Star Trek Getting Snubbed So Hard By The Emmys Is Disheartening After The Franchise’s Strongest Year Yet
This was tough to see as a fan.
The 2023 Emmy Nominations have been announced, and if you’re a Star Trek fan, you might be a little disappointed. Picard Season 3 does have reason to celebrate for scoring some expected recognition to the tune of two Emmy nominations for makeup work, but when it came to all other major categories, everything and everyone got snubbed. It’s a tough pill to swallow after a year that saw the franchise garner a ton of acclaim and widespread recognition, and yet the most-hyped project of the year was largely overlooked.
It’s no secret that Paramount made a big push to get Star Trek: Picard noticed ahead of award season this year, but the effort was largely in vain by way of total nods. Given that, though, it would seem that there was a failure on behalf of the voting committee to give the series its due recognition, rather than the parent company and fans with a Paramount+ subscription for not making the effort by tuning in and spreading the word. For those wondering where the oversight was, I have some notable snubs I think need to be pointed out.
Patrick Stewart Deserved An Honorary Nod After Finishing Picard
Patrick Stewart has been nominated for four Emmys in his career, and it’s absolutely wild that none of them are for the show he’s most known for. That’s right, Stewart has gotten acknowledgement for Moby Dick, The Lion In Winter, Extras, and Hamlet, but never for Star Trek: The Next Generation or Picard. That’s a travesty, in my eyes, and one that the award show could’ve rectified this year.
The Best Actor category has no less than three nominees from Succession and have multiple entries in other categories as some predicted. An actor of Patrick Stewart’s caliber was worthy of at least a nomination based on the television legacy character that made his career. I’d also add that Picard Season 3 was among one of his best performances as the character, so for voters to completely ignore that is beyond me.
Jonathan Frakes Acted His Ass Off In Picard Season 3
I was one of the first people when Star Trek: Picard Season 3 came out to give Jonathan Frakes his flowers. The supporting actor delivered the character’s best performance of his career, and just to say it on the record, he gave the strongest performance of the season.
He was more than deserving of a Best Supporting Actor nod but was left out of a category that is entirely dominated by The White Lotus and Succession. Did everyone in the academy only have a Max subscription?
Overlooking Stephen Barton’s Masterful Homage To TNG’s Music Was Criminal
If you weren’t following Star Trek: Picard before Season 3, it’s easy to overlook composer Stephen Barton’s contribution. Those that were watching, though, know that he came in and revamped the style of the score for Season 3 and created a series of themes that enhanced and paid homage to the most iconic music of The Next Generation.
It’s disheartening to see his work go unacknowledged by voters, though the fans love it well enough. Barton mentioned as much in lamenting being overlooked but gave congratulations to the makeup team for representing the franchise:
Ah well. No #emmy love for #StartrekPicardSeason3 and lots of shenanigans with them not following their own rules about number of nominations (music had 162 submissions and was therefore meant to have seven nominees)
— Stephen Barton (@ComposerBarton) July 12, 2023
In addition to these massive oversights, there’s more I could say about the work of the costume department, the recreation of the TNG bridge, and other actors who could’ve gotten a nod. At least the franchise will get a chance to gather more technical awards and, perhaps someday, will get the chance to score one of those coveted Emmys for the franchise in a key category.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3, as well as the other shows that eren’t Emmy-eligible for 2023, are available to stream over on Paramount+. As for the Primetime Emmy Awards, they’ll be held on Monday, September 18th, with a television broadcast happening on Fox. It may not be of much interest if you’re strictly a Star Trek fan, but I’m sure there are other shows being recognized readers will care about.
