Other surprising omissions: Weeds. Shameless got snubbed with only one nomination for guest actress Joan Cusack. Nothing for William Macy or Emily Rossum or the other kids. Jimmy Kimmel Live.
As to the non-surprising omissions, mostly shows popular with fans but apparently not industry insiders, there's Big Brother, Jersey Shore and the Bachelor franchised shows.
The Emmys voting process is different than other awards shows.
Winners are decided by judges who view sample episodes submitted by nominees as examples of their best work. In the acting races, for example, there are only about 50 to 75 judges per category,
Presenters this year:
Will Arnett, Scott Caan, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Jon Cryer, Kaley Cuoco, Claire Danes, Zooey Deschanel, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Lowe, Jason O'Mara, Julianna Margulies, Melissa McCarthy, Lea Michele, Amy Poehler, Ian Somerhalder, Sofia Vergara and Kerry Washington. Gwynneth Paltrow, Jimmy Fallon, Loretta Devine, Paul McCrane, Hugh Laurie, Drew Barrymore, Maria Bello, David Boreanaz, Katie Holmes, Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly, Jimmy Kimmel, William H. Macy, Anna Paquin, David Spade, Rachael Taylor and Anna Torv.
Here are the nomination categories I care about. (Sorry to leave out comedy but I've only seen Nurse Jackie (which I thought was a let-down this season) and Episodes (just passable.) Here's a ballot with all categories you can print out.
I can't make predictions because there are too many shows (Mad Men and Glee among them) I don't watch.
Outstanding Drama Series
- "Boardwalk Empire"
- "Dexter"
- "Friday night lights"
- "Game of Thrones"
- "The Good Wife"
- "Mad Men"
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
- Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson in "Boardwalk Empire"
- Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan in "Dexter"
- Kyle Chandler as Coach Eric Taylor in "Friday Night Lights"</li>
- Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House in "House"
- Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in "Justified"
- Jon Hamm as Don Draper in "Mad Men"
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
- Connie Britton as Tami Taylor in "Friday Night Lights"
- Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick in "The Good Wife"
- Kathy Bates as Harriet "Harry" Korn in "Harry's Law"
- Mireille Enos as Sarah Linden in "The Killing"
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
- Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson in "Mad Men"
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
- Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in "Game Of Thrones"
- Josh Charles as Will Gardner in "The Good Wife"
- lan Cumming as Eli Gold in "The Good Wife"
- Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder in "Justified"
- John Slattery as Roger Sterling in "Mad Men"
- Andre Braugher as Owen in "Men Of A Certain Age"
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
- Kelly Macdonald as Margaret Schroeder in "Boardwalk Empire"
- Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma in "The Good Wife"
- Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart in "The Good Wife"
- Margo Martindale as Mags Bennett in "Justified"
- Michelle Forbes as Mitch Larsen in "The Killing"
- Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris in "Mad Men"
Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series
- "Boardwalk Empire," Martin Scorsese
- "Boardwalk Empire," Jeremy Podeswa
- "The Borgias," Neil Jordan
- "Game Of Thrones," Tim Van Patten
- "The Killing," Patty Jenkins
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series
- Big Love, Bruce Dern as Frank Harlow
- Brothers & Sisters, Beau Bridges as Nick Brody
- Michael J. Fox as Louis Canning
- Harry's Law, Paul McCrane as Josh Peyton
- Justified, Jeremy Davies as Dickie Bennett
- Mad Men, Robert Morse as Bertram Cooper
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series
- The Closer,Mary McDonnell as Capt. Sharon Raydor
- Dexter, Julia Stiles as Lumen Pierce
- Grey's Anatomy, Loretta Devine as Adele Webber
- Mad Men, Randee Heller as Miss Blankenship
- Mad Men, Cara Buono as Faye Miller
- Shameless, Joan Cusack as Sheila Jackson
- True Blood, Alfre Woodard as Ruby Jean Reynolds
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program
- The Amazing Race, Phil Keoghan, Host
- American Idol , Ryan Seacrest, Host
- Dancing With The Stars, Tom Bergeron, Host
- So You Think You Can Dance, Cat Deeley, Host
- Survivor, Jeff Probst, Host
Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
- The Colbert Report
- Conan
- The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
- Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
- Real Time With Bill Maher
- Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
- The Amazing Race
- American Idol
- Dancing With The Stars
- Project Runway
- So You Think You Can Dance
- Top Chef
Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
- Friday Night Lights, Always,Jason Katims, Written By
- Game Of Thrones, Baelor, David Benioff, Written By; D.B. Weiss, Written By
- The Killing, Pilot, Veena Sud, Written By
- Mad Men, The Suitcase, Matthew Weiner, Written By
- Mad Men, Blowing Smoke, Andre Jacquemetton, Written By; Maria Jacquemetton, Written By
Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
- The Colbert Report
- Conan
- The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
- Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
- Saturday Night Live
Live updates (if any) below:
6:40 pm (MT): Charlie Sheen - how Awkward was that?
6:45 pm: Not only don't I recognize most of these actresses, I've never heard of some of their shows. Why are they getting a standing ovation? Why is Laura Linney dressed so differently than the others, she looks like's going out for lunch. Who is Melissa McCarthy? I am seriously missing the joke here.
6:56 pm: Finally a good moment: Jesse from Breaking Bad came on for 2 seconds. The guy from Mad Men thought he was dropping off crystal meth.
Is it time for Jane Lynch to do her bit with the Jersey Shore cast yet?
7:00 pm: I liked the reality show skit, especially the shows that didn't get nominated: Bachelor, Bachelorette, Biggest Loser, Survivor, Leno, Letterman, the Voice. Except for the Name Your City Housewives shows, I watch them all.
7:30 pm: Yea! First good win: Margo Martindale for best supporting actress for Justified. Great show, and she was great this season.
Last update: Alec Baldwin cancelled his appearance at the Emmys and asked his skit be deleted because Fox cut a joke about Rupert Murdoch and the phone hacking scandal.