With the 2022 Emmy Awards just around the corner, DDW looks at some of this year’s most triumphant performances that didn’t make the cut.
With a new trend being touted every other week. TV essentially, becoming the new cinema. Budgets have expanded gigantically. TV and miniseries used to be the place where over-the-hill and ageing actors would turn to in the aspiration of keeping their fame and career afloat. Instead, TV has reached a monumental turning point. Now becoming just as relevant as the box office. With the likes of the 2022 Emmy Awards and massive multi-million dollar contracts, it has now become an area of entertainment in which many can truly kick start their career or evolve their acting calibre.
The last decade in entertainment has seen the mass incline of countless streaming services and increasing budgets into television based entertainment. With a magnitude of TV shows and miniseries constantly being produced. On an annual basis, the entertainment world is seeing hundreds upon hundreds of new shows and stories being released.
With the stories becoming more intertwined and impeccably produced, modern television has evolved exponentially, drifting far away from the classic telenovelas and odd low-budget crime show.
Fast forward to the 2022 Emmy nominations, and of course, where there is no surprise, there is critique. With there being hundreds of powerhouse dramas and performance-driven shows out there, unfortunately, no award ceremony can fairly consider all. This year’s Emmy nominations, once again, saw the total domination of HBO’s Succession.
Now in its third season. This comes as no surprise seeing as HBO has always paved the way for television entertainment and above all, excellence. In saying that, 25 nominations in one year, seems a bit overkill. After all, it is just a comedy-drama piece. The acting has always been phenomenal and script-writing, second to none. But 25 nominations for a show without massive set pieces, twists or even thought-provoking turning points, ultimately left a bitter taste in a lot of people’s mouths.
Other than Succession, another HBO series, Hacks, received a staggering 17 nominations. And its Bill Hader-led black comedy Barry received a further 14. A total of 56 nominations for just one network. With many praising HBO’s Emmy Nominee success, plenty were left unsatisfied with this year’s list lacking variety.
Not to discredit the Emmys themselves, as of course, the nominee list had a few surprises in store such as Late Night with Seth Meyers finally receiving recognition, Sydney Sweeney and Julia Garner’s Double Nominations and Himesh Patel’s Station Eleven nominee.
However, still left unsatisfied, many fans took to the web to critique the ceremonies’ lack of variety, with some of this year’s biggest breakthrough shows left forgotten and snubbed.
DDWs 2022 Emmy Snubs:
Selena Gomez’s performance in Only Murders in the Building
Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, is a comedy powerhouse. Combining youth with old-aged light-heartedness, the Hulu series is a generational treat. With co-stats and comedy icons Steve Martin and Martin Short both receiving nominations at this year’s Emmys.
Gomez was left completely snubbed with what seems to be, no recognition for his contributing performance. After all, the show wouldn’t be as successful without the three leading stars. The announcement left fans rather disheartened, especially, provided that many magazines and critiques had previously praised Gomez’s performance throughout the series. Describing it as one of her best in recent years.
Thirty Minute Shows Left in The Dark:
Previous Emmy-winning show Atlanta was left out in the cold this year round with the thirty-minute episode-long show joining the likes of Better Things and Reservation Dogs. Better Things, like Atalanta, had previously been shown recognition and love at past Emmys but this year, seemed forgotten.
The refreshing Oklahoma-based teen dramedy Reservation Dogs also got no love. A very disappointing year for FX. Not for the quality of the content it produced, but more so, the audacity of the Emmys snubbing, not one, but all three releases.
Kevin Costner in Yellowstone
Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan rose to critical acclaim with his crime odyssey epics Sicario (2015), Hell or High Water (2016), and Wind River (2017). Winning Academy Award Nominations for his screenwriting and the features themselves also receiving Best Picture nominees. Sheridan had developed himself as one of Hollywood’s natural talents. His ability to elevate neorealist stories, driving them with character-driven scripts and hard-hitting drama, made him one of America’s hottest prospects.
Moving from Cinema to Television, Sheridan wrote and created his first TV show. Yellowstone.
A show which saw the return of forgotten star Kevin Costner. Spanning across 4 seasons and a total of 39 episodes. Costner returned triumphantly, showing not only that he’s still got it, but as an actor, has evolved.
Fans were left disappointed this year when they heard the news that Costner had been snubbed completely as had the show. Especially provided that Paramount themselves had put a lot of marketing and money into the newest season in hopes of securing an Emmy nomination.
Dan Fogleman’s This is Us
Finally on our list of 2022 Emmy snubs is Dan Fogleman’s This is Us. Spanning a total of six seasons, with the most recent being the series final. This Is Us, previously had mass success at the award ceremonies.
From Acting nominees to writing and production nominees. Unfortunately, this year, it seems the long-running Fogleman show won’t be receiving the glorious farewell it may have expected. With the show wrapping up all storylines in a heartfelt feel good manner, Emmy has instead opted to give recognition to those more dark and macabre. Either way, it’s hard to say that the long-running NBC show hasn’t had an extremely successful campaign from start to finish.
While it has been an incredible year for the likes of HBO and other streaming services, it seems a lot of performances this year unfortunately went under the radar. Lacking the recognition they truly deserve. With the 2022 Emmy Awards set to take place on September 12. There’s still plenty of time for the Primetime awards to shock and surprise us furthermore.