Kelsey Grammer was thought to be a shoo-in for 'Boss'.
LOS ANGELES – As nominees for the 2012 Emmy awards popped open champagne bottles to celebrate on Thursday, some TV critics and industry watchers expressed surprise that several popular comedy and drama series were overlooked by members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Among the Emmy snubs on many critics’ lists were NBC comedies “Parks & Recreation” and “Community,” while the drama “Boss,” starring Kelsey Grammer, also failed to get due respect from award voters at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, according to some industry watchers.
Grammer, with five previous Emmy wins and 14 nominations for performances on “Cheers,” “Frasier,” “Wings,” and “The Simpsons,” was denied a spot in the lead actor race, despite winning a Golden Globe this year.
“The biggest snub of the day was Kelsey Grammer for ‘Boss.’ He’s an Academy favorite. I thought he was a shoo-in for that show. He’s fantastic and he wasn’t even nominated,” Rob Moynihan of TV Guide said.
In comedy categories, “Parks & Recreation” picked up five nominations, including lead actress for Amy Poehler, but missed a spot in the race for top series. “Community,” which lost creator Dan Harmon this year after disagreements with network executives, picked up only one nomination for writing.
James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly wrote “many feel ‘Parks & Recreation’ had its best season, and that Nick Offerman in particular should have been nominated. Instead, the Academy nominated another quirky politics-tinged comedy, ‘Veep,’ which most thought was merely mildly funny.”
Other comedies that critics felt were left out included Fox’s animated comedy “Family Guy” and musical hit “Glee.”
In the drama categories, AMC picked up 34 nominations for “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead” and “Hell on Wheels,” but critics were quick to point out the omission of “The Walking Dead” in major categories.
Los Angeles Times’ Greg Braxton said the show “is one of the cable network’s most popular and acclaimed series, with critics continually noting that the quality of the acting and writing consistently raised the drama beyond the usual horror genre fare.” But it only received nods in technical categories.
AMC’s “The Killing,” which picked up six nominations last year in the drama series category, also failed to score with Emmy voters this year.
FX, which scooped up 17 nominations for “American Horror Story,” didn’t fare as well with “Justified,” which earned four nods and one win last year. It received two nominations this year, for art direction and guest actor in a drama series.
Some felt Fox network drama “House” and lead actor Hugh Laurie were snubbed after the popular show ended this year following eight seasons. The show won five Emmy awards in past years.
In the reality TV categories, singing contest “American Idol,” which picked up 10 nominations last year, received three on Thursday, including one for Ryan Seacrest as host. It was not nominated for best reality competition, while lower-rated rival “The Voice” was.
“Survivor” host Jeff Probst, who has won best reality competition host four years running, failed to make the shortlist this year, making room for Seacrest, Betty White, Cat Deeley, Phil Keoghan and Tom Bergeron to battle it out.
