Los Angeles
Angela Lansbury was nominated 12 times for her starring role on Murder She Wrote and never took home one of the statues. That snub shows that the awards show doesn’t always get it right.
Here’s a look at 10 places where the Emmy Awards could go wrong this year:
1. Sarah Paulson not winning for her performance as Marcia Clark in The People v. O.J. Simpson: This is the fifth year in a row that Paulson has been nominated for an Emmy and she should already have at least one win to her credit. Take a look at her work as conjoined twins in American Horror Story that earned her a nod last year.
Paulson says getting nominated is really the honor. “It sounds sort of pat, but it’s really true. It feels incredible to be invited to the party.”
2. Giving an Emmy to Rami Malek for Mr. Robot: This is a great series, from the writing to the way it is put together. And, Malek brings a large amount of creepy to his role. But when you just look at his performance, it pales in comparison to all four of the other nominees: Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul; Matthew Rhys, The Americans; Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan; and Kevin Spacey, House of Cards.
3. Overlooking Tatiana Maslany for her amazing work in Orphan Black: It’s easy to look at the over-the-top work Taraji P. Henson does on Empire and remember her when it comes to voting. What has plagued Maslany is that she is too good. She’s so convincing in the multiple roles that people forget just how great she is.
4. Expecting Matt LeBlanc to be funny as a presenter: He’s earned his seven Emmy nominations because he’s at his best when he’s playing a character. Away from a role, he comes across as indifferent.
5. Not honoring Judith Light for her work on Transparent: Jeffrey Tambor deservedly gets the majority of attention for his work on the Amazon series, but if you watch the show closely, it’s Light who really makes a lot of the scenes work even better.
6. Giving Cuba Gooding Jr. an Emmy in the limited series category: The worst part of The People vs. O.J. Simpson was Gooding’s lame attempt to portray Simpson. He came across more like Homer Simpson that O.J. Simpson. The award should go to Bryan Cranston for All the Way.
7. Not giving Peter Dinklage another win: It doesn’t matter he’s been nominated six times for his work on Game of Thrones and has won twice. Dinklage is one of the main reasons for watch the series.
8. Failing to send a message with black-ish: Network programs are getting bumped out more and more each year from the Emmy ranks. There are seven shows in the comedy series category and black-ish and Modern Family are the only network contenders. black-ish deserves to win because it has brought new energy to its genre.
9. Missing a chance to say farewell: Downton Abbey is not the best contender in the drama series category. It really is seventh in a seven-show race. But this is the last time the show will be up for the honor and if it is weighed for its quality, plus the extremely positive effect it has had on PBS, then honoring it would be OK.
10. Not taking an opportunity to fix some rules: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler split the Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for their hosting on Saturday Night Live. Does this mean an actor can pick a buddy to share the nomination and make the chances better for winning? Pick one or nominate both separately.
