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Before we here at The Wire get to our own picks for who should be nominated when the Primetime Emmy nominations are announced on July 10th, there's the small matter of these award-worthy performances who won't even get a chance because they were left off the ballot entirely.
Before we begin, it should be noted that names get omitted from the Emmy ballot for all sorts of legitimate (or at least understandable) reasons. Shows with giant ensemble casts (like, say, Game of Thrones) like to concentrate their Emmy hopes on a handful of most likely contenders, the better to avoid diluting their own votes. Some shows are more Emmy-aggressive than others. (Some performers are too, since you can submit yourself for consideration on the ballot if you pay the entry fee.)
Still, injustice is injustice, and until July 10, we should all be able to live in the fantasy land that the Emmy Awards will honor only the very best in their respective categories. A notion that the omissions of the following performers from the ballot damages significantly.
Gweldoline Christie - Game of Thrones - Supporting Actress in a Drama
As mentioned above, Game of Thrones finds themselves in a pickle, with dozens of performers spread out across the show's disparate storylines. In the end, nine performers were submitted — Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Charles Dance (Tywin), Lena Headey (Cersei), Sophie Turner (Sansa), Maisie Williams (Arya), Kit Harrington (Jon Snow), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie), Emilia Clarke (Danaerys), and Natalie Dormer (Margaery) — in the supporting categories. (Two more — Pedro Pascal (Oberyn) and Diana Rigg (Olenna) — were placed for consideration among the guest actors.) That leaves a great many actors who made a big impact, chief among them Ms. Christie, whose Brienne of Tarth is among the show's more popular characters. It's tough for side characters to make their presence felt, particularly when even the lead characters are only on screen 10% of the time. Still, if only for that scene opposite Cersei at the Purple Wedding, not to mention that season-ending clash with The Hound, Christie deserved consideration.
Alan Cumming - The Good Wife - Supporting Actor in a Drama
How curious that Cumming, a two-time nominee for The Good Wife, was left off the ballot entirely. Which isn't to say that Eli Gold's storylines this season made him worthy of a nomination. But it still seems wrong to see the entire Good Wife main case up for consideration while he's not. Though I suppose it's telling that his best work of the season, when he needed to get Alicia onto the phone to learn that Will died, happened when he was out of focus (right).