I received a couple of emails this week from readers puzzled (again) about the recent Emmy Awards nominations. Where the heck, they wondered, were their favorite shows?
Neither reader subscribes to premium cable and both admit to sticking fairly close to standard broadcast fare, so they don't know why their popular favorites didn't make the list.
They did know that most of cable's critical darlings don't have close to the viewership that some broadcast shows enjoy.
Downton Abbey, for example, is highly praised as one of the most compelling dramas on TV. It averages about 8.3 million weekly viewers, which are huge numbers for PBS.
On the other hand, CBS' NCIS, last season's most-watched drama, earned 19.8 million viewers each week. The No. 1 comedy, CBS' The Big Bang Theory, had 20 million.
Why, then, was NCIS not included in Emmy's best drama list? The short answer is that ratings alone seldom equate quality for the 19,000 academy voters doing the nominating.
Don't get me wrong, I love NCIS. I've seen every single episode. I think Abby would be a hoot with her own spinoff. I want to be Mark Harmon when I grow up.
But NCIS, as with so many broadcast series, is TV comfort food. It appeals to a broad audience and we like it that way. We go there for our weekly visit with characters we love and formulas with which we are familiar -- not, especially, to be surprised, inspired, challenged and amazed.
The really, really amazing stuff is on cable. And we pay extra for it.
HBO's Game of Thrones led all nominations this year with 19, followed by the FX miniseries Fargo with 18. FX's American Horror: Coven (another miniseries) picked up 17 nominations, and AMC's Breaking Bad, which ended its run in September, earned 16 nods.
Another nomination puzzle: Last season's top new broadcast drama, NBC's The Blacklist, boasted an impressive 15.2 million viewers each week. AMC's The Walking Dead, one of the most thrilling and addictive dramas on the tube, drew an astonishing 15.7 million to last season's finale. Both were snubbed by the major Emmy nominations.
We can argue quality all day, but I don't see a single undeserved nomination in the bunch.
Take Best Comedy, for example. Big Bang Theory is up against four-time winner Modern Family, but Netflix's Orange Is the New Black led all nominees with 12. Others on the comedy list are the cable offerings Louie, Veep and Silicon Valley.
Is it fair that broadcast's top new sitcom, CBS' The Millers, was ignored with 11.4 million viewers while the FX critical darling Louie managed an anemic 920,000 viewers each week?
Fair or unfair, we'll find out who the winners are when the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Seth Meyers, airs at 7 p.m. Aug. 25 on NBC. That's a Monday (not the usual Sunday) and almost a full month earlier than last year to allow NBC not to bump into its Sunday night NFL football coverage.
Discuss among yourselves. Here's the list of major scripted nominations.
Best Drama: Breaking Bad (AMC); Downton Abbey (PBS); Game of Thrones (HBO); House of Cards (Netflix); Mad Men (AMC); True Detective (HBO).
Actor, drama: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad); Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom); Jon Hamm (Mad Men); Woody Harrelson (True Detective); Matthew McConaughey (True Detective); Kevin Spacey (House of Cards).
Actress, drama: Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex); Claire Danes (Homeland); Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey); Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife); Kerry Washington (Scandal); Robin Wright (House of Cards).
Best Comedy: The Big Bang Theory (CBS); Louie (FX); Modern Family (ABC); Orange Is the New Black (Netflix); Silicon Valley (HBO); Veep (HBO).
Actor, comedy: Louis C.K. (Louie); Don Cheadle (House of Lies); Ricky Gervais (Derek); Matt LeBlanc (Episodes); William H. Macy (Shameless); Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory).
Actress, comedy: Lena Dunham (Girls); Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie); Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep); Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly); Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation); Taylor Schilling (Orange Is the New Black).
Miniseries: American Horror Story: Coven (FX); Bonnie and Clyde (A&E); Fargo (FX); Luther (BBC America); Treme (HBO); The White Queen (BBC America).
Actor, miniseries or movie: Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dancing on the Edge); Martin Freeman (Fargo); Billy Bob Thornton (Fargo); Idris Elba (Luther); Mark Ruffalo (The Normal Heart); Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock: His Last Vow).
Actress, miniseries or movie: Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Coven); Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story: Coven); Helena Bonham Carter (Burton and Taylor); Minnie Driver (Return to Zero); Kristen Wiig (The Spoils of Babylon); Cicely Tyson (The Trip to Bountiful).
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 07/20/2014