6 Mind-Boggling Emmy Fails That Make Zero Sense Whatsoever
How old were you when you realized that awards shows aren’t always fair?
In terms of the Oscars, I realized it the moment Crash won Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain. Despite being only a budding cinephile and hormone-addled teenager, I knew in my heart of hearts that Sandra Bullock falling down the stairs in slo-mo was not inherently better cinema than Heath Ledger staring moodily into the mid-distance.
However, I must admit that I didn’t have the same realization about the Emmys until my early 20s. It was during the early 2010s and Modern Family had just won its 5,000th Best Comedy Series award. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Modern Family. It deserved its Emmys and it makes for a great comfort watch to this day. That said, its winning season that year featured not only a Frasier ripoff (“Las Vegas”) but also an episode that made viewers actively hate Gloria for 30 minutes (“The Late Show”). Also, Parks and Recreation was right there! Even 30 Rock, which had already won before, deserved another shot.
At that moment, I knew that the Emmys were on autopilot and that voters were only watching the same one or two shows every year. I mean, I get it. Being in Hollywood is probably, like, busy or whatever. But Parks and Recreation was right there! Sigh. Here are 6 other times when the Emmys made literally no sense whatsoever.
1. The Wire never getting a Best Drama nomination
You’d think by how often TV and movie nerds talk about this show that it would have won like 300 Emmys. Nope! It won zero. In fact, it only received two nominations throughout its entire critically-acclaimed five-season run. And those were for writing. Chalk it up to the era, when Emmy voters still shied away from shows that featured mostly people of color. This was less than 20 years ago, mind you.
2. Steve Carell, Emmy-less
The Office is a modern television classic. From time immemorial, drunk 20-somethings have turned this show on whenever their brains couldn’t remember the names of the other 3,000 series on Netflix. And yet, The Office only won Best Comedy once. Yes, it won a handful of other times, but only for smaller awards. And nothing for Steve Carrell, the undisputed heart and soul of the show.
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s empty awards shelf
Buffy was a game-changing show that balanced drama, horror, fantasy, and comedy, and its long-term effects ripple throughout the television industry even now. However, it only received one Emmy nomination for writing across its seven seasons. Considering that the Emmys once nominated Emily in Paris for Best Comedy, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Buffy deserved a Best Comedy nomination, too. Yes, it’s more of a drama, but so is Emily in Paris … and The Bear. If the Emmys can commit category fraud in real life, then I can do it in my fantasy scenario. Oh, and that’s not to mention Sarah Michelle Gellar, who helped make Buffy iconic and absolutely floored us with her work in “The Body.”
4. Emily in Paris receiving a Best Comedy nomination
This bears repeating: WTF. I have literally put Emily in Paris on in the background while I read an article about 19th century butter-churning and I still understood the entire episode.
5. The Bear receiving a Best Comedy nomination … and winning
This also bears repeating: WTF! The Bear is great TV, but it’s far more likely to make you wish for instant death than laugh. The Emmys need to create a category for Best Dramedy. Whenever I think of The Bear winning Best Comedy now, I think of that SNL sketch called “Funny New Comedy” which follows a family of adjunct professors who are all diagnosed with depression on the same day.
6. James Corden getting nominated for anything
Even if he weren’t perpetually in the news for doing something entitled, Corden’s Outstanding Talk Series nominations for The Late Late Show wouldn’t make sense. Sure, there’s Carpool Karaoke, but most people see The Late Late Show as more of a sugary, satisfying snack before bed. There’s no way that Corden’s show was better than Late Night with Seth Meyers. The “Closer Look” segments were one of the few things that helped me through the first Orangina presidency. Make it make sense!