Update: Additional nominees (Guest Actor/Actress, Writing, Directing) can be found HERE.
More about them later, seeing as I have a dentist appointment in an hour. Suffice it to say, they're pretty awesome for the most part. I'll go ahead and say now, though, that while I'm disappointed that Justified's mostly strong first season was left out in the cold, what's even more surprising is the complete snubbing of NBC's Community, while NBC's other oft-snubbed, acclaimed show Friday Night Lights, managed to score some big nominations. On a separate note, I really wish the Emmys would make it more clear as to the number of nominees per category, because for the most part I kept my predictions to five, meaning I was constantly off by one more than expected.
What I Like: As expected, many of my favorites made the cut, including the single best new show of the 2009-2010 season, ABC's Modern Family, which may have one of the strongest pilot episodes in recent memory; rarely has an ensemble felt so perfectly balanced and understood right from the get-go. I'm especially glad to see that MF cleaned up in the acting categories. I've been a fan of Julie Bowen since she appeared on seasons 2 and 3 of Boston Legal. Bowen has a skill at playing the "straight" role in a comedy without being bland, and her delivery of "That'll teach her to screw with me!" in one episode of Modern Family was so perfectly snarky. But Bowen isn't the only cast member deserving of accolades. Fellow category nominee Sofia Vergara was wonderfully wacky as loving trophy-wife Gloria, while the three nominated male counterparts (Burrell, Ferguson, and Stonestreet) all have their fantastic moments of weirdness. It's also nice to see a repeat nomination for SNL's Kristen Wiig, who is currently the only female cast member really making any impact at the moment.
Glee, perhaps the "It" show of the season, didn't do so shoddy either, raking in 19 nominations, the most for any series (HBO's miniseries The Pacific was the total winner with 24 nominations). Coming off of the love from the Golden Globes, it was no surprise that Michele, Morrison, and Lynch were nominated (Michele pretty much for singing so damn well), but I'm also pleased to see Chris Colfer in the supporting actor category. If the Emmys really go crazy over the show when it comes to who wins, Colfer could stand a decent chance. The men of Modern Family risk internal competition, and the voters may want to give someone new a chance, rather than repeat winners Jon Cryer or Neil Patrick Harris. Of course, unless she kills someone, Colfer's co-star Jane Lynch is a 99% lock for her category, especially after she lost at the Golden Globes (where supporting categories aren't separated by Drama/Comedy). Also, bravo to the Academy for the nominations for Glee's Mike O'Malley and 24's Gregory Itzin as the deliciously slithery President Logan (a shame that co-star Necar Zadegan was left out for her portrayal of conflicted IRK first wife Dalia Hassan).
On the returning front, of course it's always good to see 30 Rock, Mad Men, Dexter, and Breaking Bad do well as expected. I'd complain about 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer not being nominated (along with Tracy Morgan), but his prominence was reduced in season 4, not affording him as many golden moments as in seasons 2 and 3. On the drama front, it's great to see the Holy Trinity of Women from Mad Men, score nominations (we'll pretend that your episode of SNL never happened, January Jones). After seeing the writing and directing nominees, I'm also pleased with what my favorite shows were nominated for. As expected, 30 Rock's two writing nominations came from later in the season, when the initially rocky 4th season finally resumed its usual levels of consistent hilarity. On the drama front, Mad Men's season-best, beautifully constructed (and surprisingly hilarious) episode "Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency" scored a writing nomination as well, while Dexter's wrenching season finale earned a well-deserved directing nomination.
What I Didn't Like: As expected, Better Off Ted, ABC's criminally unseen sitcom was left out in the cold. Surprisingly, both Community and Parks and Recreation were totally snubbed (save for Amy Poehler). That had to sting for Joel McHale (Community), who was one of the nominee-announcers this morning (ouch). I at least expected one of the supporting members from each show (Danny Pudi? Nick Offerman? Aziz Ansari?) to make it, but I guess the TV Academy is content to make those shows wait. On the drama front, I'm disheartened to see that Justified was unable to earn a single major nomination, not even for star Timothy Olyphant. Then there's the omission (not entirely surprising) of Jennifer Carpenter, who was at her finest in the fourth season of Dexter. Anna Gunn from Breaking Bad, who could arguably be either lead or supporting in Breaking Bad's third season, was also snubbed, as were supporting cast mates Dean Norris and Betsy Brandt. In the guest acting categories, I can't help but think that Tina Fey's Guest Actress (Comedy) nomination for Saturday Night Live had to do more with general love for her, because the episode as a whole was lackluster (most notably a green screen-reliant sketch about a 9 inch tall hooker that all but left the studio audience out of the joke). Even worse, Michael Sheen was snubbed for his hilarious guest role on 30 Rock as Liz Lemon's insufferable unwanted soul mate. Glee's Dianna Agron is also missing from Supporting Actress (Comedy). While she's one of the show's weakest singers, Agron's character arc (and her performance) brought a lovely amount of nuance to a show built on hyper-stereotypes, and she would have been a perfect complimentary nominee to the outrageous Lynch.
Overall, these are still some pretty damn good nominees, and I look forward to seeing who wins at the ceremony on August 29th (which feels early; isn't the show usually in September? Not that I'm complaining...). And best of all, there aren't a bucket-load of precursor awards to ruin the fun, leaving more room for surprises and upsets.
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