July 17--We take pride in the accuracy of our predictions here at the Gold Standard, so when something goes awry, rather than resort to finger-pointing and name-calling, we like to take a deep look at ourselves and say, "How did we miss that?"
Having had a little time to mull over the Emmy nominations, let's look at a few of our more high-profile picks and what may have caused the voters to look a different way.
"Empire" misses the cut for drama series. In the spirit of full disclosure, we will cop to plenty of name-calling and finger-pointing when we realized that the Television Academy didn't nominate the biggest event show on television, the series that produced the most memes and chatter and forehead-slapping and they-didn't-just-do-that-did-they? moments on TV this year.
Did voters just not watch Fox's "Empire"? Too soapy? Too drip-drippity-drop? The show didn't even manage a nomination for music, which would seem to indicate a certain disconnect between what the average Television Academy member listens to and the poppin' tunes the kids are enjoying these days.
Maybe it's a bias against popular broadcast network fare. (CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" didn't make the cut for comedy series.) Whatever the reason, "Empire's" meager showing won't help the show's ratings in September or the idea that the Emmys are about as relevant as Donald Trump's thoughts on hairstyling for men.
Julianna Margulies and Jim Parsons won Emmys last year. Now they're not even nominated? Huh? Have these two perennial Emmy nominees finally reached the point where voters are over them? We did not think such a thing was possible. And if there is such a tipping point, how do you explain "Downton Abbey's" continued inclusion among the nominees?
But, yes, it does happen. Occasionally Emmy voters do grow weary of a performer, even one they just honored. It happened to Craig T. Nelson with "Coach" and Debra Messing with "Will Grace." Candice Bergen even stopped submitting herself from consideration so it wouldn't happen. That or she just became tired of having to go to the ceremony every year.
With Parsons and Margulies, what's even more puzzling is that voters still recognized their shows, giving "The Big Bang Theory" seven nominations and "The Good Wife" four -- though not in the best series categories. Margulies has been left off before, in 2013, but Parsons has been a lock year after year, winning in 2014 and picking up another acting nomination for "The Normal Heart." And ... Sheldon was going to propose to Amy! Did voters penalize him for not moving fast enough? He can't help it! He's Sheldon!
Where is Ellie Kemper? Emmy voters liked "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" enough to give it seven nominations but apparently not enough to reward the actress who brings such spirit, energy and unflagging (though not annoying) optimism to the title character. We weren't making this exact face when it dawned on us that Kemper wasn't nominated, but it was close. Maybe she just needs her own song next year to put her over the top.
