I’m slipping in my old age Geeklings. I did an entire Week In Geek the other day and failed to mention the fact that Emmy nominations were coming out this week. Mostly because… I had forgotten. I always know that Emmy nominations happen during the summer but I also always forget when in the summer. This happens every year and this year was no different. I not only failed you Geeklings but I failed myself. I shall now hang my head in shame. Ooooooooh the shame.

Now that I’ve been properly shamed, I think it’s alright that we turn our attention to what happened with this year’s nominations because there are some really interesting things afoot. Some good. Some great. Some truly terrible. Come on, it’s nominations to an award show. You had to know the reactions were going to be extreme.

• My biggest take away from all the nominations, including Game of Thrones record-breaking thirty-two (more on that soon) is that BoJack Horseman finally got the nomination it so desperately deserved. I am on record in stating that BoJack is in the top three best shows on all of Netflix and the fact that it hadn’t been nominated for Best Animated Show was ridiculous. “Free Churro”, the episode that received the nomination, might be one of the best episodes of television all year and not just from an animated standpoint. Emotional and rich in character, this was the cashing in of four seasons of development. If there was a category for best voiceover acting then Will Arnett would win in a landslide with his tremendous performance during a twenty minute plus monologue. Beyond happy to see BoJack Horsemen get the love it should have been getting all along. I expect it to win here.
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• Russian Dolls! The fiance and I binged this show in a night. There was no spreading it out to make it last longer. We got sucked in instantly and stayed up to the wee hours to finish this story about death, second chances, love, and hope. With nominations for Best Comedy and for actress Natasha Lyonne, I can’t help but feel that the Academy’s tastes are improving.
• Speaking of the Best Comedy category, man, there are some seriously awesome contenders here. The Good Place, Barry, Russian Dolls, and Fleabag are all heavy hitters. This might be the closest race in the Emmys… if it wasn’t for Barry.
• Barry… where do I begin? This is without a doubt one of the best three shows on television currently. Hands down. Bill Hader has created something authentic in the vein of Atlanta here with his hitman turned actor dark comedy/drama. Nominations for Hader (writing, directing, acting) were a must but I was also pleased to see Noho Hank himself, Anthony Carrigan, get a much-deserved nomination alongside Henry Winkler and Stephen Root. Speaking of much deserved, Sarah Goldberg also got her first nomination for the series and homegirl straight up killed it! From an episode standpoint, “ronny/lily” was the clear highlight of this season and was showered with Emmy love. If I’m being honest, this might be the best episode of television of the year and it was most likely missed because it aired the same night as the Battle of Winterfell. I expect Barry to clean up most of the Comedy categories.
• Sticking with Comedy for a second longer, while I was all types of happy to see Ted Danson and The Good Place receive noms, I was just as infuriated to see that D’Arcy Carden did not receive a nomination for the “Janets” episode. A ridiculous oversight from the Academy. Carden gave one of my favorite performances of the year and was lights out.
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• This year’s nominations really made me want to crackdown and watch shows that I’ve either thought about watching or only barely started watching. Looking at you Killing Eve, Bad Mouth, Fleabag, and the Bodyguard. Throw in Succession for good measure too. I will no longer neglect you! Or at least try not to.
• I also learned this year that there is an Emmy category for best main title theme. I can’t help but think shows like Friends, Stranger Things, and Cheers have won this in the past. I’m also too lazy to actually do the research on this.
• Netflix’s Nailed It, the show about people who can’t recreate impossible cakes, received a nomination this year too under the Best Competition category. This made my heart happy. This show is a blast!
• Dipping into the realm of late-night television, you’ll see that Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show did not get nominated again this year. Ouch. This feels like the second or third year for that. Not a good look for what is supposed to be the premiere late show on television. It doesn’t matter though, no one is beating John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight but something on The Tonight Show has got to change.
• I think Better Call Saul might have reached Breaking Bad status with eleven nominations this year. Writing, directing, Best Drama, acting, guest acting… all this helps to cement this show as more than just a spinoff to the greatest television series in history. I want to say that Saul has a shot but something tells me that this might not be its year.
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• Part of that reason is the Academy’s refusal to nominate Rhea Seehorn. I don’t know what this woman has to do to get a nomination but this is borderline criminal activity. She has not only been the heart and soul of this series but has delivered outstanding performance after performance after performance for years now. This is without a shadow of a doubt the Emmy’s biggest mistake this year. Hell, they gave Michael McKean an apology nomination (should have been nominated sooner and not as a guest) so one has to believe that there’s something in Seehorn’s future. Hopefully.
• I was surprised to see that True Detective didn’t get as much love as I thought it would. I think part of that is largely due to the success of Chernobyl. I was happy to see Mahershala Ali get recognized but felt Stephen Dorff had done enough to earn one too.
• Now on to Game of Thrones. For a final season that was so controversial with the fanbase, it seems that the Emmy’s had no problem in saying that this final season was the show at its highest form. Thirty-two nominations is a record and all types of mind-boggling. I’m not going to break them all down but I would like to point out some. If you look at the Supporting Actress category you’ll see that the majority of the nominations come from Thrones. Sophie Turner and Gwendoline Christie (who self campaigned) received their first nominations for the series and I have zero problems with that. Maisie Williams is there too and she’s my front runner but I can’t help but raise an eyebrow at Lena Headey’s nomination. Especially considering RHEA SEEHORN DIDN’T GET NOMINATED AT ALL! This one felt more of a thanks for everything nomination as Cersei didn’t have a lot to do this season. Or at least not as much as seasons past.
• Theon Greyjoy himself recorded his first nomination too. A pleasant surprise and a nice way to close his chapter.
• On the whole, it would appear that Game of Thrones is poised to win allllll the awards this year giving the ceremony a Return of the King like vibe. Not to say that’s it’s not warranted though. I’m still in the camp that believes that this was a strong final season and believes the show deserves all the recognition it’s getting.
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There you have it Geeklings, these are all my reactions from this year’s nominations. What did you think? What nominations were you most excited for? Who was the biggest snub? Sound off in the comments. As always, if you’d like to talk more Emmy’s or television, in general, you can find me over on Twitter @iamgeek32. I’m ready for all types of discussions. In the meantime, I’ll try really hard not to forget next year’s nomination date between then and now. I’ll do better, I promise.