2017 Emmy Nominees Reaction Post [Contributors: Jenn and Chelsea]

Can you believe it's time for ANOTHER Emmys celebration? It seems like these awards sneak up on me every year. But it's true — the Emmys will air on September 17, which means the nominees were announced yesterday. In spite of the fact that this awards show usually disappoints me every year and leads to heaps of angry reaction GIFs, I actually found myself pretty pleased with the crop of nominees to choose from. Chelsea felt essentially the same way, too, and so we decided to team up and do a reaction post for y'all. In the era of peak TV, it's no surprise that so many shows and actors got left out — there's no way to possibly reward every great television show that aired this year.

So here are our thoughts on the 2017 Emmy nominations:

Give it to me straight: What do you think of the nominees this year?

Jenn: I’m actually surprised that I’m not as rage-y this year as I typically find myself to be at the Emmys nominations. I feel like there was a really good balance of network, cable, and streaming shows — all of which were very different from one another. Apart from maybe Veep and SNL, not many shows actually dominated in the categories they were nominated in. And that’s refreshing because I’m used to the Emmys having the entire cast of Modern Family or The Big Bang Theory (which surprisingly got snubbed out of everything, and usually Mayim Bialik is a shoe-in for a nomination) nominated in one category.

I don’t know how to feel about being okay with the nominees for an awards show. I really don’t.

Chelsea: I’m shocked and oddly proud that the Emmys finally recognized so many great shows and a lot of new shows. I’m normally over the Emmys and the same old names but so many of the races are fresh and exciting that I don’t know who will win or who I even want to win. Some of the categories are still so white but others, like Comedy Lead Actor and Drama Supporting Actress, found some balance and that was nice to see. These awards still have a LONG way to go in recognizing people of color and queer creators, but it’s nice seeing them steadily increase in diversity from year to year.

Which shows/actors were you most excited to see nominated?

Chelsea: Where do I even begin!?! Big Little Lies is easily the best thing I’ve watched all year and I’m glad so many of the actresses are getting their due — especially my past MVPs, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley.

SAN JUNIPERO GOT NOMINATED FOR OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE AND WRITING. #YORKIEANDKELLY4EVA

Saturday Night Live was the most talked about show of the year and I was so proud to see other performers get nominations (TOM HANKS). The entire Comedy and Drama Supporting Actress categories are pretty perfect, and I’m glad they chose to reward a wide range of shows. Sterling K. Brown and Chrissy Metz make my heart soar, and Samira Wiley and Elisabeth Moss deserve every shiny thing coming toward them. The always fabulous and elegant Laverne Cox gets her second nomination this year, but is already a winner in my heart. Black-ish got so much overdue love for the show and its lead actors, and the Comedy Lead Actress category is just stacked. And shout-out to James Corden and Samantha Bee for some LONG overdue love.

I’m so excited for Mindy Sterling getting two nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, and earning Tello Films their first Emmy nomination. It’s so lovely seeing the smaller streaming providers get love, especially this queer lady-centric platform.

My heart just wants General Carrie Fisher to posthumously win for Catastrophe.

*throws waffle at the Television Academy for nominating Eleven*

Jenn: I agree with Chels — Samira Wiley and Elisabeth Moss deserve every possible award, and I knew that The Handmaid’s Tale would get love, but am glad to see it get so much love. Stranger Things actually getting nominated for Outstanding Drama was really a surprise, but a welcome one. I love that show and it deserves all the awards.

The love for This Is Us was not remotely surprising, but I still could not be more joyous. That cast is absolutely delightful and wildly talented. They deserve every good thing that comes to them, and I’m pulling hard for Sterling K. Brown to take the award home.

Speaking of deserving all the awards, shout-out to Aziz Ansari and Master of None for getting nominated — especially in the Outstanding Writing category. “Thanksgiving” was a brilliant episode this year (Master of None, in general, is such a quality show that does not really get as much buzz as it should). But that episode is up against “B.A.N.” which could easily take home the prize. Atlanta was a really incredible ride and I’m hopeful that Donald Glover and company will take at least an Emmy for Outstanding Writing home, because that particular episode was HILARIOUS. I’m just always glad to see Donald Glover soaring after Community.

Also, Lin Manuel-Miranda is nominated for his hosting stint on SNL and I could not be more thrilled. Speaking of, it’s also pretty incredible that literally HALF of the Supporting Actress nominees for Comedy come from SNL (when I’m used to Modern Family dominating Supporting categories in Comedy).

I do wonder if it’s because of peak TV that I’m actually okay with all of the nominees this year for the Emmys. There was far too much television to choose from that I don’t know how the voters narrowed the nominees down. It’s unsettling to not be rage-y about the nominees, but I understand how some shows and actors got overlooked this year — there were so many award-worthy moments to choose from that there were bound to be ones that got left out.

What was snubbed this year that deserved a spot?

Jenn: WHERE IS THE LOVE FOR MANDY MOORE?! That snub was probably most surprising to me. She did incredible work as the matriarch of This Is Us this year that I’m really surprised that she got overlooked, in spite of how strong that Drama category really was. I also am bummed that Rachel Bloom didn’t get any love for this season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which was an awesome and insanely entertaining ride (even with the departure of Santino Fontana from the cast). At least the show got nominated in the songwriting category.

And it hasn’t been nominated since around its first season, but New Girl really stepped it up this year so I was hoping it would get some love. Alas, nope. One Day at a Time deserved love too (I thought at least Rita Moreno would get a nom). And where was the Emmys love for Matt Smith? I assumed he would be a shoe-in Drama nominee for The Crown, but the race this year was tight so it looks like he missed the cut.

Chels informed me that Tatiana Maslany wasn't eligible to be nominated, which explains the lack of Emmys love for her performance in Orphan Black. My hope is that in 2018, we'll get to see her nominated (and possibly win) for the show's final season.

Chelsea: While they got so much right this year, it’s a tad disappointing to see One Day at a Time not get any love, especially Rita Moreno. I knew it would be a long-shot since it’s more wholesome Netflix content, but they needed to really consider it. And Brooklyn Nine-Nine getting snubbed everywhere is always disheartening. Even the reliable Andre Braugher got snubbed for the first time. Then the stray nominees like Issa Rae, Constance Wu, and Danielle Brooks really should have squeezed in there and spiced up some of those categories.

If the Sherlock boys can get nominated almost every year, why can’t Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw should be able to get acting nominations for Black Mirror’s “San Junipero”? It would have been a total pipe dream for Sweet/Vicious to get nominated but it was the best show on TV that wasn’t Big Little Lies and deserved every honor.

It’s so hard to complain this year when so many great shows were given love for the first time. Usually the Television Academy is disappointing and we get 20 Modern Family nominations, but this year was a welcome surprise. Maybe Game of Thrones should take another year off.

Sound off in the comments below with your favorite nominees/who deserves a nominee but got snubbed/any other thoughts on this year's crop of nominees!