Critics Choice Awards: ‘The Leftovers,’ ‘Mr. Robot,’ ‘Penny Dreadful’ score nominations

Remember back when the Critics Choice Awards was the Critics Choice Television Awards? Those were the days. (Really, it was only earlier this year.

Due to some of the aforementioned critics combining the TV and film awards into one show moving forward, the 2016 ceremony is happening so much earlier than it has in the past. Specifically, we’re looking at a January 17 show. The nominees as a result of this are only from the period of June 1 to December 31 (per TVLine), a much shorter window than we’ve seen in the past.

As usual, though, the critics did a better job than most other award shows out there in recognizing the best talent that TV had to offer this year.

Best Drama Series

Empire
Mr. Robot
Penny Dreadful
Rectify
The Knick
The Leftovers
UnREAL

A nice category this year. It’s great to see “The Knick,” “UnREAL,” and “The Leftovers” in here given how ignored they have been almost everywhere else this year so far.

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Hugh Dancy – Hannibal
Rami Malek – Mr. Robot
Clive Owen – The Knick
Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan
Justin Theroux – The Leftovers
Aden Young – Rectify

It’s a little bit of a pleasant surprise to see Young on here. Also, cheers to Theroux and Dancy for finally getting some love.

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Shiri Appleby – UnREAL
Carrie Coon – The Leftovers
Viola Davis – How to Get Away With Murder
Eva Green – Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson – Empire
Krysten Ritter – Jessica Jones

Hooray for Carrie Coon, Shiri Appleby, and Eva Green! Taraji and Viola are the only two we expected.

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Clayne Crawford – Rectify
Christopher Eccleston – The Leftovers
Andre Holland – The Knick
Jonathan Jackson – Nashville
Rufus Sewell – The Man in the High Castle
Christian Slater – Mr. Robot

Given all the talk about “The Man in the High Castle,” we’re surprised this is the first time it is on the list.

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Ann Dowd – The Leftovers
Regina King – The Leftovers
Helen McCrory – Penny Dreadful
Hayden Panettiere – Nashville
Maura Tierney – The Affair
Constance Zimmer – UnREAL

The critics continue to love “Nashville,” and more than that, they really love “The Leftovers” and we don’t blame them.

Best Guest Actor / Actress in a Drama Series

Richard Armitage – Hannibal
Justin Kirk – Manhattan
Patti LuPone – Penny Dreadful
Margo Martindale – The Good Wife
Marisa Tomei – Empire
B.D. Wong – Mr. Robot

Another pretty wonderful list here, though there are still other names you could have included.

Best Comedy Series

black-ish
Catastrophe
Jane the Virgin
Master of None
The Last Man on Earth
Transparent
You’re the Worst

It’s nice to see “You’re the Worst” on here. Most of the rest we saw coming.

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson – black-ish
Aziz Ansari – Master of None
Will Forte – The Last Man on Earth
Randall Park – Fresh Off the Boat
Fred Savage – The Grinder
Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent

It’s nice that Fred Savage got some love here, mostly because Rob Lowe has received much of it elsewhere.

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Rachel Bloom — Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Aya Cash — You’re the Worst
Wendi McLendon-Covey — The Goldbergs
Gina Rodriguez — Jane the Virgin
Tracee Ellis Ross — black-ish
Constance Wu — Fresh Off the Boat

As we mentioned earlier, yay for “You’re the Worst.” The rest were expected.

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Jaime Camil – Jane the Virgin
Jay Duplass – Transparent
Neil Flynn – The Middle
Keegan-Michael Key – Playing House
Mel Rodriguez – Getting On

We love the mix here. You’ve got three network shows, two cable shows, and then a streaming show.

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Mayim Bialik – The Big Bang Theory
Kether Donohue – You’re the Worst
Allison Janney – Mom
Judith Light – Transparent
Niecy Nash – Getting On
Eden Sher – The Middle

“Getting On” just ended. This is a nice tribute.

Best Guest Actor / Actress in a Comedy Series

Ellen Burstyn – Mom
Anjelica Huston – Transparent
Cherry Jones – Transparent
Jenifer Lewis – black-ish
Timothy Olyphant — The Grinder
John Slattery – Wet Hot American Summer

Hey, “Wet Hot American Summer” is getting some love!

Best TV Movie / Limited Series

Childhood’s End
Fargo
Luther
Saints & Strangers
Show Me a Hero
The Wiz Live!

The best thing the critics did is not give “American Horror Story” a default nomination.

Best Actress in Limited Series / TV Movie

Kathy Bates – American Horror Story: Hotel
Kirsten Dunst – Fargo
Sarah Hay – Flesh and Bone
Alyvia Alyn Lind – Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors
Rachel McAdams – True Detective
Shanice Williams – The Wiz Live!

In the case of McAdams and Bates, we’re happy that their work is not being ignored even though the shows surrounding them are not very good

Best Actor in Limited Series / TV Movie

Wes Bentley — American Crime Story: Hotel
Martin Clunes —Arthur & George
Idris Elba — Luther
Oscar Isaac —Show Me a Hero
Vincent Kartheiser — Saints & Strangers
Patrick Wilson — Fargo

No need to beat around the bush here. This is really just between Wilson, Isaac, and Elba.

Best Supporting Actor in TV Movie / Miniseries

David Alan Grier – The Wiz Live!
Ne-Yo – The Wiz Live!
Nick Offerman – Fargo
Jesse Plemons – Fargo
Raoul Trujillo – Saints & Strangers
Bokeem Woodbine – Fargo

Basically, a good chunk of “Fargo.” Our big surprise is that Plemons is listed as supporting.

Best Supporting Actor in TV Movie / Miniseries

Mary J. Blige – The Wiz Live!
Laura Haddock – Luther
Cristin Milioti – Fargo
Sarah Paulson – American Horror Story: Hotel
Winona Ryder – Show Me a Hero
Jean Smart – Fargo

If you predicted that “The Wiz Live!” would have been getting nominations a month ago, people would have laughed. Also, Paulson has barely been in “Horror Story” this season.

Best Animated Series

Bob’s Burgers
BoJack Horseman
South Park
Star Wars Rebels
The Simpsons

“BoJack Horseman” is a wonderful show. Nice to see it not ignored.

Best Talk Show

Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
The Graham Norton Show
The Late Late Show with James Corden
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Basically, Stewart is getting nominated for about two months of being on the air.

Best Reality Show – Competition

Chopped
Face Off
MasterChef Junior
Survivor
The Amazing Race
The Voice

It’s nice to see “Survivor” getting love for a great season.

Best Reality Show Host

Ted Allen – Chopped
Phil Keoghan – The Amazing Race
James Lipton – Inside the Actors Studio
Jane Lynch – Hollywood Game Night
Jeff Probst – Survivor
Gordon Ramsay – Hell’s Kitchen

Can Gordon actually win an award for screaming at people?

What do you think of these nods? Share below.