The Primetime Emmy Award nominations announced on Tuesday had many firsts. Dystopian show Squid Game earned 14 nods, including one as the first-ever non-English-language drama series, while the feel-good Ted Lasso's 20 nominations haul matched its history-making nods last year, the most ever for a freshman comedy in Emmy history.
But, like every year, there were a few snubs and surprises. Series such as the hugely-popular family drama This Is Us and comedy black-ish failed to earn any major category recognition, despite both being considered for their final seasons.
Big Hollywood stars also failed to make a mark on the small screen this year, despite many of them appearing in shows or miniseries. These included Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto for WeCrashed, Nicole Kidman for Roar, Julia Roberts and Sean Penn for Gaslit and Samuel L Jackson for The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.
Here are six notable snubs that still deserve to be on your watch list:
'Pachinko' (Apple TV+)
The other Korean show that's not Squid Game but equally as good, Pachinko has been receiving rave reviews ever since the first episode came out on March 25. Based on The New York Times bestseller of the same name by American journalist Min Jin Lee, the sweeping epic follows a family over three generations, starting in the 1900s during Japan's occupation of Korea.
Beautifully shot and movingly acted, Apple TV+ has already green-lit a second season thanks to its widespread popularity — a fact blissfully ignored by Emmy voters who nominated it for one random award: Outstanding Main Title Design.
'Reservation Dogs' (Hulu)
This comedy-drama follows four Indigenous American teenagers in rural Oklahoma who rob and save in order to get to the exotic, mysterious and faraway land called California. The comedy chops of Taika Waititi — who created and produces the series with Sterlin Harjo — is on full display. Yet, Reservation Dogs deftly handles its sometimes heavy themes with effective ease, resulting in a show that's highly entertaining as it is authentic.
Notable because it's one of the only shows featuring an almost entirely Indigenous North American cast (as well as Indigenous crew), Reservation Dogs has received wide acclaim as well as a Peabody Award and Independent Spirit Awards for Best New Scripted Series and Best Ensemble Cast. Nothing to see for voting members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, however, who've completely ignored it.
Season two of Reservation Dogs is scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, August 3.
'Gaslit' (Starz)
A few years ago, Hollywood stars were all but assured Emmy Award glory when they made television appearances. But with every Hollywood actor worth their star now attached to a series, there are star-studded shows aplenty.
But Gaslit is far from your regular one with A-list Hollywood names. Featuring powerhouse performances by Julia Roberts and Sean Penn, in their first time on screen together, it is set during the Watergate political scandal in the US in 1972.
Roberts plays Martha Mitchell, the wife of then US president Richard Nixon's Attorney General John N Mitchell, played by an almost unrecognisable Penn. Martha was one of the first high-profile people in Nixon's Republican Party to sound the alarm about the president's involvement in the Watergate scandal, an act she would pay a heavy personal price for.
The show, inspired by the podcast Slow Burn, has received immense praise, but no recognition from the Emmy Awards.
'This Is Us' (NBC)
Granted This Is Us has won numerous Emmy awards and nominations in its five-season run, notably for actors Gerald McRaney, Sterling K Brown and Ron Cephas Jones, but the hugely popular tearjerker of a family drama has never been crowned Best Drama all these years.
The show follows the lives of siblings Kevin, Kate, and Randall and their parents Jack and Rebecca Pearson. Using flashbacks and flashforwards, This Is Us weaves together tales from various points of each of the characters' lives, often leaving viewers crying bucketfuls of tears by the end of each episode.
This past season was the sixth and final one, and it picked up a single Emmy nomination, for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, not exactly a rousing goodbye for such a beloved series.
'Yellowstone' (Paramount+)
The Kevin Costner-fronted Western drama took its time to find its footing, but became successful enough to get a spin-off, with two more being planned. Besides a Creative Emmy nomination last year for set design, the show's never been considered by the academy in any major category, despite the latest fourth season earning a review aggregate of 89 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, who own the biggest ranch in Montana called the Yellowstone Ranch, and who wage a battle with land developers. A prequel, called 1883, starring country star Tim McGraw with real-life wife Faith Hill, had its premiere in February. Another spin-off, 1923, with Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford in the lead, is currently in the works, as well as 6666, details for which have not been announced.
'black-ish' (ABC)
Despite being nominated almost every year for Lead Actor ever since the sitcom's premiere in 2014, Anthony Anderson, who also serves as executive producer, has never won an Emmy for the groundbreaking series. The eighth and final season, which began showing in April, has met with the same fate, with nods only for Contemporary Hairstyling and Contemporary Costumes.
Revolving around an upper-middle-class black family, the Johnsons, the show has been praised for its use of comedy to tackle hot-button issues regarding life in the US. A spin-off, grown-ish, focusing on the Johnsons' eldest daughter Zoey, played by Yara Shahidi, made its debut in 2018 and is set to return for its fifth season this month.
Meanwhile, a prequel series mixed-ish, which debuted in 2019, was cancelled after two seasons on air.
Mishael Morgan makes history as first black lead actress winner at the Daytime Emmys - in pictures
