The epic HBO series, which ended its eight-year run in May, was rewarded with 32 nominations – the most EVER for a show in a single season. It helped put the cable network back at the top of the TV heap with 137 total nominations, above that pesky streaming platform Netflix, which “only” garnered 117 nominations.
The treasure trove of nominations for “Game of Thrones” will translate to multiple prop bets on Bovada sportsbook.
Of course, what’s amusing about the noms motherlode, which hits every major discipline from acting to directing, casting to makeup, and sound mixing to visual effects, is that many fans abhorred the final season. More 1.5 million viewers signed a petition demanding a do-over.
From the big battle that was too dark to see, the sudden and fatal vulnerability of the mighty dragons, the easy dispatch of The Night King (no offense, Arya), and what some viewers thought was the complete abandonment of character development in the haste to wrap the series. Oh, and don’t forget: “And the Emmy for best placement of a modern coffee to-go cup in an ancient time period goes too ….”
OK, we won’t belabor it, much. The TV Academy obviously wants to send off the revered series in style and you can expect several additions to the 47 Emmys it’s already won when the award show airs on Sept. 22 on FOX. The academy is known for giving actors or series an Emmy in its final season – especially if it’s been overlooked for years. Case in point, John Hamm winning as Best Actor for portraying Don Draper in the final season of “Mad Men.”
The difference here, of course, is that “GOT” hasn’t been overlooked which only fuels fans and critics confusion.
Bottom line, it might be easiest to go with the most obvious. A published report of a critics’ roundtable discussing the overall nominations lamented in inclusion of some shows and the exclusion of others. Comedy “Schitt’s Creek” on PopTV received four nominations which perplexed The Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman. “… I’d love to see the pending police investigation on the Pop thing with ‘Schitt’s Creek.’ That just doesn’t happen organically, sorry.” OUCH!
Goodman then went on to mention shows he though should have been nominated and frankly, I hadn’t heard of most of them: “Better Things,” “Ramy,” “Baskets,” “Shrill,” “Kidding,” and “PEN15.” OK, we’ve heard of “Baskets” and we still haven’t watched it.
And that might be part of the issue – there’s too much TV!! Many actors or shows considered shoo-ins were left out.
This year’s notable acting snubs: Tracee Ellis Ross (“Blackish”), Allison Janney (“Mom”), Julia Roberts (“Homeland”), Ian McShane (“Deadwood: The Movie”), Richard Madden (“Bodyguard”), MJ Rodriguez (“Pose”), Kieran Culkin (“Succession”), Rhea Seehorn (“Better Call Saul”), and Alex Baldwin (“Saturday Night Live”), though we could have gone either way on that last one.
Best Show snubs include “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “Tracey Ullman’s Show,” “Catch 22,” “Maniac,” “Glow,” and “The Kominsky Method.” On the flip side, they did get a lot right, most notably – “RuPaul’s Drag Race” with 14 nominations. Also, on the right side of show picks: “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (20 nominations), “Chernobyl” (19), “When They See Us” (16), “Fosse/Verdon” (17), “Barry” (17), and “Saturday Night Live” (18).
On the acting side we certainly appreciated these choices in an obviously competitive year: Billy Porter (“Pose”), Milo Ventimiglia (“This is Us”), Jharrel Jerome (“When They See Us”), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Natasha Lyonne (“Russian Doll”), Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”), Aunjanue Ellis and Niecy Nash (“When They See Us”), Michael K. Williams and John Leguizamo (“When They See Us”) and Gwendoline Christie (“Game of Thrones”).
We also were very happy to see Adam Sandler get a nod for his return to “Saturday Night Live,” which ended with his poignant song tribute to Chris Farley.