But who would have bet against Jim Parsons? And who thought "Schitt's Creek" would finally get noticed by Emmy voters long after its cameras were turned off? And who thought the powerful "When They See Us," which shined a light on a 30-year-old miscarriage of justice, would be hailed with over a dozen nominations?
Some of the snubs and surprises from the Emmy nominations.
Big Whimper
Parsons won't be able to make Emmy history this year.
"The Big Bang Theory" star didn't earn a nomination for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series, meaning his fifth statuette is out of reach in 2019.
Parsons is a six-time nominee and won his fourth statuette in 2014, tying Carroll O'Connor, Michael J. Fox and Kelsey Grammer's category record of four wins apiece.
"The Big Bang Theory," which ended its run after 12 seasons earlier this year, got little goodbye love from Emmy voters despite being a top-rated comedy.
The show won 10 Emmy Awards during its life but earned just three nominations Tuesday — for direction, technical direction and editing.
Suddenly love
For five seasons, there were Emmy crickets when it came to "Schitt's Creek." Then, after its fifth and final season — respect.
"Schitt's Creek" earned four nominations Tuesday, including acting ones for stars Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. The show is also up for outstanding comedy series.
Co-creator and co-star Dan Levy — son of Eugene — tweeted out an emoji in tears.
The show had been a sleeper hit among comedy fans. The series garnered its first Critics Choice Award nomination in 2018 and its arrival on Netflix helped spread the word.
"Schitt's Creek" follows a family of newly broke millionaires arriving at their one remaining asset — a backwater town they bought for their son as a joke.
NOT LAUGHING
The recent Emmy-less streak for "The Tonight Show" continues.
The venerable show where Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien played host hasn't won an Emmy for outstanding variety talk show under Jimmy Fallon — and won't again in 2019.
There was no room for "The Tonight Show" this year as outstanding variety talk show. Spots instead went to "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah," ''Full Frontal with Samantha Bee," ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!" ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," ''The Late Late Show with James Corden" and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."
Fallon, who has four Emmys, has gone without a statuette since 2015, when he won a social media award. Fallon did get an acting nomination Tuesday for mocking presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke on Facebook Live.
The snub for the show was despite Fallon bringing it to Puerto Rico to highlight recovery efforts there, visibly pressing for an end to gun violence and hosting a show from inside Central Park.
The last time "The Tonight Show" was nominated for outstanding variety talk series was in 2016. The show used to be the king of late night but stumbled in the ratings after Fallon's now-infamous hair mussing appearance with Donald Trump.
They did see us
It was often hard to watch but it was definitely seen: Ava DuVernay's four-part Netflix series "When They See Us" earned a whopping 16 nominations.
The four-part series explores the true story of five black and Latino New York City teenagers who were coerced into confessing to a rape they didn't commit in 1989 and follows them over the course of 25 years.
DuVernay was nominated for writing and directing, while the show earned nods for casting, cinematography, music, sound editing and outstanding limited series.
Actor Jharrel Jerome was nominated for best lead actor in a limited series, and Niecy Nash and Aunjanue Ellis each got one for lead actress in a limited series.
Supporting actor nods went to Asante Blackk, Michael K. Williams and John Leguizamo. Marsha Stephanie Blake and Vera Farmiga won nods in the supporting actress category.
Not dead to us
Christina Applegate could win a second Emmy now that she's nabbed a surprise best actress in a comedy nomination for "Dead to Me."
The actress, who made her name on TV with "Married... With Children" and won an Emmy as a guest star in "Friends," got the quirky Netflix show's only nomination.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she tweeted. "Best part of the morning was my kid finding out and she screamed."
On the show, Applegate plays Jen, a mom who has recently lost her husband to a hit-and-run accident. His death upends her life, forcing her to deal with grief and anger.
To win the Emmy this time, she'll have to beat Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Rachel Brosnahan, Natasha Lyonne, Catherine O'Hara and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Tracee Ellis Ross, who had been nominated three times in a row in the category for "black-ish," was frozen out this year.