Like, are you kidding me with this?
1. The Good Wife
This is just so sad. It's sad, of course, because in its fifth year CBS' The Good Wife put together one of the most remarkable seasons of a drama. Ever. Across all of television (and the internet), there were many wonderful things to see during the nomination period, and we can see those represented in the Best Drama category (especially in Breaking Bad's last eight episodes, the first half of Mad Men's final season, and in HBO's explosive True Detective). But not even those shows did what The Good Wife, led by its creators, Robert and Michelle King, did for a full network season of 22 episodes. The show reinvented itself, twisting the plot and characters' relationships into a new and often troubling configuration, leading to the shocking death of Will (Josh Charles, who was nominated, thank the lord) and its aftermath. Every week, The Good Wife was delightful. In its fifth season! Anyway. As I said, it's sad. But the saddest part of all is that the Television Academy couldn’t get out of its rut to reward this show, which, after all, was the Best Drama of 2013-14. —Kate Aurthur
CBS
2. The Americans 3. Keri Russell 4. Matthew Rhys
FX's The Americans is a slow burn and a challenge. It's gray and it's serious and it's violent. Also, the Academy has a history of shunning FX dramas for reasons I don't understand. So that explains — maybe — why this show was shut out for its second season. It does not explain why Keri Russell wasn't nominated for Best Actress in a Drama. Did she not go through enough playing a KGB spy trying to do spy shit while also being a loving parent and spouse? Did she not wear enough wigs? I always hate to point fingers at those who were nominated instead, because — well, it's not nice! But I can't help myself here: Claire Danes' Homeland spy character has devolved into parody, and Russell's Elizabeth Jenkins contains a thousand shades. Also: Matthew Rhys wasn't a consensus pick among Emmys pundits (Russell was), but he is her equal partner on this show, playing the emotional, conflicted Phillip. —KA
Craig Blankenhorn/FX
5. Scandal
Scandal wasn't any sort of given in the Best Drama category. Its soapiness is the opposite of the dour manliness of Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad — though its moral compass may actually be exactly like Breaking Bad (in that it doesn’t have one). But would it be so wrong for the Emmys to reward the show that a huge number of people talk about and freak out over every week? I don't know whether ABC spent any money campaigning for Scandal — Kerry Washington was nominated, as she should be. Considering what Shonda Rhimes has done for television, not only in her diversity revolution, but Scandal's breakneck pacing, I don't get why Scandal isn't considered more worthy here than, say, the waning Downton Abbey. —KA
Ron Tom / ABC
6. Masters of Sex 7. Michael Sheen
Double snub for one of TV’s most intelligent dramas and the quiet but meaningful performance delivered each week by star Michael Sheen. Yes, the show was (rightly) celebrated elsewhere — a Lead Actress nomination for Lizzy Caplan, a Guest Actress nom for Allison Janney, and a Guest Actor nod for Beau Bridges — but, like the groundbreaking scientist he plays on the show, Sheen elevates the work of everyone around him. —Jarett Wieselman
Michael Desmond / Showtime
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