So many shows overperformed at this year’s Emmy nominations that some really quality shows didn’t get through, and that’s a shame

Still, some of our favorite genre shows did really well. A note before we begin: we here at The Beat congratulate every nominee, even if we are unhappy with some of the nominations. There was a lot of great work this year on television, and we were truly spoiled. Good job done, all. Here are the nominations for our favorite genre shows.

The Mandalorian — 24 nominations

The Mandalorian tied with prestige period drama The Crown this year, although Pedro Pascal missed the Leading Actor in a Drama category…again. It could be that the Emmys are reticent to cast a man in a mask, but when he takes off the mask it’s truly mindblowing acting, so get over yourselves, Emmys. The Mandalorian really cleaned up in the technical categories, but it also got nominated in Outstanding Drama Series and for both the directing and writing categories, with one directing nomination and two Emmy nominations in writing, which really seems like it should be switched.

Giancarlo Esposito got nominated for his scary performance as Moff Gideon, too. So that’s nice, I guess? Timothy Olyphant and Carl Weathers in Guest Actor also got nominated, but Rosario Dawson did not get a nomination.

(L-R): Director Matt Shakman with Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2020. All Rights Reserved.
WandaVision — 23 nominations

Disney+ got 71 Emmy nominations this year, and around a third of them were for WandaVision. Elizabeth Olson and Paul Bettany were shoe-ins for nominations in their categories, and WandaVision received three, count ‘em, three nominations for its writing. Kathryn Hahn of course got a nomination for her simultaneously chilling and hilarious performance as Agatha Harkness, but no nomination for Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau is just disappointing. With 23 nominations, WandaVision topped the Miniseries/Limited Series categories in nominations, with shows like The Underground Railroad, The Good Lord Bird, and Small Axe getting shut out or nearly shut out.

Lovecraft Country — 18 nominations

Boy, HBO must be kicking itself for canceling this series after only one season. Both of its leads, Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett earned nominations, as did supporting actor Michael K. Williams and supporting actress Aunjanue Ellis. Courtney B. Vance was nominated as for guest actor. The series nabbed a writing nod, as well as the big one, Outstanding Drama Series. There were more genre shows nominated than usual in the Outstanding Series categories, across the board, which is nice to see. Remember when Game of Thrones was the only genre series that could crack the major categories?

The Boys — 5 nominations

The Boys shocked with an Outstanding Drama Series nod, which…fine. The Expanse is also sitting there on Amazon Prime’s service, Emmys. Admittedly, an Expanse nod would be more of a legacy one, but it still would’ve been nice to see. With The Boys nominated in Outstanding Drama, there were four genre shows nominated: The Boys, The Handmaid’s Tale, Lovecraft Country, and The Mandalorian. Most of The Boys’s nominations came from the technicals, but it also earned an Outstanding Writing nomination. All these genre shows getting nominated for writing and not directing is kind of bizarre to me, though.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier — 5 nominations

Look, I love me some Don Cheadle. I do not love that he got nominated in Best Guest Actor for approximately a minute of screen time. It’s a weird nomination, especially considering there were many great performances on TFatWS! The rest of the show’s nominations came from the technical categories, which usually happens with these types of shows. WandaVision overperformed, while The Falcon and the Winter Soldier underperformed. It begs the question: will Tom Hiddleston get nominated for Loki, or will he be passed over for Richard E. Grant? I wouldn’t be opposed to that, however.

Cobra Kai — 4 nominations

Cobra Kai counts as a genre show in my mind because it in no way reflects reality. Good for it for getting an Outstanding Comedy Series nomination! I’m mad that William Zabka didn’t get a nomination for Best Lead Actor, but we can’t win every battle, I guess. It did get nominated for Outstanding Stunt Performance which…yes. Of course. If it hadn’t been, there’s more wrong with the Emmy nominations than I thought.

Pictured: David Ajala as Book of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Lilja Jónsdóttir/CBS © 2019 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved.
Star Trek: Discovery — 4 nominations

Only technical category nominations here. Meh. It’s a pretty show, but a good one? Not really.

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY (L to R) ROBERT SHEEHAN as KLAUS HARGREEVES, EMMY RAVER-LAMPMAN as ALLISON HARGREEVES and ELLIOT PAGE as VANYA HARGREEVES in episode 205 of THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY Cr. CHRISTOS KALOHORIDIS/NETFLIX © 2020
The Umbrella Academy — 4 nominations

This also only got technical category nominations, which is too bad: I’ve heard good things about it!

Sonya Walger as Molly Cobb
Credit: Apple TV+
Well, that’s about it. I didn’t go over The Handmaid’s Tale, but that show exhausts my patience. I will say it got 21 whole Emmy nominations, which…god, once the Emmys like a show they really like it. Genre favorites like For All Mankind and The Expanse got no nominations, proving that maybe the Emmys can only stand space shows if they’re set in a galaxy far, far away. Maybe the Emmys will be exciting this year–but it is likely the genre shows will get shut out in the major categories. WandaVision, for example, is going up against heavy hitters like Mare of Easttown and Hamilton, so I would guess it will only get wins in the creative arts/technical categories.

Now, if you don’t mind me, I’m going to go mourn all the faves who didn’t get nominated. Check out the rest of the Emmy nominations here.

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