Emmy snubs, surprises and shockers

Photo: Contributed - Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

Pajama-clad Jimmy Kimmel and Kerry Washington

Earlier this morning, Kerry Washington and Jimmy Kimmel announced the nominations for the 64th Annual Primetime Emmys. Kimmel was a last minute replacement for Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman, who couldn’t make it to LA in time due to weather on the east coast. Because the noms were announced before 6 am local time, Kimmel showed up rocking PJs. Why not? I probably would have, too.

The list of the nominations is HERE, but instead of talking about what WAS nominated, it’s always more fun to discuss who or what got the Emmy snub.

There are several snubs to get to, but let’s head straight to the biggest F.U. of all: zero nominations for Sons of Anarchy.

Really? Last season, creator Kurt Sutter and everyone involved in the FX series (shown here in Canada on Super Channel) gave us perhaps the greatest season of cable television outside of anything produced by Mad Men or Breaking Bad (both of which were nominated for Best Drama). Acting, writing, music, cinematography, direction… it was all there in spades, and to completely reject Sons in this way may be one of the Emmy’s biggest all-time gaffes.

Could the snub be a childish retaliation to a c-word (yes, that c-word) laden Twitter rant from Kurt Sutter about the lack of Emmy nominations last year? I’d hate to think that the television academy would react that way, but it wouldn’t surprise me. What other reason would there be to ignore Sons completely? As of this writing (late morning), show creator Kurt Sutter only had this to say about the snub:

and to all of you expecting a c**t-laced emmy diatribe... that's so 2011. a calm, mature, rational @sutterink is much more dangerous.

Many of the shows and actors nominated were totally deserved, but this snub diminishes the credibility of the nomination process. Pity.

Next up in Snub Lane is Mad Men’s John Slattery and Jessica Pare. Slattery and Pare were both such a huge part of what made Mad Men so astonishingly sensational this season, and to not reward their tremendous contribution is a slap in the face. Slattery has been nominated 4 times before, and his absence this year is puzzling. Yes, Pare is new on the scene, but she injected the show with an entirely new energy that TV hasn’t quite seen before. Bizarre…

Jeff Probst. Hands down the best reality show host of all time. He’s won this category in every year since its creation. This year? Nada. Whadda going on here? Mind-boggling…

To many, The Office may have lost steam with the departure of Steve Carrell. I disagree, and think the show actually got better without him. This was a stellar year for the peeps at Dunder Mifflin, and to get shut out for yet another undeserved nomination for 30 Rock is both disappointing and annoying…

Another snub that can’t be overlooked is the lack of network television dramas in the Best Drama category. Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones and Homeland: all cable (or PBS in the case of Downton). The big networks better have something good down the pipes come September, or it’s going to be another shutout. This just provides more proof how much better the quality of programming offered by the cable networks is over the “Big Four.”

There’s much more to talk about, but we’ll save more Emmy talk for the days leading up to the Awards in September.

For now, I’ll leave you with this bold prediction for the Drama category: look for Homeland to take 2 of the 3 major Drama Awards, including Best Drama.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.