TV Review - Who Should Win at the 67th Emmys

Jeffrey Tambor in 'Transparent' on Amazon.

The nominations for the 67th Emmys for prime-time, television programming from June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015, were announced on July 16th. HBO leads with 126 nominations. Its hit drama Game of Thrones has the most at 24 nominations. ABC is the broadcast network with the top nods at 42. CBS and NBC have 41 nominations each. FOX has 35 across the board and PBS has 29. Internet-only networks are doing well. Netflix has 34 nominations, thanks to House of Cards with 11 nods and its new, original comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with 7. Amazon Instant Video got 12 nominations, boosted mainly by the success of its series Transparent about a transgendered woman.

Earlier this year, the 87th Academy Awards was criticized because most of the nominees, particularly all the acting nominees, were white. The Emmys has way more categories than the Oscars, so it can spread the love a bit more, but still the diversity, particularly the number of African-Americans who are named here, is incredible.

Just to name a few, there are Taraji P. Henson, Viola Davis, David Oyelowo, Queen Latifah, Anthony Anderson, Don Cheadle, Uzo Aduba, Cicely Tyson, Khandi Alexander, Reg E. Cathey, Andre Braugher, Tituss Burgess, Keegan-Michael Key, Niecy Nash, Michael Kenneth Williams, Regina King, Mo'Nique and Angela Bassett. There's by my count 18 black actors nominated.

In terms of other minority representations, Richard Cabral and Anthony Mendez are the only Latino actors who got nominated. Some critics had thought Gina Rodriguez from the hit series Jane the Virgin might get a nod, but no. There are gay actors like Lily Tomlin, Alan Cumming, Titus Burgess, Kate McKinnon, Denis O'Hare, Sarah Paulson and Billy Eichner who all got nominations. Sadly, no Asian actors were recognized.

Ashraf Barhom in FX's 'Tyrant'.

The Emmys could have spotlighted some Asian actors. Constance Wu from Fresh Off the Boat was probably the best thing about that freshman, ABC series. Mindy Kaling from her own The Mindy Project was thought to be recognized but no. Aziz Ansari and his special Aziz Ansari Live in Madison Square Garden on Netflix could have got nominated. Dwayne Johnson who is part Asian could have been recognized as well. He hosted what was probably the funniest episode of Saturday Night Live this past year. However, the true snub as far as I'm concerned is Ashraf Barhom from FX's Tyrant. He's the Israeli actor who gave a fantastic, if not jaw-dropping performance last year.

Other notable snubs include Chris Messina who was also particularly fantastic in the third season of The Mindy Project and Vera Farmiga in Bates Motel. Farmiga was nominated two years ago, but she just continues to be amazing in that series. Not name-checking Sissy Spacek in Bloodline was also a supreme oversight.

Most of the conversations will be about actors, writers and directors, but there are a ton of technical categories. Games of Thrones and American Horror Story: Freak Show dominate the technical side, but I wish Netflix's Sense8 got more love in that regard, or any love actually. I would have preferred to see it pop up in categories like Stunt Coordination, Cinematography, Picture Editing and Sound Editing, which it absolutely dazzled in each technical aspect.

She's not an actor but Dee Rees got nominated for writing and directing Bessie. She's one of the few black filmmakers who gets a spotlight like this. Also, it's worth pointing out that Grammy-nominee Katy Perry is now an Emmy-nominee. Perry's performance in the Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show was nominated in the Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program category. Also, Oscar-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio is a Emmy-nominee now too. As producer, he's nominated for Outstanding Documentary for Virunga on Netflix.

Nominated in that category along side DiCaprio is Laura Poitras for her documentary Citizenfour. Poitras beat DiCaprio at the Oscars this year. It's more than likely that she'll do it again on Emmy Awards night.

One thing that was a bit disappointing was that none of the songs or music from FOX's Empire were nominated. Darren Criss from Glee got a nomination for his song "This Time," and he's who I'm supporting, but it would have been nice to see Timbaland aka Tim Mosley's name up there. I'm also a little bummed that one of my favorite series, HBO's Looking, didn't get any recognition. This past second season was such a revelation and truly one of the best things I saw.

In general though, I'm pleased with the nominations and appeciate all the names listed. However, if I had access to the Emmy ballet, this is how my vote would go. Here is who should win at the 67th Emmys on Sunday, September 20 on FOX:

Outstanding Special Visual Effects - Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC).

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series - Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central).

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie -  David Oyelowo.
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie - Felicity Huffman.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie - Richard Cabral.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie - Regina King.
Outstanding Television Movie - Nightingale (HBO).
Outstanding Limited Series - American Crime (ABC).

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series - Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent.
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Lisa Kudrow in The Comeback.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - Tituss Burgess.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Jane Krakowski.
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - Paul Giamatti in Inside Amy Schumer.
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Tina Fey.
Outstanding Comedy Series - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix).

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Kyle Chandler in Bloodline.
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series - Robin Wright in House of Cards.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Ben Mendelsohn in Bloodline.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Uzo Aduba.
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Pablo Schreiber.
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - Cicely Tyson in How to Get Away with Murder.
Outstanding Drama Series - Orange is the New Black (Netflix).