“Yellowstone” fans are feeling snubbed as the hit television show received zero Emmy nominations in 2022.
The Paramount series is arguably the most popular show on cable, drawing an average audience of 11 million total viewers during its fourth season, per the Los Angeles Times. This is mainly due to the incredible performance of lead actor Kevin Costner, along with a solid supporting cast.
“Yellowstone” is so popular it spurred multiple spinoffs, including the critically acclaimed prequel “1883,” which did receive nominations for cinematography and music. But the two Westerns aren’t in the running for major awards like Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Drama Series.
“Yellowstone” has been popular for all four seasons, yet the series earned just one Emmy nomination previously for production design for a narrative contemporary program. It lost.
Conservatives can’t help but be suspicious that it has something to do with the anti-woke content in “Yellowstone,” which likely helped make it a hit among viewers seeking entertainment free from preaching and politics.
In general, shows from streaming giants like Netflix fared better than network cable shows, which has been the trend for years. ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and lead actress Quinta Brunson were the only nominees from the four main networks in major primetime Emmy categories.
Cable networks such as HBO, Showtime, Paramount, and AMC had multiple nominations for shows, including “Better Call Saul” and “Succession.”
“Succession” was the most-nominated program of 2022 with 25 nods, including Outstanding Drama, per Variety.
The next most nominated were “Ted Lasso” and “The White Lotus,” with 20 nominations each.
Barack Obama even received an Emmy nomination for voiceover work in the Netflix docuseries “Our Great National Parks.”
Why did “Yellowstone” get snubbed? It’s true that getting nominated for a network TV series is becoming harder. But fans of the series can’t understand why, especially with the popularity and excellent reviews even from mainstream critics.
The series has an overall critic and user rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the most recent season boasts a 90% rating.
Commentator Meghan McCain penned a piece for The Daily Mail breaking down why shows like HBO’s “Succession” get all the fanfare while drawing fewer viewers than shows like “Yellowstone.”
McCain wrote, “We live in an era where what is considered a critical hit often ends up on one cover after another, winning Hollywood awards many times over, while at the same time barely breaking over a few million viewers.”
“The show isn’t woke, it isn’t trying to lecture anyone about everything that is wrong with our culture,” she continued. “It doesn’t portray the elitist perspective of coastal television writers and where they think America should be going.”
“[Audiences] enjoy entertainment with values that they share and characters that they can relate to – and if that’s something you’d rather ignore as a leftist in media, well, then maybe it’s you who is living in the bubble.”
Still, it’s not enough to earn “Yellowstone” Emmy Award nominations, apparently.