Issa Dub: Emmy Nominations Offers Nothing New for Black TV
While some of our favorite actors are up for an Emmy the number of new Black TV programs that made the list leaves us underwhelmed.
There weren’t many surprise nominees this morning for the main categories which aired on Facebook Live.
Veterans like Tracee Ellis Ross and cast-mate Anthony Anderson, who both received nominations as Leads in a Comedy Series, along with their show Black-ish were expected. Even Viola Davis who scooped up several big awards during her whirlwind award season earlier this year was an unsurprising vote for Lead in a Drama Series for her role in ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder.
It was newcomers like Donald Glover, his hit FX show Atlanta, FOX’s This Is Us and HBO’s The Night Of that proved to be a breath of fresh air during the announcement.
A first time Emmy Award nominee, Glover received a nomination for Lead in a Comedy Series while Atlanta received a nomination in both the writing and directing comedy categories. The latter of which was not aired during the live announcement.
Although Empire received a single nomination for its contemporary costumes design category and Marvel’s Luke Cage for its stunt coordination the lack of nominations for two record-breaking series is surprising. Especially for Luke Cage which was Netflix’s most popular show last year. There were quite a few popular shows that did not receive any nominations.
With 2016 bringing in a wave of brand new Black TV programs it’s hard to reconcile the low number that received nominations. Here’s just some of the new and popular shows that were snubbed:
- Insecure
- Greenleaf
- Queen Sugar
- Survivor’s Remorse
- Power
- The Carmichael Show
- Shots Fired
- Star
- Underground
- Orange is The New Black
- Scandal
- How to Get Away With Murder
- Grey’s Anatomy
Other noteworthy nominations:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack (starring Oprah Winfrey) -Television Movie
13th – Documentary or Nonfiction Special /Directing for a Nonfiction Program
Lip Sync Battle (hosted by LL Cool J) – Structured Reality Program
Brown Girls – Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Martha Stewart & Snoop Dogg (Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party –
Host for a Reality/Reality-Competition Program
Uzo Aduba (Orange is The New Black) – Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale) – Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Thandie Newton (Westworld) – Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) – Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us) – Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Leslie Jones (Saturday Night Live) – Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Titus Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) – Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Regina King (American Crime) – Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Laverne Cox (Orange is The New Black) – Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Michael Kenneth Williams (The Night Of)- Supporting Actor in a Limted Series or Movie
You can watch this morning’s announcement below or view the full list of 2017 Emmy Award nominations here.
The 69th Emmy Awards air live on Sunday, September 17th at 8 p.m. on CBS from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Late-night host Stephen Colbert will host the event.
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