Why Don’t the Emmys Recognize Acting Ensembles?

Emmy nominations were announced last week, and several Nice Girls faves got the nod (holla Simon Baker!) in the midst of the same ol’ same ol’. While I groused about the lack of Emmy love for True Blood (3 technical noms) and Chuck (stunt nom), I started to wonder if we’d see more new faces at the Emmys if they took a page from the SAG Awards and added an ensemble cast category. This is sort of served by the Outstanding Casting categories, but that’s a very roundabout way of saying a show has a good cast. I think it’s time to acknowledge those shows that may not have an individual actor who stands out for recognition but works beautifully as a unit. To that end, I present my nominees for the fictional categories of Outstanding Ensemble Cast Comedy/Drama:

Outstanding Ensemble Cast – Comedy

• 30 Rock – Yes, the Emmys recognized Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Jack McBrayer and Jane Krakowski this year, but that in and of itself shows that we need an ensemble category. When have your cast is nominated, you know the other half deserves some love as well.
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  Chuck on NBC

  Chuck – Zachary Levi knocks it out of the park as Everyman-turned-spy Chuck, so it’s a shame he didn’t get a lead actor nod this year. And yet, as good as Levi is, he’s backed up by a stellar supporting cast in Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster, Ryan McPartlin, Mark Christopher Lawrence, and even the oftentimes cringeworthy JEFFSTER! duo of Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahay.

• Psych – This is the Shawn and Gus show for the most part, and the comic timing between James Roday and Dule Hill is a thing of beauty, but I humbly submit that Corbin Bernson, Maggie Lawson, Timothy Omundson, and Kirsten Nelson add just the right balance to the duo’s shenanigans.

Outstanding Ensemble Cast – Drama

• Bones – Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz are a delight to watch as our leads and should have received individual nominations. Add in a quirky, interesting supporting cast of TJ Thyne, Eric Millegan, Michaela Conlin, Tamara Taylor, Ryan O’Neal, Stephen Fry and a rotating cast of interns and you have one of the most entertaining and three-dimensional casts on TV.
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  Leverage on TNT

  Leverage – This series would have been just another procedural fronted by a takes-himself-too-seriously thespian, except Timothy Hutton doesn’t take himself too seriously and neither does the rest of the outstanding cast. With a sly wink and nod, Hutton, Christian Kane, Aldis Hodge, Gina Bellman and Beth Riesgraf gleefully enact their elaborate schemes to take from the rich and give to the poor.

• True Blood – Sure, it’s all about Sookie, and Anna Paquin has risen to the challenge of playing the telepathic waitress surrounded by vampires, weres and seriel killers, but this show has become a true ensemble as it follows the lives of an extensive cast of characters. Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Deborah Ann Woll, Sam Trammell and the remarkable Nelsan Ellis would take over the Emmys if genre shows were given half a chance.

Which ensembles would you add to round out the list? Although I haven’t watched it yet (I know, I know, it’s on my list!), Battlestar Galactica should probably be included. Who else?