NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, July 10, 2014, 12:27 PM
Most viewers think "The Good Wife" had a really good season. The Emmys apparently didn't agree.
While star Julianna Margulies got her annual best-actress nomination from Emmy voters Thursday morning, the CBS fave became one of this year's most glaring snubs when it was ignored in the best-drama category.
At the same time, a best-drama nomination did fall to Netflix's "House of Cards," which frankly did not have such a good year.
"Good Wife" joins several other shows and performers who can justifiably wonder why they didn't get a nomination - including Tatiana Maslany from BBC America's "Orphan Black," who was missing from the best actress/drama list, and James Spader of NBC's "The Blacklist," who was delisted from best actor/drama.
Fans of Showtime's "Masters of Sex" wanted to know why Michael Sheen didn't get a best-actor nod, though the reason probably lay in the fact he was competing in the category with the most qualified candidates.
His costar Lizzy Caplan did get a deserved nomination as best actress/drama.
In what has almost become a sad running gag, FX's "Sons of Anarchy" was ignored both as best drama and for the outstanding work of its lead actress, Katey Sagal.
"Sons" was nominated for best original music, which almost feels like a taunt - as if the Emmys are saying, "We know you're there. We just don't like you."
Likewise, "The Walking Dead" got only two minor nominations, suggesting Emmy voters can't figure out why it's the most popular show on all of television among younger viewers.
There is a little bit of story and acting going on there, you know, and if the problem is that it's a violent ensemble drama, that doesn't explain why "Game of Thrones" - a violent ensemble drama - got the most nominations of any show.
The perennial problem with second-guessing the Emmy voters, of course, is that if you think someone else deserved a nomination, you have to figure out who didn't.
In the best drama categories, that's fairly easy.
"Homeland" lost its best-drama spot because it had a down year, though Claire Danes still got a nomination.
But "House of Cards," which also had a down year, kept its nomination slot, presumably on residual buzz from a year earlier. That spot could quite fairly have gone to "The Good Wife."
If you didn't think "The Blacklist" was good enough for a best-drama nomination, which it arguably was, James Spader still deserved a best drama actor nomination.
Remove Spacey. Insert Spader. A move their characters would both understand.
Maslany had an even better case, because her work on "Orphan Black" lacks only a wider audience.
It's impossible not to love Michelle Dockery on "Downton Abbey," but this was a quiet year for Lady Mary. She could have taken a season off, giving Maslany that slot.
Over on the comedy side, Emmy Rossum of "Shameless" deserved a nomination, and so did Thomas Middleditch of "Silicon Valley."
On the other hand, it was gratifying that Emmy recognized "Silicon Valley" in other categories.
In the movie/miniseries field, Starz's "Dancing on the Edge" deserved more than its one nomination for Chiwetel Ejiofor. Like, say, for the show itself. If Ejiofor wins, that will be some consolation.
A few other seeming oddities in the nominations stem from network decisions on where to submit their candidates.
Alison Tolman of "Fargo" really deserved a best-actress nomination. But she was submitted in the supporting category, where she got one.
Similarly, it's arguable that "Orange is the New Black" is really a drama, not a comedy. But Netflix submitted it as a comedy, quite possibly because the comedy category has less competition.
In drama, "Orange" would very likely not have gotten a dozen nominations, which is not a knock on "Orange." It deserved the ones it got, and has a good shot at winning several of them.
Maybe next year CBS should submit "The Good Wife" as a comedy.
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