AwardsDaily TV’s First Annual Cooler Awards

Team ADTV is incredibly excited to unveil their first Cooler Awards nominations.

The 2016 Emmy nominations are upon us. Finally. Tomorrow, Television Academy announces their nominations for the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Not to be undone, we here at AwardsDaily TV decided it was time to offer our own award nominations, so we present to you, our loyal readers, the inaugural Cooler Awards. Cue applause.

First, a bit about the Cooler Awards. We decided to vote only on the major categories that we all know and love, and subsequent years will likely feature additional categories. This year, though, we wanted to focus on the fantastic performances and overall series. To make our selections, we followed the Television Academy voting process as closely as possible. Each AwardsDaily TV team member was allowed to make up to 10 selections per category. The series categories would receive no less than seven nominees with the acting categories totaling six nominees. We all voted with our hearts and put aside our predictive instincts.

That is, unless there was a tie, and there were lots of ties thanks to only seven voting members. That’s where we diverged from the Television Academy a bit. Rather than deferring to a blue ribbon panel, we engaged in a second and third round of voting (the latter round conducted via a preferential ballot to prevent an infinity of ties) to develop our nominees in a handful of categories. Because ties are allowed in Emmy world, many of our categories exceeded the minimum amount, but nothing exceeded eight nominees – an Emmy rule. While an incredibly fun experiment, this was in no way a predictive exercise for the eventual Emmy nominations.

Granted, there are some interesting observations we made in the process…

Any surprises?

Unsurprisingly, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story received seven nominations, our highest for any series. Connie Britton’s nomination in the Supporting Actress in a Limited Series category (for her near-cameo performance) pushed Simpson to the top of the leaderboard, and it made me wonder if she really is a potential spoiler for Thursday’s Emmy announcements. HBO’s Veep received six nominations. Unlike the Emmys, we here at AwardsDaily TV had no problem recognizing a broader array of its incredibly talented supporting male cast by including Kevin Dunn and Timothy Simons along with Emmy-winner Tony Hale.

Surprisingly, American Horror Story: Hotel also received six nominations, something I did not see coming given how much of a punching bag the series had become for members of the ADTV team. Aside from the overall series nomination, Matt Bomer beat out several very high-profile contenders to show up in the Lead Actor category in addition to the more expected robust supporting nominations. Mare Winningham’s fantastic supporting performance received mention, and I’m secretly hoping the Television Academy follows suit. Alas, Lady Gaga was left on the voting room floor, preventing Hotel from reaching the heights of that other Ryan Murphy show.

Better Call Saul‘s Bob Odenkirk’s omission from the Lead Actor in a Drama Series category was my single biggest surprise. I have no explanation other than Better Call Saul resonates with only a few members of the ADTV staff.

Emmy trends?

Through the voting process, I noticed a handful of interesting facts that may/may not be replicated on a larger scale at the Emmys. First, the Broad City team of Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson both received nominations, but the team split their votes between the actresses. Is this happening within the larger Television Academy? Talking about splits, a third round was necessary for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. There were a lot of possibilities and little consensus. And what were the top vote getters in the Comedy and Drama Series categories? Veep and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (natch). Bates Motel (shock). Why can’t the Television Academy see the greatness behind this criminally overlooked series?

Aziz Ansari, Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski, Courtney B. Vance, Sarah Paulson, Kerry Washington, Sterling K. Brown, John Travolta, and Regina King were the only unanimously voted upon performances. What does that mean? These performances will be seen on Emmy nomination morning. Guaranteed.

Final round voting will be conducted in accordance with the Emmy calendar – August 15 through August 29. We will announce the winners of the First Annual Cooler Awards on Saturday, September 17. Until then…

And the nominees are…

Drama Series

The Americans, FX
Bates Motel, A&E
Better Call Saul, AMC
Game of Thrones, HBO
House of Cards, Netflix
Mr. Robot, USA
UnReal, Lifetime

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Bobby Canavalle, Vinyl
Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Paul Giamatti, Billions
Freddie Highmore, Bates Motel
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Shiri Appleby, UnReal
Hayley Atwell, Agent Carter
Carrie Coon, The Leftovers
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Alan Alda, Horace and Pete
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Christopher Eccleston, The Leftovers
Michael McKean, Better Call Saul
Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Hope Davis, Wayward Pines
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Taryn Manning, Orange Is the New Black
Maura Tierney, The Affair
Bellamy Young, Scandal
Constance Zimmer, UnReal

Comedy Series

black-ish, ABC
Girls, HBO
Grace and Frankie, Netflix
Master of None, Netflix
Schitt’s Creek, Pop
Transparent, Amazon
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix
Veep, HBO

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Chris Geere, You’re the Worst
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Lena Dunham, Girls
Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Louis Anderson, Baskets
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Kevin Dunn, Veep
Tony Hale, Veep
Daniel Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Andrew Rannells, Girls
Timothy Simons, Veep

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Carol Kane, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Jane Krakowski, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Amy Landecker, Transparent
Jenifer Lewis, black-ish

Limited Series

American Crime, ABC
American Horror Story: Hotel, FX
Fargo, FX
Madoff, ABC
The Night Manager, AMC
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, FX
Roots, History

TV Movie

7 Days in Hell, HBO
Confirmation, HBO
A Deadly Adoption, Lifetime
The Dresser, Starz
Luther, BBC America
Special Correspondants, Netflix
Wallander: The Troubled Man, PBS

Lead Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie

Matt Bomer, American Horror Story: Hotel
Richard Dreyfus, Madoff
Cuba Gooding, Jr., The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager
Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
Ian McKellan, The Dresser
Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Patrick Wilson, Fargo

Lead Actress in a Limited Series/TV Movie

Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill
Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Lily Taylor, American Crime
Kerry Washington, Confirmation
Shanice Williams, The Wiz Live!

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie

Sterling K. Brown, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Connor Jessup, American Crime
Hugh Laurie, The Night Manager
Denis O’Hare, American Horror Story: Hotel
John Travolta, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Forest Whitaker, Roots
Bokeem Woodbine, Fargo

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series/TV Movie

Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Hotel
Connie Britton, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Regina King, American Crime
Cristin Milioti, Fargo
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Hotel
Anika Noni Rose, Roots
Jean Smart, Fargo
Mare Winningham, American Horror Story: Hotel