The huge lesson to be found in our list of 2025 Emmy nominations snubs and surprises: Just because Emmy voters once loved your show—and just because
The huge lesson to be found in our list of 2025 Emmy nominations snubs and surprises: Just because Emmy voters once loved your show—and just because that show is still popular—doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a ticket back to the ceremony. In 2025, this lesson was learned the tough way by Squid Game and The Handmaid’s Tale, two hits that the Television Academy blanked almost entirely when the Emmy nominations were announced Tuesday morning.
Why? This is a year where the Emmys went wild for fresh contenders like The Pitt, Adolescence, and The Studio, leaving some senior favorites in the dust. At the same time, a few newbies that we expected to show up also got the frigid shoulder on Emmy morning. We’re talking Oscar winners like Renée Zellweger and Alfonso Cuarón, as well as longtime Emmy darlings like Tina Fey and Steve Martin. Even among shows that voters went bananas for, like The White Lotus, the final choices for who made the cut and who didn’t are bound to raise some eyebrows. Below, we break down the biggest snubs and surprises of the 2025 Emmy nominations.
SNUB: Squid Game Shut Out
The breakout first season of Squid Game earned 14 nominations and won six Emmys, including a history-making win for lead actor Lee Jung-jae—the first Asian performer to ever win the category. So it came as a huge shock when the second season of the Korean drama didn’t earn a single nomination. The ambitious series—which follows contestants playing a deadly series of games for money—has incredible production design and costumes, so the below-the-line snubs are especially surprising. The third and final season of the series just debuted, so there’s a possibility it’ll make a comeback at next year’s Emmys. But this significant loss of momentum will be tough to overcome. —Rebecca Ford
SURPRISE: Black Mirror Has Its Best Showing Ever
Black Mirror has aired more acclaimed and popular seasons in the past. But perhaps because the Television Academy felt there wasn’t much else to highlight in the limited-series race, Netflix’s iconic anthology actually came away with its most nominations ever in a single year for its seventh season. This included a shocking nod for Rashida Jones in the lead-actress race, who beat out Oscar winner Renée Zellweger, as well as a return to a nomination in the writing category. In an Emmy year where newbies ruled the day, it’s a occasional case of familiarity serving as a crucial advantage. —David Canfield
SNUB: The Handmaid’s Tale Ends With a Whimper
The Handmaid’s Tale began as the ultimate Emmys darling, all but sweeping the prime-time ceremony in its first year. The dystopian drama gradually lost steam, but regained momentum with critics for its final season—to say nothing of its renewed relevance in a second Trump era, and the massive ratings that greeted its conclusion. (According to Nielsen, Handmaid’s is one of the top 10 streaming originals this year so far.) It’s fair to say that voters rejected the show’s ending, though: Even Elisabeth Moss was snubbed in the lead-actress field, and the show’s superlative craft was totally ignored. Only Cherry Jones, who returned to the show after a long break, was recognized for her moving guest performance. —DC
SURPRISE: Uzo Aduba Makes the Cut—for a Canceled Show
If you’re predicting the Emmys, never underestimate Uzo Aduba. The Residence underwhelmed critics and was canceled by Netflix, but Aduba’s zany, singular performance still charmed voters enough to sneak her into a competitive comedy-actress category. She overtook Only Murders in the Building’s Selena Gomez and Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne, both of whom had been nominated for previous seasons of their respective shows, and has a chance to win her fourth trophy, previously taking the gold home for both Orange Is the New Black (twice) and Mrs. America. —DC
SNUB: The Four Seasons Checks Out
Netflix’s The Four Seasons got a mixed response from critics, but eventually found a genial audience. So it seemed like a possibility that the Netflix series might nab a few Emmy nominations, especially because it was cocreated by beloved TV icon Tina Fey. But Colman Domingo, who plays one member of the six-person friend group that vacations together each season, got the show’s sole nomination. Domingo is beloved by voters (he won a guest-actor nom for Euphoria in 2022), but to see TV icons like Fey and Steve Carell snubbed still comes as a surprise. —RF
SURPRISE: Somebody Somewhere Finally Shows Up Somewhere
I was terrified—and, honestly, expecting—that HBO’s slice-of-life gem would end its three-season run without a single Emmy nomination to its name. Fortunately, voters didn’t let that happen. The quietly stunning work of Jeff Hiller was recognized in supporting actor (comedy), while the series finale script—written by creators Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, and star Bridget Everett—was nominated in the writing category. And so while it is a huge relief that Everett will walk away from the show as an Emmy nominee, it still stings she was snubbed one last time for her fearless, heartbreakingly comical performance on the show. —DC
SNUB: Renée Zellweger Can’t Break the TV-Movie Curse
The best-actress race in the restricted/TV-movie category was once utterly dominated by big-screen stars doing small-screen films: Julianne Moore in Game Change, Jessica Lange in Grey Gardens, Claire Danes in Temple Grandin. How times have changed. It’s been seven years since a TV-movie lead actress has even been nominated—not since Laura Dern in The Tale. But it was widely thought that this year would break the streak, with Renée Zellweger eligible for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. The story of that nomination would have been wild; Zellweger would have gotten an Emmy nod for a role that previously got her an Oscar nomination, and for a movie that made nearly $140 million at the worldwide box office, even though it wasn’t released theatrically in the US. So perhaps voters saw through the “TV movie” strategy on this one. Zellweger was eligible only because the film streamed on Peacock in her native country. Still, it’s a great performance. —DC
SURPRISE: Sirens Sings
The Netflix restricted series, based on a play by Molly Smith Metzler, has been a popular hit on the streaming service, but wasn’t expected to be a huge player in the Emmy space. As such, Meghann Fahy’s inclusion as a nominee for lead actress in a restricted or anthology series was one of the biggest surprises of the day. In the series, Fahy—who previously received an Emmy nom for her breakout role on The White Lotus—plays a troubled woman who visits her younger sister (Milly Alcock) at a luxury estate owned by a mysterious billionaire (Julianne Moore). Fahy is arguably the best part of the stylish series, but the TV Academy seemed to like it a lot; Sirens also got nods for costumes, directing, and editing. —RF
SURPRISE: The Studio Racks Up the Guest Noms
We expected The Studio, Apple’s moviemaking-centered hit comedy, to do very well with nominations—and it did, earning 23 total. But the series did especially well in the guest-acting categories. The Studio earned five of the six slots in guest actor in a comedy, with noms for Bryan Cranston, Dave Franco, Anthony Mackie, Ron Howard, and Martin Scorsese—all of whom, except Cranston, played themselves. The show also earned a nom in guest actress for Zoë Kravitz. There were lots of comedies with fun (and plentiful) guest-actor performances this year, including Hacks and Poker Face—so for one show to dominate really speaks to its support within the TV Academy. —RF
SNUB: The White Lotus’s Patrick Schwarzenegger
We knew there would be at least one heartbreak when it came to The White Lotus. With so many actors vying for supporting nominations, there was no way they’d all make it in. Sadly, Patrick Schwarzenegger was the one left out in the frigid. His costars Jason Isaacs, Walton Goggins, and Sam Rockwell all landed nominations in the supporting-actor-in-a-drama category. But not Schwarzenegger, though he gave one of the biggest breakout performances this season as Saxon Ratliff, a privileged alpha male who ends up in a confusing sexual situation with his younger brother. The show earned an incredible 23 nominations overall, so Schwarzenegger has plenty to celebrate. But we can’t aid but imagine that longing look Saxon once gave Aimee Lou Wood’s Chelsea reappearing on Schwarzenegger’s face this morning as the nominations were announced. (Wood, too, got an Emmy nod.) —RF
SURPRISE: Nathan Fielder, Double Nominee
We actually saw The Rehearsal’s nomination in the directing race coming—thanks to a mix of weird balloting strategy and Nathan Fielder’s gonzo filmmaking. The fact that it was also nominated by the writers branch signaled just how deeply the show’s second season resonated with the industry, even as it’s barely classifiable as a conventional scripted comedy series. (It’s certainly unlike its fellow nominees.) These nominations come a year after the Television Academy totally rejected Fielder’s Emma Stone–led drama The Curse, and a few years after it snubbed Fielder’s work on The Rehearsal season one. Perhaps it’s finally warming to him? —DC
SNUB: Disclaimer Flames Out
If you’re Apple TV+, you pick up Disclaimer with awards in mind. The show starred Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, and was directed by Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón. The streamer gave the show a massive rollout worthy of an auteur film, with screenings at all the major fall film festivals and a campaigning blitz that lasted through the winter and spring. So it’s got to be a massive disappointment that the show landed with such a thud, coming away with only two nominations (for Blanchett and its cinematography). Cuarón missing out in best directing feels especially noteworthy, since that race was voted on by his peers. And Cuarón was passed over mostly for single episodes of restricted series—while he helmed Disclaimer’s entirety. Ouch. —DC
SURPRISE: Sharon Horgan Takes Out Elisabeth Moss
For those who were paying very close attention, Sharon Horgan‘s nomination for the second season of Bad Sisters shouldn’t have been a huge surprise. She was nominated for lead actress in a drama series in 2023 for the show’s first season, and was nominated for writing it as well. But because the show has always been a shadowy horse in the Emmy race, many onlookers underestimated her ability to make the list again this year, in such a crowded field with only five slots. But Horgan made it anyway—which meant that Elisabeth Moss was left out in the frigid for the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale, a series that once was an awards juggernaut. —RF
SURPRISE: A Pleasant Day for Paradise
Hulu’s political thriller was expected to land a drama series nomination after favorable reviews, and the fact that it comes from beloved creator Dan Fogelman. But the show also overperformed in acting nominations. It earned a lead actor nom for Sterling K. Brown, who plays an agent on the president’s Secret Service detail, along with supporting noms for James Marsden (who plays the president) and Julianne Nicholson (playing a tech billionaire). Nicholson is a double nominee this year, also earning a guest actress nom for her role as “Dance Mom” on Hacks. —RF
SNUB: Only Murders in the Building Shrinks
Both Steve Martin and Selena Gomez earned Emmy nominations in 2024 for the third season of the hit Hulu series, which has seemed on an upswing after recently winning at the SAG Awards. But sadly, this year, Martin Short is its only acting nominee. Gomez had not been nominated for the first or second season, and Martin was only for the first—so their nominations were less likely this year. Still, the show’s fourth season has been widely praised, and it seemed likely they would make it here. Overall, Only Murders was significantly down in its nomination tally, earning only eight noms this year compared to 21 last year, which speaks to 2025’s more competitive comedy field. —RF
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