Poppy Awards 2016: Your drama nominees are...

Poppy Awards 2016: Drama

Welcome to the 2016 Poppy Awards — formerly known as the EWwys — where you get to vote for your favorite Emmy-snubbed shows and actors of the year. Click through to see the drama nominees and place your votes after each category!

The winners will be announced Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Best Series: The Good Wife

A longtime Emmy favorite, The Good Wife was left out of the race for its final season, despite the fact that it brought in powerful new guest stars in Margo Martindale and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and didn’t shy away from some of the series’ biggest drama. (Eli finally telling Alicia about Will’s voicemail, anyone?) Regardless of how you feel about the final hour, the final season proved that this show will go down in history as one of the greats. — Samantha Highfill

Best Series: Jessica Jones

Superheroes are so ubiquitous in pop culture these days that it would be easy for the genre to grow stale; recent brooding, amusement-free entries like Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad certainly seem to indicate that. But Jessica Jones managed to create something fresh within the format, not only centering its story on a female superhero, but also making her just as haunted and complex as any denizen of Gotham City. Jessica’s fight against her telepathic nemesis Kilgrave was both a fascinating personal struggle and a mythic representation of the battles all women must go through against the forces that oppress them. — Christian Holub

Best Series: The Leftovers

In season 2, The Leftovers relocated to Jarden, Texas — a town that “survived” the Sudden Departure — where it posed questions of spirituality (remember “International Assassin”?) on top of the ones it had been asking about grief in a broken world. It made for an emotionally satisfying, profoundly devastating season the Emmys should never have ignored. — Shirley Li

Best Series: Orphan Black

Tatiana Maslany has earned her second Emmy nomination for her amazing work playing the numerous Clone Club members, but the show also deserved recognition after what was arguably its best season yet. Season 4 made a brilliant play shifting the focus back to Beth Childs and the shadowy secrets of Neolution, packing its arc full of twists, double-crosses, and major revelations — including the long-awaited answer to if Delphine was still alive. We can only hope the momentum keeps going (and that more people take notice) as the show heads into its fifth and final year. — Jessica Derschowitz

Best Series: Outlander

Fantasy and science-fiction have long been head-scratchers for Emmy voters (with Game of Thrones the lone exception), and for the second year in a row, Ronald D. Moore’s worthy time-traveling epic has been left out of the history books. With its strong, complicated heroine, stunning visuals, and clever storytelling, it’s time the Starz series earns some much-deserved recognition. — Amy Wilkinson

Best Series: UnREAL

Fairy tales may be cute and all, but the much more interesting story is the dark underbelly of how that so-called magic actually happens. Enter UnREAL, the deliciously sadistic drama that shocked viewers week after week with storylines involving the lies and manipulation behind the scenes of The Bachel…. er, I mean, Everlasting. The groundbreaking first season tackled topics like mental illness and sexuality with a stark, no-holds-barred nihilism that wound up feeling like a strangely delicious punch in the stomach. — Dylan Kickham

MOBILE USERS: Click here to vote for Best Drama Series

Best Actress: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

If you thought losing Will was the hardest thing Alicia would endure, The Good Wife's final season made you think again when Alicia found out about Will’s voicemail from season 1 and being left to wonder what her life would’ve been like if she’s made one different decision. With that story line alone, Julianna Margulies was given the opportunity to play Alicia at her lowest low, followed by the introduction of a new Alicia, one who didn't care much for the opinions of others. Through Margulies' performance, viewers watched Alicia transform from being the good wife ... to whatever it was that she became. The only thing that's certain is that it marked one of Margulies' best performances of the series. — Samantha Highfill

Best Actress: Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel

The relationship between Norma and Norman Bates has always been at the center of Bates Motel, and their bond was never more tested than in season 4. While Vera Farmiga has always been the MVP of the show, she somehow found a way to be even better this year as she superbly bounced from being heartbroken over Norman’s continued downward spiral to overflowing with love for Romero. Norma is a woman with a troubled past and major boundary issues with her son, but Farmiga has found a way for the audience to sympathize and care for her. We can only imagine what she will do as Ghost Norma! — Derek Lawrence

Best Actress: Caitriona Balfe, Outlander

Season 2 brought new challenges for Outlander's time-traveling heroine Claire Fraser (and her real-life alter ego Balfe): a new French setting for one (c'est magnifique!), and, more significantly, the miscarriage of her daughter, posthumously named Faith. That latter struggle — the vicious, visceral loss of a child, portrayed so hauntingly by Balfe — warrants awards consideration alone and makes the actress' eventual Emmy snub all the more snubbier. —Amy Wilkinson

Best Actress: Eva Green, Penny Dreadful

Eva Green tears through your television screen until she crawls through it, digging her palms into broken glass. She crawls until she sits perfectly still in your room, lets one tear fall, and fixes her eyes accusingly on you. In Penny Dreadful’s second season (the one eligible for this year’s awards, though season 3 has already ended), Green stretched Vanessa Ives into new emotional territories, playing everything from romance to demon possession with the same fire. Even at her most subtle, Green was so intense that she seemed perpetually at risk of burning herself, and she had a way of making you want to shield her from the flame. Vanessa may have lost her faith by the end of season 2, but we never lost our faith in her portrayer. — Kelly Connolly

Best Actress: Shiri Appleby, UnREAL

The black heart that kept the manipulation and drama of UnREAL pumping throughout its first season was Rachel Goldberg, a producer who likes to see herself as a feminist despite deftly humiliating women on reality television. Appleby completely mastered the art of bringing Rachel’s heartbreaking, raw emotions to just below the surface as she relentlessly pushes forward in her morally questionable career and personal life. — Dylan Kickham

Best Actress: Krysten Ritter, Jessica Jones

Before becoming a superhero, Ritter was mostly known among TV aficionados for her starring role in Don’t Trust the B—in Apt 23 and her minor but compelling role in season 2 of Breaking Bad. But Ritter brought the full force of her talents to bear on this meaty role, alternating between quippy charisma, broken-bird vulnerability, and compassionate strength. — Christian Holub

MOBILE USERS: Click here to vote for Best Actress, Drama

Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, Billions

Chuck Rhoades is ruthless, power hungry, and despite being the U.S. attorney in charge of New York's Southern District, he carries himself as if he's still enraged by the popular kids in school. And yet, he's very clearly desperate for his father's approval… and very, very willing to be submissive in the bedroom. Giamatti plays this dichotomy to a T (yes, especially in the latter scenes). — Breanne L. Heldman

Best Actor: Hugh Dancy, Hannibal

Will Graham is, in a word, tragic. He’s got a sweet soul — just look at all the stray dogs he takes in — but is sucked into Hannibal’s dangerous web, eventually becoming his protégé of sorts in a deeply troubled relationship that concludes with the two killing the Red Dragon together before grasping at each others’ blood-soaked bodies and tumbling off a cliff. He’s a character that’s rare in that he’s not immediately likable — he’s awkward and prickly and quiet — but Dancy makes him extremely empathetic, a troubled person you’d want to save from the mess he got himself into if only it wasn’t so entertaining to watch. — Ariana Bacle

Best Actor: Justin Theroux, The Leftovers

You only have to watch Justin Theroux's heart-wrenching karaoke performance of “Homeward Bound” in the second season finale to understand why he deserves some award recognition. He’s singing for life (to leave purgatory and return to the land of the living). Honestly, we didn’t even need the flashbacks in the scene because Theroux’s face and the quiver in his voice, which grows with each verse, tell us exactly what Kevin is thinking about as he sings and how desperate he is to return home to his family. Truly, this scene is just an example of the excellent work he did throughout the season. — Chancellor Agard

Best Actor: Andrew Lincoln, The Walking Dead

It’s not like Rick Grimes has an easy time of it on The Walking Dead. There’s the constant threat of having your face eaten off by a walker, the perpetual need to shower (blood, guts, gore, plus the Georgia heat), and then there’s putting up with all the think-they’re-totally-badass coddled kids from Alexandria (looking at you, Spencer.) Andrew Lincoln’s performance makes all these struggles effortlessly believable. Not convinced? Watch the season 6 finale, "Last Day On Earth.” If the look on Lincoln’s face — sweat dripping from his hair, tears seeping from bloodshot eyes filled with horror and guilt — as Negan decides his victim hasn’t haunted your dreams for the past five months, you must already be an emotionless walker yourself. — Ruth Kinane

Best Actor: James Spader, The Blacklist

The latter half of season 3 brought with it some fresh storytelling — in no small part driven by actress Megan Boone's real-life pregnancy — which also gave Spader a bigger challenge than he'd had on the series thus far as Red peeled away layers of grief and vulnerability. In episode 19, called "Cape May," we saw a very different Reddington as he tried to process Liz Keen's presumed death and hallucinated seeing her mother, Katarina Rostova; Spader showed the depths of his sadness and confusion with aplomb. — Breanne L. Heldman

Best Actor: Michael Weatherly, NCIS

During Weatherly’s final season as Tony DiNozzo, he gave fans everything they loved about the character, from his leadership to his sarcasm and, of course, his love of movie quotes. DiNozzo was the soul of the NCIS team, and Weatherly’s ownership of the character is what made it work. He will be missed by fans, and his work should not have been missed by the Emmys. — Samantha Highfill

MOBILE USERS: Click here to vote for Best Actor, Drama

Best Supporting Actress: Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black

After winning back-to-back Emmys, first as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy and then Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama, Aduba got shut out from all categories this year. While Litchfield is packed with a wide cast of characters, Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren may just be the heart and soul of the entire show, struggling with love, mental illness, and the crushing environment of prison. Suzanne may not have thrown her pie for anyone this season, but Aduba was still at the top of her game, whether she was facing off against an ex-girlfriend, dealing with the fallout of a friend’s death, or recounting the tragic story of how Suzanne ended up in prison. — Devan Coggan

Best Supporting Actress: Sophie Turner, Game of Thrones

Forget Jon Snow’s resurrection: Sansa’s triumph over the course of season 6 was the biggest Thrones shocker of the year. Who knew the girl who once meekly crushed on Joffrey could not only help Jon recapture Winterfell but also destroy Ramsay so viciously? Sophie Turner sold Sansa’s transformation from porcelain to ivory to steel — and into a formidable candidate for the Iron Throne. — Shirley Li

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, The Leftovers

In two very different scenes of "Lens," King demonstrates why she is such an incredibly versatile actress. As a mother whose daughter has vanished from a small Texas town, King’s Erika unleashes her rage upon the townspeople at a fundraiser for her child and decimates the room with her fury. Then, in a quiet but no less intense scene, Erika and neighbor Nora interrogate and push each other on their individual pain. You’re both heartbroken for Erika and terrified of her. — Tim Stack

Best Supporting Actress: Christine Baranski, The Good Wife

Christine Baranski's Diane Lockhart was the steady center of The Good Wife for seven years. And in the show's final season, we saw Diane at her strongest and most ambitious — willing to cut out her male partners to build an all-female firm — and we saw her at her most beaten down — slapping Alicia for what she'd done to Diane's marriage. Baranski played both with such precision that viewers felt every emotion right along with her. — Samantha Highfill

Best Supporting Actress: Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul

Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks are the headliners of Better Call Saul because they carry over a legacy from Breaking Bad, but the secret weapon of the prequel is Rhea Seehorn. Her portrayal of Kim Wexler and her struggle to love Jimmy, while also knowing how much trouble he brings, adds an extra needed weight to his actions. Seehorn especially stood out when Kim was able to take a break from trying to tame Jimmy and instead joined in on the fun. — Derek Lawrence

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McBride, The Walking Dead

Carol Peletier is easily the biggest chameleon of our favorite group of humans currently trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, but McBride took her performance to another level in season 6 as Carol had a crisis of faith after she was tested and forced to brutally kill several more people. She's still a badass, she'll kill if she has to, but she really, really doesn't want to. She's questioning the value in her own fight for survival, but only very little of that inner turmoil is shown through dialogue — it’s all in McBride's eyes. — Breanne L. Heldman

MOBILE USERS: Click here to vote for Best Supporting Actress, Drama

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

For a character that doesn’t really exist (spoiler alert!), Christian Slater portrays the titular Mr. Robot with a powerful presence. Whether Mr. Robot was menacing Elliot or trying to “protect” him, Slater portrayed him with just the right amount of emotion and detachment. He was affecting yet charismatic — all while fooling us about his actual role in the show. — Dalene Rovenstine

Best Supporting Actor: Jordan Gavaris, Orphan Black

If the women of Project Leda are the heart and soul of Orphan Black, Gavaris’ Felix could very well be its secret weapon — cracking us up while also being an A+ accomplice in uncovering shady clone conspiracy business. When Felix’s biological sister came into the picture this season, it added even more depth (and tension) to his relationship with Sarah, and Gavaris navigated those nuances perfectly. Plus, he always dresses to impress. — Jessica Derschowitz

Best Supporting Actor: David Tennant, Jessica Jones

Sure, David Tennant’s villainous Kilgrave was a maniac, a tormenter, an unloveable psychopath (seriously, take your pick), but he was a maniac, tormenter and unloveable psychopath worth rooting for. For scaredy-cats like me, it’s unheard of to actually want to quiver while watching TV, but Tennant’s gripping performance made Kilgrave's ultimate death one worth grieving. — Caitlin Brody

Best Supporting Actor: Alan Cumming, The Good Wife

Once Eli Gold joined Peter Florrick’s staff mid-season 1, The Good Wife was never the same. Eli's quick wit and deep affection for the entire Florrick family is what made him a lovable character. Alan Cumming seemed to show his own wit and heart for the role, and his display of devotion to Alicia — not Peter — made him forever endearing in the final season. — Dalene Rovenstine

Best Supporting Actor: Jesse L. Martin, The Flash

Fact: When Jesse L. Martin cries, we all cry. The Flash has so many hearts, but Detective Joe West might be the biggest one of them all. He’s the TV father we all wish we had and that’s mostly due to Martin’s strong performance, which was even more moving this season as Joe tried to get to know Wally West, the son he never knew he had. The moment Joe finds about Wally’s existence is especially heartbreaking. — Chancellor Agard

Best Supporting Actor: Jonathan Tucker, Kingdom

One of the most underappreciated actors on one of the most underappreciated shows, Jonathan Tucker’s turn as Jay Kulina is one of the most electric performances on television. In his portrayal of Kulina, an MMA fighter battling with addiction, Tucker expertly walks a highwire, constantly balancing Jay's role as the comedic relief of the show with his role as the heart of the show. With every look, Tucker imbues Jay with a depth that can't be found anywhere else on TV. — Samantha Highfill

MOBILE USERS: Click here to vote for Best Supporting Actor, Drama