THE SNUBS AND SURPRISES OF THE SMALL-SCREEN AWARDS SEASON
SNUB: Oprah Winfrey
You may have thought the Academy could never snub Winfrey. But this year that proved not to be true, as Winfrey was overlooked for limited series The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
SURPRISE: Westworld ties with Saturday Night Live for the most Emmy nominations this year.
After years of genre programming not getting much attention in the top categories, the Academy recognised HBO's sci-fi western thriller. Westworld garnered 22 nominations in categories that ranged from outstanding drama series to outstanding directing for a drama.
SNUB: Jimmy Fallon
Though Fallon and his Tonight Show didn't win the Emmy for variety talk series last year, this year they didn't even get nominated. While similar fare such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Late Show With James Corden made the cut, more noms went to those with a political edge, including Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, as well as Full Frontal With Samantha Bee and Real Time with Bill Maher.
SURPRISE: Genius
While seeing Geoffrey Rush's name on an Emmy ballot may inspire some voters to automatically select it, it's more of a surprise the National Geographic anthology series saw so much love across other categories such as directing and overall limited series.
SNUB: The Americans
It may have taken the Academy a few years to recognise the FX period spy drama, but once it finally did, there was great hope it would become a ballot staple for drama series. Though series stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys got noms for their leading roles, the series as a whole was shut out.
SNUB: Transparent
Series star (and previous Emmy winner) Jeffrey Tambor is again nominated for his role as Maura Pfefferman in the lead actor category, but the Amazon show as shut out of the top comedy series category after being nominated for the past two years.
SNUB: Rami Malek
It was a surprise last year when the TV Academy awarded Malek the lead actor trophy for his role on USA's Mr Robot. Then Malek toppled heavy hitters such as Bob Odenkirk, Matthew Rhys, Liev Schreiber, and Kevin Spacey, all of whom are back in the category again this year. Unfortunately, Malek did not make the cut this time.
SNUB: Lena Dunham
With the series finale of Girls airing in April of this year, Dunham had only one last chance at the top comedy acting prize for the show she co-created. After winning the trophy for her first season in 2012, it would have been a nice book-end to have a shot in its final year.
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