazing that it’s even possible to snub anyone. But there is plenty more to parse–and a little over a month to do it before the unusually early Emmy ceremony in August. Maybe I’ll have finished reading the nominations list by then.
### The Biggest Emmy Awards Snubs 2014
Actress, drama series - Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black BBC America
Drama series - The Americans FX Networks
Drama series - The Good Wife CBS/Getty Images
Comedy series - Brooklyn Nine-Nine Fox
Actor, drama series - Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex Showtime
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