On Tuesday, July 12th, nominations for the 74th annual Primetime Emmy Awards were unveiled, and shows like HBO’s Succession and The White Lotus as well as Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso dominated across the major categories with at least 20 nominations each.
However, while some shows enjoyed great success on nomination morning, others were inevitably ignored. The following television shows were largely snubbed by the Television Academy this year despite their strong reviews and popularity.
Pen15
This quirky comedy starring Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as middle school students performed well on nomination morning in 2021 when the first half of the second season was eligible. The series earned nods for Outstanding Comedy Series as well as recognition in the writing categories.
However, this year, Pen15 failed to earn any nominations for the back half of its final season. Perhaps the season aired too early and therefore was not on the minds of voters. In addition, although its final episodes were among the show’s best, Pen15 did not seem to generate the kind of buzz it created when it first premiered.
Russian Doll
The second season of Netflix’s Russian Doll premiered at the end of April 2022. The series, which is co-created by lead actress Natasha Lyonne, received 13 nominations for its first season including Outstanding Comedy Series and Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Russian Doll season 2 was even darker than season 1, as Nadia (Lyonne) is sent back in time via the New York subway and finds herself trapped inside her mother’s body. While the season earned strong reviews (via Rolling Stone), it failed to earn nominations this year. It is likely that the three-year hiatus between the two seasons did not help.
This Is Us
Once an Emmy darling, the sixth and final season of This Is Us not only failed to get a Drama Series nomination, but it wasn’t even able to earn nods for Mandy Moore or for the Television Academy’s perennial favorite Sterling K. Brown (who won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series back in 2017).
NBC’s multi-generational saga of a large family was the kind of series that would be catnip for the Emmys in the 2000s. However, if the 2022 Emmy nominations indicated anything, it’s that there seems to be a bias against network shows. The only exception to this rule was ABC’s breakout comedy Abbott Elementary.
Insecure
The final season of HBO’s hit comedy created by Issa Rae was embraced by fans of the series last fall. The show always had a haphazard showing at the Emmys, as it was only able to get nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series once for season 4.
Unfortunately, given how crowded the comedy field was this year, the fact that the show had aired its final season was certainly not enough to get Insecure its much-deserved Comedy Series nod. Still, Issa Rae did manage to receive her third overall nomination in the Lead Actress in a Comedy Series race. She faces tough competition, however, from last year’s winner, Jean Smart from Hacks.
Atlanta
Donald Glover’s Atlanta returned this Spring for its third season after a four-year hiatus. The first two seasons of Atlanta won Glover the Emmy Awards for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series as well as Directing for a Comedy Series. For the third season, Atlanta failed to make it into the Outstanding Comedy Series race, although Glover was nominated.
Fans of Atlanta were divided with regards to the third season. While certain standalone episodes were praised, the series seemed to be less concerned with the central four characters of the show and more preoccupied with anthological stories outside of the main narrative. This could have hurt the show’s chances, as perhaps voters were unsure if they could view season 3 as a cohesive piece.
Reservation Dogs
Taika Waititi had three television comedies in contention at this year’s Emmys, but it was the third season of What We Do in the Shadows that made the cut, while the new series Reservation Dogs and Our Flag Means Death were not included.
Reservation Dogs features an impressive ensemble of mostly newcomers and follows the adventures of a group of Indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma. The series managed to earn a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy Series, but it has been almost a full year since the series first aired. That may be the reason why it was forgotten this week.
Yellowstone
The Paramount+ drama Yellowstone has had a strong following for years but has yet to make it to the Emmy Awards in major categories. Creator Taylor Sheridan has developed his own universe with this series along with the limited series 1883 and another upcoming spinoff with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.
The fourth season looked as if it was the beginning of awards recognition for Yellowstone after the show received a SAG award nomination for its ensemble. Not only did the western family drama miss out in the Outstanding Drama Series category, but also lead actors Kevin Costner and Kelly Reilly were snubbed as well. This may have been a result of bias against Paramount+ and its base.
WeCrashed
There were a number of limited series premiering this past Spring that were ripped from the headlines: The Dropout, Pam and Tommy, Inventing Anna, and so on. While all three of those series were nominated at the Emmy Awards, Apple TV+’s WeCrashed, which follows the rise and fall of the startup WeWork, was completely ignored.
While the series was unable to catch on to a wider audience, Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto’s performances were some of the best performances of their respective careers. Hathaway’s work, in particular, was a fully realized and complex portrait of a complicated and divisive figure in popular culture.
Maid
After the winter awards season, it seemed like Netflix’s Maid was a sure thing in the limited series race. After all, it received all the nominations it needed from awards bodies like the Golden Globes and SAG. However, on nomination morning, Maid was omitted from the highly competitive Outstanding Limited Series category.
Based on the best-selling memoir by Stephanie Land about an impoverished mother escaping an abusive relationship, Maid was a widely-viewed series when it premiered last fall. Most of the praise was directed towards Margaret Qualley (who was ultimately nominated), but the un-nominated supporting cast was deserving as well, especially Andie MacDowell.
Better Things
The Emmys used to take the opportunity to reward series that were airing their final seasons. This cannot be said for the criminally underrated FX comedy Better Things, created by and starring Pamela Adlon as a single mother of three daughters.
The final season of Better Things was a critical darling (via The New York Times) and was particularly praised for its cosmic, existential questions about happiness and meaning. Adlon’s direction only got more and more confident as the series progressed. Even though the series was ignored by the Emmy Awards for most of its run, that does not mean that Better Things isn’t worth checking out.
