Emmys 2020: Another year, another snub for The Walking Dead

By now The Walking Dead fans are used to the Emmy snub but it still stings

2020 could have been the year for The Walking Dead to get an Emmy nomination. Actually, let me rephrase that: 2020 should have been the year for The Walking Dead to get an Emmy nomination. With so many strong performances and Hollywood’s push to expand their horizons, it all could have led to a TWD nomination but as the nominees were read on Tuesday morning the glaring omission became clear yet again.

I think we all know that after ten seasons, the idea of The Walking Dead being nominated was a long shot, but that doesn’t make it impossible. It really could have happened. The Emmy voters could consider performances from June 1, 2019 through May 31, 2020, which means The Walking Dead season 10 was what voters were looking at when making their decisions.

AMC did its part by posting performances that should be considered. Some of the big contenders in the acting category were, not surprisingly, Danai Gurira and Melissa McBride. Samantha Morton could have gotten a nod for a guest role on the show.

Instead, nothing.

It’s interesting to note that shows like Ozark, Stranger Things and The Mandalorian all received nominations. Clearly, Hollywood’s mission to think outside the box worked in the sense that shows that aren’t your typical Emmy-worthy shows. All three join AMC’s Better Call Saul, HBO’s Succession and BBC America’s Killing Eve in the Best Drama category, but why not The Walking Dead?

There’s a bias there that should be addressed. Saying The Walking Dead is a just show about zombies is like saying Grey’s Anatomy is just a show about hospitals. There’s a lot more going on with these shows, particularly about human nature and resolve in the face of adversity, and one might think that a show set during an apocalypse might be worthy of a nomination in the middle of a pandemic, but that’s clearly too much to ask for.

Now, Danai Gurira joins Andrew Lincoln in the Robbed-By-The-Emmys category because they are both gone from the show and therefore won’t be considered. (Unless Gurira shows up in the season 10 finale, but that’s not likely)

I’m disappointed, of course, but not surprised. It’s looking far less likely that The Walking Dead will ever get an Emmy nomination and that’s an absolute travesty.