We’ve previously covered the shadowy process behind Oscar nominations. It’s unclear how films are nominated, and that’s a frequent criticism of the Academy. When Ben Affleck was passed over for a Best Director Oscar for Argo, it caused understandable alarm regarding the transparency and politicization of the process.
In contrast, the Emmy’s are letting everything spill out publicly. The Television Academy recently posted its complete list of potential Emmy nominees as nominated by their respective studios producers. This is all extra-nerdy inside baseball stuff, but it’s fascinating to see what shows are nominated in which categories, as well as which have been omitted. Even without extra analysis (Treme is considered a mini-series! Key and Peele was nominated for hairstyling!), it’s an exciting laundry list of all the quality shows currently on television.
If you’re big on television, prepare to lose a lot of time looking through this behind-the-scenes look at the nomination process. And prepare to be amazed at how minor of a role you can have and still be nominated for Best Supporting Actor.