Emmy nomination snubs: What the Academy got wrong

How many different characters does Tatiana Maslany have to play to score an Emmy nomination?

The Orphan Black star’s absence from the 2014 Emmy nominations list was just one of the oversights that had fans howling Thursday morning.

And yet, overall, there were plenty of reasons for TV fans to get excited. HBO’s fan-favorite Game of Thrones led with 19 nominations, while FX’s outstanding newcomer Fargo was right behind with 18. HBO’s new comedy Silicon Valley broke into the best comedy ranks, while fellow HBO newcomer True Detective was honored for best drama. Plus there were first-time noms for Lizzy Caplan on Masters of Sex, Lena Headey on Thrones, William H. Macy on Showtime’s Shameless (finally!) and Kate Mulgrew on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black (plus, TWO nominations for Martin Freeman — Fargo and Sherlock). And did anybody think Fox’s Cosmos would manage to tie True Detective with 12 nominations?

But this post isn’t about what the Academy did right (full list). Here’s this year’s most grievously overlooked:

— The Good Wife: Not one broadcast network show broke into the best drama ranks. But critics say The Good Wife had a creatively strong season and deserved recognition — plus had a crafty Emmy campaign that pointed out the show has to make 22 episodes a season compared to other dramas like True Detective and Breaking Bad making only eight. What does this show have to do, shockingly kill off Josh Charles? Oh wait, it did that too!

— Brooklyn Nine-Nine: You can argue about whether Fox’s new comedy deserves a spot on the list. But after winning the Golden Globe for best comedy of the year, it definitely feels like a rebuke to not make the nomination cut. Same goes for star Andy Samberg — won the Golden Globe for best comedy actor, yet nothing here. Perhaps Academy voters felt the show was over-honored by the Globes?

— Masters of Sex: Tough to argue against any of the nominations in the drama category. But when a program gets five nominations in other categories yet misses the top one, it feels like a bit of a snub.

— Charles Dance: You can point to several overlooked actors on Thrones that arguably deserved a nod, but possibly none more than Dance, who had his last chance to get nominated this year as tyrannical Tywin Lannister. Also: Fans thought Pedro Pascal as Prince Oberyn was a shoo-in for a guest actor nod, but nope.

— James Spader: NBC’s The Blacklist was one of broadcast’s few new bright spots this season, and Spader deserves so much of that credit for all his scene chewing.

— The Americans and Sons of Anarchy: Clearly Academy voters are watching FX, but two of the network’s best shows got squeezed out of most categories, with the absence of Americans co-star Matthew Rhys and Sons’ actress Maggie Siff being particularly painful. At least Americans‘ Margo Martindale received a guest-star nod.

— Timothy Olyphant. Can’t say FX’s Justified deserves a slot this year above the other nominated dramas. But hopefully the Academy will someday once again recognize star Timothy Olyphant for his work on this show.

— Inside Amy Schumer: Missed out in the variety category, though nabbed a writing nom. If Wahlburgers and Million Dollar Listing New York can now get a series Emmy nomination (Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program, anyone?), so should Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer.

— Emmy Rossum. Her Shameless arc this season had fans buzzing. Besides, she has “Emmy” in her name!

Snubs runner-ups: Dean Norris in Breaking Bad (not much screen time, but amazing), Elisabeth Moss for AMC’s Mad Men, NBC’s Hannibal team, Mindy Kaling and Chris Messina for The Mindy Project, Vera Farmiga in A&E’s Bates Motel and Peter Sarsgaard in AMC’s The Killing.