10 Emmy Long-Shots that Deserve Nominations

by Julian Spivey 
The Emmy Award nominations come out on Thursday morning, July 16 and there’s some excitement this year that there might be a handful of newcomers (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Bloodline,” “Inside Amy Schumer” among others) among the nominees to go along with some of the usual suspects (“Mad Men,” “Louie,” “The Big Bang Theory”).

Here are 10 nominees that are likely extreme long shots to grab Emmy nominations, but truly deserve the accolade:

10. Mindy Kaling

One could argue that the third season of Fox’s (and soon to be Hulu’s) “The Mindy Project” was actually its weakest season of the three to air, but star Mindy Kaling continues to give the best comedic performance from any actress on network television. She has truly been snubbed the last two years for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and likely will be once again in a packed field that includes almost perennial winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”) and likely going away nominations for Amy Poehler (“Parks & Recreation”) and Edie Falco (“Nurse Jackie”).

9. Will Forte

Will Forte was absolutely perfect as the lonely wanderer, turned jealousy-filled protagonist Phil Miller on Fox’s freshman comedy series “The Last Man on Earth” this spring and deserves to breakthrough in the Best Actor in a Comedy Series category. Of all of the longshots on this particular list Forte likely has the best shot at breaking through according to entertainment websites like TVLine.com and EW.com. The last nomination for the category might actually come down to a fight between Forte and his former “Saturday Night Live” cast mate Andy Samberg for “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” In a perfect world they’d both receive nominations.

8. Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson hosted possibly the most unique late night talk show that there has ever been on network television. The uniqueness mostly stemmed from the fact that Ferguson truly never gave a damn, which lead to a loose and unstructured format. Ferguson has never once been nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Variety Series and really deserves the nomination for his final season.

7. Person of Interest

“Person of Interest,” the supreme CBS crime thriller, is never going to be nominated for an Emmy Award in a major category. Anybody who has spent a lot of time watching and studying Emmy nominations knows this to be a fact. However, the show has been one of the two or three best dramas on network television since its debut with fantastic performances, truly fascinating storylines and has proven that a crime drama can be so much more than a case of the week show.

6. Craig T. Nelson

Craig T. Nelson is a former Emmy winner, in the ‘90s for his sitcom “Coach” (which NBC is reviving next season), but has done his best television acting over the final two seasons of the realistic NBC family drama “Parenthood.” For the first few seasons “Parenthood” frankly didn’t give Nelson a whole lot to do, which was criminal given his status as a terrific actor. In the last two seasons Nelson got some meaty storylines and knocked every one of them out of the park. He deserves Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series recognition, but is perhaps the biggest longshot on this entire list.

5. You’re the Worst

“You’re the Worst” was a little seen, but almost unanimously critically beloved, comedy on FX last summer hailed for its portrayal of a realistic, modern relationship between its too main characters – who are narcissistic jerks who would almost be impossible to like in real life, but somehow come off as likable when together on screen. The show premiering an entire year ago and actually being transferred to the FX minor league affiliate FXX might have hurt what little chances it had at a nomination.

4. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” was the best new sitcom on network television two years ago and surprised many in the entertainment community and those watching at home when it won the Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series just halfway through its first season. During its second season, which ended in the spring, it turned into the best all-around sitcom on network television with one of the best complete casts of any comedy on television in quite some time. It belongs in the Best Comedy Series category, but likely falls short due to a packed field.

3. Parenthood

NBC’s realistic family drama “Parenthood” has been incredibly well-acted, well-written and highly critically acclaimed throughout its entire six season run, which ended in late January, but has never gotten its due notice from the Emmy Awards voting committee. It’s a true shame and has led to the show truly being one of the greatest dramas ever to never receive a nomination in the Best Drama Series category. The show has little-to-no-shot at a nomination on Thursday, due to an incredibly packed field and a little network bias on the part of voters, but should’ve been acknowledged years ago.

2. Ray Romano

Ray Romano is a multiple-time Emmy Award winner for his performance as schlub of a husband Ray Barone on the incredibly popular CBS ‘90s sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” in which he just played a version of himself without much acting really involved. But over the last five or so years in dramas like TNT’s “Men of a Certain Age” and his guest role on NBC’s “Parenthood” Romano has turned into an incredibly gifted and nuanced actor. Romano’s Hank Rizzoli on “Parenthood” over the show’s final three seasons was nothing short of amazing, particularly when you look back to his acting performance (albeit award-winning) in ‘ELR’. Romano should have been nominated for Best Guest Actor in a Drama the last two years. This is the year the Emmy committee should make of for those egregious mistakes.

1. “Late Show with David Letterman”

At one point the legendary late night talk show “Late Show with David Letterman” was the all-time winningest series in the Best Variety Series category at the Emmy Awards. The show has since been surpassed by “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and hasn’t even been nominated for an Emmy since 2010 (which is truly ridiculous). David Letterman’s farewell season of the ‘Late Show’ was not only perfect, but proved he was still the best host in late night and very possibly the greatest there’s ever been at the job (no disrespect toward his hero Johnny Carson intended). It wouldn’t be surprising for the Emmys to continue the streak of not nominating the ‘Late Show,’ but it would be a major slap in the face to a television legend and a legendary television show. 

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