The Strange History of Iconic TV Characters That Never Won Emmys.

by Eric Blume

It seems inconceivable that Brian Cox will not win an Emmy for his towering, iconic performance as Logan Roy, the heart and soul (relatively speaking) of one of television’s all-time greatest shows, Succession.  And yet, it appears he will not!  Cox only has a handful of episodes, far less a cumulative punch than his fellow nominees for Best Actor in Drama Series.  He simply didn’t have enough screen time in this final season to pull through with a victory. If Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook win the lead Emmys (which I strongly believe they will), that means that all of Cox’s key co-stars will walk away from the series with the industry’s highest honor, while its central figure will go unrewarded.  It’s a great example of the randomness and silliness of awards shows.  It's not that his co-stars didn't absolutely deserve it, but it's crazy that the mighty Cox will go Emmyless.

Still, he’s in good company. After the jump let's look at a few other actors who created truly quintessential characters on major shows, but despite many nominations, never won the elusive Emmy for their creation...

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It's '300' days until Oscar

by Nathaniel R

Fassy on the set of 300

A bit of very random silliness since we now know when the next Oscars will be held. With 300 days to go, the film 300 popped into my mind. It was a big hit fifteen years ago grossing almost half a billion globally and becoming the 10th highest grossing film of 2007 in the US. Thrillist once argued it was the most influential movie of the Aughts. It received plentiful MTV Movie and Saturn Awards nominations but zero love from Oscar which is... appropriate. But every once in a while we think about the fact that it was Michael Fassbender's debut film (!) and that director Zach Snyder has continued to have a surprisingly fanatic cult following... so much so that his work factored into Oscar's embarrassing "fan favourites" contest this past season. So it prompted a question: Have any 300 alums outside of Michael Fassbender gone on to Oscar love?

The very Aughts very Digital action flick boosted several careers (as box office hits do) but the answer to that specific question is  'yes but but not my much'... 

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Do Emmy Submission Episodes Actually Matter?

With the Emmys fast approaching here's Abe Fried-Tanzer to ask a perennial question...

For the past twelve years, I’ve analyzed the Emmy episodes submitted by the nominees. Every summer, I screen as many of the episodes of shows I don’t regularly watch as I can, and review the selections of those I do. It’s a fun way to get to sample popular series that, for whatever season, aren’t on your watchlist, but the question is: do these submissions actually matter?

The idea behind them is a good one. Emmy voters can’t be expected to watch every nominated performer’s work in every nominated show, and requiring them to screen just a select few episodes is far more reasonable...

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Who will win the Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Drama?

By Spencer Coile 

Like in year’s past, Game of Thrones came back into the Emmy conversation by steamrolling the competition with an historic nomination count of 32. Amidst a plethora of technical categories and despite its middling reception for its eighth and final season, the HBO juggernaut still managed to score a whopping four nominations in the Supporting Actress in a Drama Series race. With The Handmaid’s Tale largely ineligible this Emmy cycle, it felt inevitable that another show would swoop in and dominate this category, a trend that's been growing given the new nomination procedures.

Still, this does not guarantee that the Iron Throne secures an easy victory. With two first-time Emmy nominees outside of Game of Thrones (can you believe Fiona Shaw has never been nominated?!) in scene stealing roles, might this race be more unpredictable than we once thought? 

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Game of Thrones "The Iron Throne" (S08E06)

For this final season of Game of Thrones, Team Experience members Ben Miller and Eric Blume have been alternating on coverage. Now they're joined up for the final wrap. - Editor

BEN MILLER: Alrighty Eric.  We are at the end of the line.  Before we get to the final episode, are you happy with the final season leading up to the finale has gone?

Personally, I feel it's been pretty fulfilling.  The problems everyone seems to be having are more related to the spectacle and anticipation as a whole.  This might be the last piece of monoculture we have for a while, so everyone has strong opinions about what it should and should not be.  I also believe our culture does not lend itself to objective criticism.  Instead of watching an episode and forming your own opinion, you watch the episode while the rest of the world is simultaneously tweeting about it.  After the episode, you watch the immediate reaction videos and fiery blog posts.  The next day, you laugh or scoff at the thousands of produced memes, read seven reaction articles and reviews, take in another dozen YouTube videos, then you suddenly have an opinion.  I started my personal media blackout until my opinion was formed after episode 2 of this season.

ERIC BLUME: While I agree with your assessment of how movies and TV are now consumed, I think there's a more disturbing trend at hand with this season:  armchair criticism.  Obviously it's cool to be disappointed with this final season in whatever way you're disappointed.  But the ugly dismissal of Benioff and Weiss by viewers is deeply gross to me...

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