Our 20 favorite 2018 Emmy nominees from lesser-known categories

TNT’s “The Alienist” will have a tough time winning the Outstanding Limited Series category, as it’s matched up against heavy favorite “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” whose nine Primetime Emmy Nominations in 2018 are the most for any show. However, the TNT period drama has five nods at the Creative Arts Emmys, including Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie, Outstanding Period Costumes and Outstanding Main Title Design. Although “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” also has nine Creative Arts Emmys (including three separate entries into the Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie category), it does not directly compete against “The Alienist” in any one.

Lately, Judd Apatow has been busying himself producing and has only directed an occasional episode of his Netflix series “Love” and HBO series “Crashing” as well as the two-part HBO documentary “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling.” Although the two shows didn’t earn any Emmy attention, the film garnered Apatow a nod for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming at this year’s Creative Arts Emmys. Judd previously earned Emmy nominations for “Girls” and “The Larry Sanders Show,” and he actually won the honor for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program way back in 1993 as a writer for MTV’s “The Ben Stiller Show.”

Although the late Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” didn’t earn a single Primetime Emmy nomination, it amassed a solid seven nods at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmys. The CNN travel and food series is up for Outstanding Informational Series or Special, Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series, Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming, Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming, Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming, Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Program and Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming. This might not be the most glamorous group of awards, but we think Bourdain would be just fine with that.

Thanks to a lack of attention in the major categories, many fans of James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” probably aren’t even aware that it’s up for four Emmys this year. The spin-off version of the celebrity sing-a-long, which originated from a still-running segment on “The Late Late Show,” has a shot to drive away with honors for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), Outstanding Short Form Variety Series, Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming and Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special. A prime-time special edition of “Carpool Karaoke” previously won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special in 2016.

Here’s a sentence we never thought we’d be saying: YouTube’s “Cobra Kai” has been nominated for an Emmy. The comedy web series, which stars both Ralph Macchio and William Zabka and takes place 34 years after “The Karate Kid,” sneaked in to the Creative Arts Emmys thanks to nod for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy Series or Variety Program. However, given the competition — "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "GLOW," "Saturday Night Live," and "Shameless" — we actually wouldn’t be surprised if “Cobra Kai” scored a victory in the category.

Remember when “Breaking Bad” and Bryan Cranston used to dominate the Emmys? Since the drama wrapped five years ago, fans have had to look a little harder to find the former Walter White, but he does, in fact, have a nomination at this year’s Creative Arts Emmys. Cranston’s cameo as Dr. Templeton in the ninth season of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was enough to earn him an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nod, and he’s not the only big name in the category courtesy of “Curb.” (More on that in a bit!)

Despite just wrapping up its 16th season (with a 17th on the way), Fox’s “Family Guy” was shut out of the Outstanding Animated Program category this year. However, the Griffins still managed to nab three Creative Arts Emmy nominations: two for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (for both Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein) and one for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation. Freakin’ sweet!

We were happy to see “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” was nominated for Outstanding Variety Talk Series, as it won the accolade in each of the past two years and we’re pulling for a much-deserved threepeat. We were even happier to see that the HBO series earned an addition eight nominations at the Creative Arts Emmys. Nine combined nods is the most the show has ever received, having amassed totals of eight, six and four in each of the past three years.

Now a household name, Lin-Manuel Miranda has lately been busying himself by playing... himself. In fact, he even earned an Emmy nomination for doing so, thanks to an appearance on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” In the show’s ninth season finale, Miranda crosses paths with Larry David, and due to a minor incident that gets blown out of proportion (a typical Davidian plot formula), the two end up embroiled in a paintball match, with disastrous results. We won’t give away the ending, but back in reality, the result nabbed Miranda a nod for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

Like “Breaking Bad” in the drama categories, “Modern Family” used to dominate the comedy nominations. Even though the ABC sitcom is still running (nine seasons and counting), it only managed a single nod in 2018...and only on the Creative Arts Emmys side. “Modern Family” has a shot at Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) for the ninth season’s premiere, entitled “Lake Life.”

Just two years ago, on the heels of its first season finale, “Mr. Robot” garnered a total of six Emmy nominations (including an Outstanding Drama Series nod) and won for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Rami Malek) and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. This year, “Mr. Robot” has three nominations, all of which come courtesy of the Creative Arts Emmys: Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Within a Scripted Program, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) and Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role.

We had to include the 90th Academy Awards in this list, because how funny is it that the Oscars are up for an Emmy? And actually, the March 4 event didn’t receive only a single Emmy nomination. In addition to Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special (for Glenn Weiss), the award show also racked up seven Creative Arts Emmy nods, including Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Lighting Design / Lighting Direction for a Variety Special and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special.

How could we not include legendary comedian (and nine-time Emmy winner) Carl Reiner in this list? The 96-year-old funnyman is still going strong, as evidenced by his Outstanding Narrator Creative Arts Emmy nomination for “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.” The 2017 HBO documentary shows how age is just a number when it comes to happiness. It includes input from the likes of Mel Brooks, Tony Bennett, Kirk Douglas, Norman Lear, Stan Lee and the late Fyvush Finkel. The documentary also has a shot at Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for the song “Just Getting Started” by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman and Dave Grusin.

Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” was rightfully given an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program (for season three’s “Pickle Rick” episode), but it appears in this list for also getting a nod for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Within A Scripted Program for the video game “Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality.” Interestingly, “Rick and Morty” is the only animated program nominated in the latter category, which also includes “Mr. Robot,” “Silicon Valley,” “13 Reasons Why” and “Westworld.”

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” sneaked in to the main event with a single nomination for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, but the show actually received more credit than that statistic would indicate. The VH1 drag superstar competition also earned nine Creative Arts Emmys, including Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program, Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program and Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. Having completed 10 seasons, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has already won four Emmys at previous years’ events.

Liev Schreiber has earned an Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy nomination in each of the last three years for his titular role on the Showtime crime drama “Ray Donovan,” but the show is one of the noticeable snubs in 2018. However, Schreiber could still win at this year’s event, as he’s surprisingly up for a Creative Arts Emmy for his narration work on the HBO Boxing show “24/7.”

Regardless of the slow decline of “The Simpsons” since the early 2000s, we still think the world of the show’s incredibly talented voice cast, and thus we’ll always pull for one (or multiple) voice actors when they’re up for an Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance Creative Arts Emmy. This year, the honor goes to Dan Castellaneta for portraying Homer, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel and Groundskeeper Willie, but of course he also plays Grandpa Simpson, Mayor Quimby, Itchy and roughly 1 million others. If Castellaneta can capitalize in 2018, it will the fifth win of his career. Of course, the series itself could also take home the award for Outstanding Animated Program for the season 29 episode “Gone Boy,” an award “The Simpsons” has already won 10 times.

“So You Think You Can Dance” has owned the Outstanding Choreography category for more than a decade, so it’s really no surprise that the Fox dance competition has five Creative Arts Emmy nominations at this year’s event. It’s not even surprising that “So You Think You Can Dance” has four nods in the aforementioned category, as that has happened four previous times, including once when it actually had five nods in the category. That year, 2011, ended with a tie between “So You Think You Can Dance” choreographers Mia Michaels and Tabitha & Napoleon D'umo.

Some fans were skeptical of the announced return of “Twin Peaks,” as the show initially ended some 17 years ago. However, the showrunners shut down the haters with 18 highly acclaimed episodes that aired on Showtime between May and September 2017. It earned Emmy nods for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special as well as seven Creative Arts Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie and Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More).

Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson has won or been nominated for a number of prestigious awards — including Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive by People Magazine in 2000 and a Grammy nod for Best Spoken Word Album in 2017 — but this year, he could take home a coveted Emmy if his National Geographic talk show, “StarTalk,” can capitalize on a nod for Outstanding Informational Series or Special. “StarTalk” wrapped its fourth season back in March with an episode featuring the late Stephen Hawking. Coincidentally, the installment aired just 10 days before Hawking died at the age of 76.