Photos: Emmys’ Greatest Surprises and Snubs

An American Family: The 12-part PBS documentary has been credited with kick-starting the reality television genre itself—which, by the way, the Emmys now have individual categories for. But back in the early 1970s, when the documentary was produced and broadcast, voters probably just didn’t know what to do with it. If the Academy can retroactively correct such wrongs by giving certain performers Lifetime Achievement Awards, we say they should do something similar with this series. Cinema Verite, HBO’s fictional film about the making of An American Family, received nine Emmy nominations this year, in categories ranging from costumes to acting, and it just feels exceptionally unfair to not honor the project that allowed for the retelling in the first place.

Marcia Cross—Melrose Place: She started out sweet—a new, young doctor alongside Michael Mancini at Wilshire Memorial—but Kimberly Shaw took a very dark and twisted turn very, very fast. During her run, Cross played jealous, murderous, and cancerous. She deceived, manipulated, unraveled, and ultimately played multiple versions of a woman coming undone and fighting the demons within her own mind as hard as she was fighting those around her. And yet she never once was recognized by the Academy with even as much as an Emmy nomination! Sure, the show itself was campy and melodramatic at times, but Cross was stoic and stone-faced enough to make you really believe the crazy—and fear it could, too, possess your neighbor.

Ed O’Neill—Married…with Children: Last year there was a huge uproar when all of O’Neill’s adult male costars from Modern Family got nominated for an Emmy and he did not (that has been rectified this year). But the true travesty should have been that he never got nominated for his run as the crude but somehow still lovable buffoon Al Bundy on Married…with Children. In his 40-year career in the entertainment industry, including a decade on that iconic sitcom, this 2011 nomination was his first-ever. We have often seen the Academy Awards reward an actor with a statue for a film years after the one they really should have won for, so if O’Neill wins in September, we won’t be able to ignore the fact that Al Bundy is finally getting some respect, even if Jay Pritchett deserves it all on his own.

Lauren Graham—Gilmore Girls: Lorelai Gilmore was a tough nut to crack. In a less capable actress’s hands, she may have come off as manic and grating, immature and a cautionary tale. Her caffeine-infused rapid-fire way of speaking certainly wasn't for the faint of heart, either—for a viewer, let alone an actor asked to do almost 60 pages of dialogue every episode. But Graham made her someone you not only rooted for but related to—and she did it all after extremely long hours on the set, appearing in just about every scene, hitting every mark, every word, and every beat time and time again. She brought the show to life in that beautiful, seamless way where you don’t even think about the technical details that go into it because it just feels so real it pops off the screen. And what did the Emmys give her? A big, fat bubkes.

The Wire: After five years, The Wire walked away from television with only two Emmy nominations—and neither were for Outstanding Drama Series. For a series that raised the bar (in every respect) for dramatic television, that just feels like a travesty. Sure, the series dealt quite heavily with the bad things people do when they feel pushed to their limits or disenfranchised. Sure, it wasn't a run-of-the-mill procedural. But it was special. Just like how Friday Night Lights was much more about relationships than football, The Wire was about people and how they relate to each other, too—whether they’re the cops or the crooks. The Wire didn’t play by the rules of formulaic television, and it may have been ahead of its time because of it. Critics relished the series, but insiders most likely saw it as a threat: Just like gang leaders who want to send a message that rivals are not welcome here, its snubs were most likely all politics.

Candice Bergen removes herself from the running: After being nominated for seven years in a row (and winning five of them!) in the Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series category for her titular role on Murphy Brown, the funny lady publicly announced she would decline any future nominations so her fellow comediennes could finally get their time to shine. Most actors are all about the awards, accolades, and validation, but Bergen proved to be a rare breed with this move.

Mad Men beats Lost for Outstanding Drama Series in 2010: After two consecutive wins in 2008 and 2009, we wouldn’t say the AMC period drama didn’t deserve the win, yet we were still surprised by it because they were up against the final season of Lost and all we thought we knew about the politics of the industry pointed to the redemption drama getting a gold send-off.

Chris Colfer gets nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: It’s not that Colfer isn’t talented or deserving of awards, but his strongest work on Glee, the show for which he won his Emmy, has been of the touching, “serious issue,” “drama with a message” kind. Yet since the show overall fits more into the campy comedy/musical category, he can only submit for that category, which puts him at a disadvantage when compared to those who still partake in pratfalls and physical comedy.

Three of the four Golden Girls win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, three years in a row: It was as if the Academy just decided to rotate through the cast, nominating the women against each other each time and rewarding them one by one. In 1986 Betty White first took home the statue, then Rue McClanahan in 1987, and finally Bea Arthur in 1988. Only Estelle Getty never placed in the lead actress category, though she also won an Emmy in 1988, for Outstanding Supporting Actress. In 1989, the Girls were dethroned altogether when Candice Bergen took home her first Emmy for Murphy Brown.

James Spader takes out Tony Soprano: Sure, James Spader had won for his Boston Legal role before 2007, but then he wasn’t up against the head of the Jersey mafia (albeit just the fictional one). We don't think there was a person in the room—or across the country—who didn't think James Gandolfini would win one last time. But no—lo and behold, it went to Spader, a man who was playing more quirky than serious dramas usually allow. Even he was shocked by his win and said up onstage that he felt like he just stole money from the mob. Or worse, gold.