From The Leftovers and Westworld to The Americans, here are the biggest surprises from the Emmy nominations, both horrific and happily unexpected

Where the hell is The Leftovers?

That’s question number one, following today’s announcement of the 69th Emmy nominations. Aside from a cursory nod for Ann Dowd in the guest actress in a drama series category, The Leftovers – perhaps the most critically adored television series of the year so far – failed to receive a single meaningful nomination. Carrie Coon fans will be sated by her lead actress nod for Fargo, the lesser of her two roles this year, although its exclusion still feels like an almighty slap in the face.

Westworld leads the way with 22 Emmy nominations Read more

Taking The Leftovers’ rightful place in the best drama series category is House of Cards, which just about managed to belch out yet another underwhelming season earlier this year. The only comfort from that inclusion is how unlikely it is to actually win, given the stiff competition. The Crown is more sumptuous, The Handmaid’s Tale more necessary. Stranger Things was more fun, Better Call Saul hit brand-new heights and, as a network series that people actually like, This is Us finds itself in the slightly ridiculous position of plucky underdog.

And then there’s Westworld. Its success was probably to be taken slightly for granted – it’s the most self-consciously prestigious prestige drama of the year, plus the most overtly Games of Thronesy thing in a GoT-ineligible year – but did it deserve the giant haul of nominations it received? Based on the actual show itself, it did not.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Did Westworld deserve the giant haul of nominations it received? It did not. Photograph: John P Johnson/HBO

As for Better Call Saul – and not to do down Jonathan Banks, who received a supporting actor nomination – it is a tragedy that Michael McKean wasn’t recognised. His knotty, stubborn, complicated portrayal of Chuck McGill wasn’t just a career-best performance for him, it was one of the best performances by anyone in TV all year. Banks said about six words the entire series, but McKean built up and destroyed an entire life. The fact that he won’t be able to compete in next year’s awards makes the snub sting even more.

Emmys 2017: the full list of nominees Read more

In fairness, these aside, most of this year’s Emmy shocks were happy ones. The Americans finally secured the recognition it deserved in the form of nods for both Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, plus an outstanding writing nomination and a best guest actress nomination for Alison Wright’s poor, sweet, tragic stupid Martha. And Zach Galifianakis received a lead actor nomination for Baskets, a show many had written off as too weird and underwatched to count. He won’t win – and nor will fellow welcome nominee Donald Glover – because Jeffrey Tambor was nominated, and Transparent still apparently scrapes by as a comedy on some sort of technicality. Pamela Adlon won’t win the comedy lead actress Emmy for Better Things either, but her inclusion is just as sweetly unexpected.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A welcome nominee … Donald Glover in Atlanta with Lakeith Stanfield and Brian Tyree Henry. Photograph: Guy D'Alema/AP

Millie Bobby Brown’s inclusion in best supporting drama actress isn’t only a nice touch – her appearance on the night will automatically ramp up the red carpet’s fun factor by about 500% – but it also gives her a genuine shot at the statue. Her role in Stranger Things, which unusually for that show didn’t require either a constant stream of nostalgic references or endless howling, was perhaps the hardest of them all. If the voters can see past her age, and ignore the showier one-note misery of her competitors, she’s in with a shout.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Millie Bobby Brown’s inclusion is a nice touch – plus her appearance on the night will automatically ramp up the red carpet’s fun factor by about 500%. Photograph: PF1/Netflix

The two shows that potentially have most to gain from these nominations, though, are Feud and Big Little Lies. This isn’t really much of a surprise. They’re both tremendous programmes, although you can’t help feeling the odds were always stacked in their favour. Big Little Lies was stuffed to the gills with big-name Hollywood stars, and Feud was a story about – you guessed it – big-name Hollywood stars. If there’s one faithful trope the Emmys will cling to for dear life, it’s that the clutch of nobodies who work on television will always become awestruck when a movie star enters the fray. You could argue that it’s unfair to the many, many deserving television-specific artists working today, but that’s the Emmys. Plus, Jimmy Fallon didn’t get anything, so it isn’t all bad.

Mainly, though, today’s nominations were all about The Leftovers. It was a funny, tender, beautiful show and it deserved far better than it received. Its sudden departure today will not be forgotten. We are living reminders.