It may be the most watched series on TV, but The Walking Dead is barely recognized by awards shows. The Screen Actors Guild nominated the show for just one (kind of lame) category, Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series, so was The Walking Dead snubbed by the 2015 SAG Awards? Seriously, the popularity of the show is pretty astounding — it is the number one watched show for adults between 18 and 49 years old (take that, Sunday Night Football!). But popularity doesn't always equal quality. Now I think The Walking Dead is a quality show — and it's a good show, but I can't say that it's great.
Don't get me wrong. I am one of those 14.8 million people who tune into The Walking Dead on Sunday nights, but it is far from the best show on television. It relies heavily on dragging out certain plot points (for the love of zombies, I wanted the Governor gone 10 episodes before he was actually killed off). And although the midseason finales of the show can add some intense drama, the episodes leading up to both finales of a season can feel like filler. The second half of The Walking Dead Season 3 was the worst offender of this.
So I can see why awards shows like the Golden Globes and Emmys don't put The Walking Dead in the same league as shows such as House of Cards, Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, True Detective, or that fabulous other-AMC production (even though it has ended) Breaking Bad. With that being said, it was truly sad that The Walking Dead couldn't even snag a People's Choice Award from its three nominations this year.
What's unique about the SAG Awards is that the show awards acting, meaning the cast (rather than producers) win when a show or movie is voted as the best. But The Walking Dead is missing from the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series category. Now the nominees are Broadwalk Empire, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Homeland, and House of Cards — and I honestly have no gripes with any of those nominees. They all have consistently extraordinary acting.
As for The Walking Dead, I can't say the same. Not all of its actors are equally deserving of an award this season. However, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, and Lauren Cohan are consistently great, while Melissa McBride as Carol has improved so much during the show's five seasons. (Something I was reminded of during the New Year's marathon of the show. She's only become more impressive with each season.) But the British master Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes is the best actor on the show — hands down.
Unfortunately for Rick fans, the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series category in the 2015 SAG Awards is stacked with some primo actors — Steve Buscemi, Peter Dinklage, Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey, and Kevin Spacey. With those five men on TV shows, it's understandable that Lincoln didn't get nominated. Plus, because of the ensemble nature of The Walking Dead, we can go episodes without even seeing Lincoln, so he doesn't always have the juiciest of scenes. (Oh, but when he does get 'em, they are freakin' juicy.)
So did The Walking Dead get snubbed by the SAG Awards? I really don't think the ensemble as a whole did, but I do want Lincoln to get nominated one of these days (Rick Grimes for President!). If the second half of Season 5 is as excellent as I'm hoping it will be, maybe the show could earn an Emmy nod. C'mon, The Walking Dead. Don't let me down when you return on Feb. 8.
Images: Gene Page/AMC; normreedus, swiftsnowmane, cnnorwclsh, kagamichhi, maggiegreenie/Tumblr
