‘NCIS’, ‘Law & Order: SVU’ and Other Broadcast Anchors Shut out of Emmys

As happens every year, the 2020 Emmy nominations have brought both delight and controversy. While Tiger King and Dancing with the Stars are up for trophies, Better Call Saul stars Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn are not.

Joining the Breaking Bad prequel are NCIS, Law & Order: SVU and all three shows in the One Chicago franchise in getting shutting out of the annual awards show after the nominees were revealed on Tuesday. Instead, The Crown, Killing Eve, Ozark, Succession, Stranger Things, The Crown and the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian will compete for best drama series, as will Better Call Saul. The snubs aren’t entirely surprising, given that none of the shows have attained the rank of critical darling, though they all consistently draw big ratings for their respective networks. One Chicago alone netted creator Dick Wolf a record-setting payday for the streaming rights, which are exclusive to Peacock.

Of course, there’s also been the significant blowback leveled toward police procedurals in general in the wake of more than two months of civil rights protests across the U.S., calling for an end to police brutality. The response has even taken the reality series Cops and Live PD off the air, but not Paw Patrol, despite what White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany might otherwise claim.

Law & Order: SVU and its upcoming spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime have both eluded to the fact that they’ll be addressing the changing narrative around police in general. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which also snagged one nomination for Andre Braugher’s performance, have had to start their upcoming season over from scratch.

Other surprises included Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, which ended up picking up six nominations. The Netflix docuseries scored nods for directing for a documentary/nonfiction program; picture editing for a nonfiction program; music composition for a documentary series or special (original dramatic score); documentary or nonfiction series; sound editing for a nonfiction or reality program (single or multi-camera); and sound mixing for a nonfiction or reality program (single or multi-camera). The show ended up premiering in late March, right around the time scores of people were hunkering down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Whether or not it ends up winning is still anyone’s guess.

The 69th annual Emmy Awards will air on Sep. 20 on ABC with host Jimmy Kimmel. However, given the ongoing pandemic, the event will be mostly remote.