'Empire' & Amy Schumer Dominate The TCAs

Emmy voters: Take a good, long look, because these are the kinds of nominations and awards we want to see. At this weekend's TCA Awards, the Television Critics Association honored the greatest TV achievements in the past year, and they got it right. The Fox smash hit series Empire was awarded Program of the Year by the TCA, as Inside Amy Schumer and The Americans were given Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and Drama, respectively. Amy Schumer also took home Individual Achievement in Comedy, while Jon Hamm received the Individual Achievement in Drama. So if the TCA can give out the proper awards and nominations to the incredible television that came our way in 2014, why do the Emmys have such a tough time with it every single year?

Overall, the Emmys have tended to be behind on the times when it comes to nominating the right shows and people. For example, to this day, FX's brilliant series The Americans has yet to receive nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor for Matthew Rhys or Lead Actress for Keri Russell, despite the show and its actors being nothing short of incredible. And let's not forget that both Amy Poehler and Jon Hamm have yet to win Emmys for their amazing work in Parks and Recreation (or SNL, for that matter) and Mad Men, respectively.

Yet it is important to note that the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences did make great strides in their Emmy nominations for 2015. For example, Tatiana Maslany was finally nominated for Lead Actress, Drama for her consistently brilliant work on BBC's Orphan Black (surprisingly, she was not nominated for a TCA Award, though in fairness the TCAs combine men and women in their acting categories). And Inside Amy Schumer and Key & Peele were both nominated for Variety Sketch Series, with both Amy Schumer and Keegan Michael Key getting individual Emmy nominations, as well. Plus, some newer shows got recognition, like Black-ish, Bloodline, Better Call Saul, Transparent and The Last Man On Earth.

Still, the TCA Awards do a much better job at recognizing great new shows of the past year. At Sunday night's awards show, Empire was honored as Program of the Year, despite the Fox hit getting snubbed in all major categories at the Emmys aside from Lead Actress in a Drama for Taraji P. Henson. They also honored debut shows Better Call Saul, The Flash, and Jane The Virgin. Although Saul received its fair share of Emmy nominations this year, the others did not; despite The CW putting better and better shows on its network, it never gets proper recognition from Emmy voters.

Plus, actors on new series like the hilarious Constance Wu on Fresh Off The Boat were nominated for TCA Awards but snubbed by the Emmys who went for more traditional/veteran nominees and winners like Lisa Kudrow, Edie Falco, Lily Tomlin and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. That's not to say that these women don't deserve nominations, as they certainly do. But with all those actors getting spots, there's very little room for more diverse choices and nominees from newer shows.

Basically, the Emmy voters need to step up their game and be more open to the amazing programs and actors they are ignoring every single year. Television has really improved in some stellar ways over the last few years, especially since new networks and new platforms are being introduced to display more television shows. Now the organizations that provide the accolades have to catch up. The TCA Awards seems to be on its way, but come on, Emmy voters — give TV a real chance.

Images: Michael Lavine/FOX