A few reactions:
1. I’m obviously never surprised when the Emmys choose to overlook Justified, but I’ll admit, there was a teeny-tiny sliver of hope in my heart, considering this was their last chance and their final season was so strong. But as Mad Max says, “Hope is a mistake.”
2. Except it’s totally not because holy shit, Tatiana Maslany FINALLY got nominated.
Plot-wise, I don’t think Orphan Black’s third season is its strongest, but Tatiana Maslany continues to do some of the best godamn acting on television and I’m ecstatic that the Emmys have finally decided to acknowledge that. I’ve watched Orphan Black for years now and I’m still sometimes stunned when I remember that the same actress is playing all these roles. Like, it took me a minute to realize that Jordan Gavaris and Kristian Bruun and Evelyne Brochu are all playing off the same person.
3. Liev Schreiber is nominated for his work on Ray Donovan. I’m mostly noting this to point out that the only time I remember Ray Donovan is a thing is when the Emmys come around. I have no idea what this show’s about. I’ve seen maybe one commercial on TV promoting it, ever. I’ve never seen a recap or review of it online, and I know nobody that actually watches it. It is the strangest thing.
4. I love Game of Thrones and I generally enjoy Emilia Clarke, but I’m not at all convinced that she did anything particularly special this season to earn an Emmy nod. Her storyline was one of the worst, actually. This is similar to how I felt in Season 2 when Peter Dinklage got a nod over Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Not because Dinklage isn’t generally awesome — he totally is — but his work that season was limited and didn’t necessarily merit the attention he’d received in the first season. I wish that watching the Emmy’s didn’t sometimes feel like I’m back in Spanish class again with the teacher who played favorites.
On the upside, Lena Headey definitely deserved to get nominated this year, so I’m happy for her.
5. And, huh . . . Alan Alda got nominated for Best Guest Star for The Blacklist? He . . . well, he’s enjoyable enough in that, and I’m sure I know what scene he got nominated for, and I do like the actor, but still . . . my mind is a little boggled. It’s not that complex of a role, certainly not that complex of a show. Again, this feels a little old guard.
6. It kind of kills me that Tituss Burgess got a nod for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt when Ellie Kemper didn’t.
Say what now?
Burgess has a few good moments, but mostly I think he’s one of the weakest parts of the show. I want to like him a lot more than I actually do. (To be fair, I’m not entirely convinced this is the actor’s fault.) Meanwhile, Ellie Kemper is what makes that show work. Actually . . . shit, is she the only main player that didn’t get nominated? This is ridiculous. EVEN TINA FEY GOT NOMINATED FOR HER STUPID TWO-EPISODE GUEST SPOT. Look, I like Tina Fey like every person on the planet, but her role wasn’t even that funny.
That’s it. I am officially outraged on the internet.
7. Excited to see Amy Schumer nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress, but a little surprised to see that Constance Wu and Gina Rodriguez were not. Mind you, I’ve never seen Fresh off the Boat or Jane the Virgin, but I’ve heard so much buzz about both of them that I thought they each had a pretty good chance, especially Rodriguez, who won a Golden Globe for the part. Then again, Jane the Virgin is on the CW, and no one takes that channel seriously but me.
Also . . . as much as I will always have a spot in my heart for Lily Tomlin . . . does anyone actually WATCH Grace & Frankie? Maybe this isn’t fair. She’s a hell of a comedian. But I haven’t heard anything good about that show yet, and it’s hard to shake the idea that she’s being nominated because she’s Lily Tomlin.
8. But hey — Key & Peele, YES! Although, poor Jordan Peele. It must suck to be judged just not quite as funny as your only other co-star. Still, delighted to see Keegan Michael Key’s nomination.
9. Also delighted to see Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. I’ve been a fan of The Daily Show for years and with Jon Stewart leaving, I feel like it’s going to win for the umpteenth time, but . . . I’m still kind of pulling for Last Week Tonight here.
10. Finally, I actually watch three of the Outstanding Variety Sketch Shows: Drunk History, Inside Amy Schumer, and Key & Peele. This . . . is bizarre. And kind of fabulous.
Now, I just need to start watching shows that people actually take seriously.
My Geek Blasphemy 
Beth Anne and I watched Grace & Frankie on a whim and really enjoyed it. Lily Tomlin was fantastic in it. The whole cast is great, actually. We agreed that casting Martin Sheen and Sam Waterson was inspired, because the viewer would hate pretty much any other two men in those roles. I think my favorite part of the show is that it takes two of the groups–elderly women and gay men–who are most often in comedies to be laughed AT, and makes them nuanced, self-aware individuals with active, vibrant lives without sacrificing humor.
It takes a few episodes to get rolling, but it’s worth it. I was feeling pretty blah through the first two episodes, but the end of the third got me to laugh out loud.
Martin Sheen and Sam Waterson are brilliant. Wonderful casting there. The writers also took the children of the couples and turned 3/4 of them into hilarious individuals (and didn’t play the drug addict as a sad-sack loser 100% of the time, which is rare). Frankie and Grace themselves spent a little too much time stuck in the classic Hippie Dippie & Type A Perfectionist roles, but they are allowed to stretch (and some of their stretching is hilarious). I hope it gets a second season.
I wonder if the few reviews I read were only of the first few episodes or the whole first season. Some of the more negative Sense8 reviews only focused on the first few episodes, and that show took a little bit to get going. Like basically every show, excluding Firefly.
That’s kind of a nice twist on things. Maybe I’ll try it sometime, though plot-wise, the show doesn’t do anything for me. But I would be interested in seeing more shows starring older women — I just want those shows to have aliens and, like, bone-dowsing and shit. Basically, I’m waiting for Blythe to write a TV show. It would be fucked up and AWESOME.