For the casual TV watcher, it was probably strange that Game of Thrones won exactly zero Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday (September 15) despite having its most-watched season ever this year.

Similarly, where were the Emmy wins for David Lynch and Mark Frost's groundbreaking Twin Peaks: The Return? And how is it that last year's Best Actress Drama winner Tatiana Maslany wasn't even nominated for Orphan Black?

Ken Woroner BBC

Well, it's slightly complicated but in short, no, those three shows were not snubbed by Emmy voters.

All three programmes were actually ineligible to compete for this year's Primetime Emmy Awards because of a rule mandating that half of each nominated show's current season must have aired between June 1, 2016 and May 31, 2017.

While Twin Peaks was back on the air just under the wire on May 21, only four of its 18 episodes had aired by the time the cut-off came around 10 days later.

Suzanne Tenner Sky

Both Orphan Black and Game of Thrones missed the cut-off date completely, having premiered much later than usual on June 10 and July 16 respectively.

What this means is that these three shows will actually be eligible when the 70th annual Primetime Emmy Awards air from Los Angeles next year .

On the bright side, their absence opened up the door for a new show to be named Best Drama Series this year, since Game of Thrones won the prize the last two years in a row.

The Handmaid's Tale ultimately picked up the prestigious Best Drama Series Emmy on Sunday in a tough category race against Better Call Saul, The Crown, House of Cards, Stranger Things, This Is Us and Westworld. Let's see if it can repeat next year, with three more heavy-hitters in contention.

Stephen Colbert hosted the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards from Los Angeles' Microsoft Theater, airing live on CBS in the US.

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