Emmy nominations 2011: five snubs and surprises

Emmy nomination day 2011 has come and gone and there have been a great deal of snubs but also some pleasant surprises. Let’s look at the top five of each. 

SNUB: Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation
Easily the most egregious omission in my humble opinion, Offerman has taken Ron Swanson from a character with an interesting bio description (libertarian government worker) and made him into a full-fledged and fascinating character. Parks and Recreation is a show with a lot of heart, but it’s Offerman’s moments of benevolence that are all the more effective because it balances out Swanson’s hard, mustachioed exterior. Still, as people were pointing out on Twitter this morning, somewhere in Pawnee, Ron is enjoying a big, greasy breakfast, and reveling in the fact that Leslie Knope is getting more attention.

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PLEASANT SURPRISE: Parks and Recreation for Best Comedy Series
This isn’t necessarily a huge surprise, but still a pleasant one nonetheless. Amy Poehler received a Best Actress nomination last year (and thankfully again this year), but it wasn’t a sure thing that the series as a whole would make its way into the main award. Now getting Parks and Rec a win is a whole other (unlikely) story.

SNUB: Justified for Best Drama Series
Season One of Justified was strong on many fronts, but as a whole was somewhat all over the map. Maybe the problem was that the two main villains (Bo Crowder and Gio the Miami Gun Thug) just weren’t very threatening compared to Raylan Givens. Season Two solved that by pitting Raylan against Margo Martindale’s Mags Bennett, who I would argue is one of the scariest, most cunning villains ever to appear on television. Balancing the feud between the Givens and Bennett clans (with Boyd Crowder eventually becoming a major factor midway through the season as well), Justified Season Two was riveting.

PLEASANT SURPRISE: Justified’s acting nomination bonanza
Even though it was passed over for Best Drama Series, Emmy voters were at least smart enough to recognize the many great performances that took place in Justified’s second season. Martindale seemed like a good (and well-warranted) bet to snag a nod, but I was very happy to see Timothy Olyphant (Best Actor in a Drama Series), Walton Goggins (Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series) and Jeremy Davies (Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series) be recognized as well. If anything, it’s disappointing that Nick Searcy (Art) or Kaitlyn Dever (Loretta) missed out on nominations as well, but I’m not going to complain too much.

SNUB: Terriers shut out
Because Breaking Bad officially took a year off, Terriers was my favorite show on TV last year. It was suspenseful, it was funny, it was exceedingly well-acted and perfectly-shot. And nobody watched it. And usually the whole “nobody watches a show” thing hurts its chances of getting nominations. But a fan can dream, right? Donal Logue, Michael Raymond-James, Laura Allen, Shawn Ryan, and Ted Griffin all get Emmy nominations in my heart.

PLEASANT SURPRISE: Friday Night Lights for Best Drama Series
I actually haven’t seen this season of Friday Night Lights yet because a) I didn’t have DirecTV (though I do now, so watch out, Damages fans) b) I’m too poor to own a DVR and c) I don’t like staying in on Fridays to watch the NBC broadcast because I’m so popular I always have plans with hot babes and stuff. But based on its entire body of work prior to the final season (and, well, kind of excluding much of Season Two), Friday Night Lights more than deserves to be nominated for the Best Drama Series Emmy. Last year Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton both received acting nods, but it’s nice to see the entire show get recognized as well.

SNUB: Community shut out
It’s kind of ironic that The Cape has more Emmy nominations (nominated for Best Make-Up) than Community, a show that made fun of The Cape in “Paradigms of Human Memory.” You have to think that eventually Community will get recognized for its genius, right? Right?

PLEASANT SURPRISE: Louis C.K. nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series
I’m really pulling for Steve Carell in this category because not only is it a travesty that he hasn’t won, but he gave some of his very best work in this comeback season-of-sorts for The Office, but Louis C.K. is phenomenal on Louie. I don’t even love the show that much as a whole (I get bored by the stand-up interludes), but I recognize its innovations to the genre and am always impressed by C.K.’s acting ability. Which is funny because he always tries to act so humble about it in interviews. The truth is, Louis C.K. just seems like a great person and he definitely deserves the recognition he is getting for Louie.

SNUB: The Michaels of Boardwalk Empire
Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg, Michael Kenneth Williams, and especially Michael Pitt all had stand-out performances in Season One of Boardwalk Empire. I’m happy for Steve Buscemi and Kelly MacDonald who are also fantastic, but as a fellow Michael, I’m offended by their absence.

PLEASANT SURPRISE: The Killing shut out of Best Drama Series
Sure, it got acting nominations for Mireille Enos and Michelle Forbes (who, to be fair, both gave strong performances in spite of the bad writing) and creator Veena Sud scored a nod for writing for the pilot (again, to be fair, a very well-written episode), but there were rumors swirling about The Killing entering the field for Best Drama Series based on the good will it earned from early episodes. Common sense luckily won out and it didn’t make the cut. Because boy-howdy, that finale. That damn, damn finale.