Sorry, what?! All the terrible Emmy nominations making us SMH
The 2018 Emmy Award nominations arrived with the usual mix of cheers and complaints inside newsrooms and living rooms alike. This Is Us landed eight nods that summer, including a slot in Outstanding Drama Series plus acting recognition for Sterling K. Brown and Milo Ventimiglia. Several key performers, Mandy Moore, Chrissy Metz, and Justin Hartley among them, were left off the list, and the omission sparked immediate conversation about how the show was being measured against its peers.
This Is Us
The 2018 nominations for This Is Us centered on its breakout success in the drama category and the strength of its male leads. Ron Cephas Jones earned a Guest Actor nomination that year and went on to win. The absence of nods for Moore and Metz drew the sharpest commentary from critics and viewers who felt the series’ ensemble balance was being overlooked. Those reactions set the tone for how the show’s Emmy journey would be discussed in the moment.
Legacy of This Is Us at the Emmys
Across its full run the series collected 39 Primetime Emmy nominations and secured four wins. The 2018 Guest Actor victory for Ron Cephas Jones remained one of the show’s clearest trophies. By the time the series concluded in 2022, the cumulative numbers offered a broader picture than the single-year snub headlines had suggested.
Emmy Snubs and Surprises in Recent Years
The pattern of divisive nominations has continued without pause. The 2026 cycle produced 25 nods for The Pitt while The Bear faced notable omissions. The 2025 list drew attention for leaving Squid Game and several performers on the outside. Each announcement revives the same debates that surfaced after the 2018 This Is Us ballot, showing that surprise and disappointment remain built into the process.
New Emmy Legacy Award and Its Implications
In June 2026 the Television Academy introduced its first Legacy Award to recognize programs with lasting cultural reach. The new category shifts attention toward long-term impact rather than single-season tallies. Shows such as This Is Us, whose audience connection extended well past any one awards cycle, now sit within a framework that can account for that broader influence.
Cast Reflections on Emmy Recognition
Mandy Moore spoke in 2022 about the meaning the series held for its cast and viewers even when lead actresses were passed over. Sterling K. Brown continued to receive Emmy attention in later projects, adding to his record as one of the most nominated Black actors in drama categories. Those later comments and career developments supplied context that the original 2018 coverage could not yet include.
The conversation around This Is Us and the Emmys has moved from immediate reaction to a longer view that includes total nominations, wins, and statements from the people involved. The introduction of the Legacy Award and the persistence of snub debates in newer cycles keep the original questions alive while placing them inside an expanded record of how the show was ultimately measured.
