After writing the last Coast-to-Coast post about my remaining summer bucket list, I was eagerly awaiting the weekend to try out my ideas – but the weekend-long (much-needed) rain in Los Angeles put a damper on this plan. While I did manage to make it to see my college friend, Veronique’s, band Leggy perform, I spent the rest of the weekend with Netflix and a blanket (which I quickly realized I didn’t need because apparently it doesn’t get cold here when it rains). I watched re-runs of all my favorite shows from this past season, and couldn’t help but to judge the shows differently, now that I know the results of this year’s Emmy nominations.

My overall reaction to this year’s nominations: pleasantly surprised. Although many of my favorites were snubbed, as they always are, I realized that this truly is the golden age of television, and there aren’t any shows or performances on the list that don’t deserve to be there. But this time, I agreed with the categories more than I usually do, and I especially appreciated the inclusion of non-obvious nominees. I believe that these nominations, at a small, but significant level, are a reflection of our society. What we choose to celebrate shows what we value and it shows the different themes, characters and ideas that we (well, the Emmy voters) consider to be important at this time in history.

For outstanding Drama series, there is one critical and obvious show missing: Empire. I don’t believe that Empire should have been included just because it’s a powerhouse that was created, stars and is primarily watched by minorities, although I believe this is important because it is helping to aid the issue of Hollywood’s lack of diversity. Empire should have been included because of its originality, talented cast & creators, and the simple fact that it was a brand new series that pulled in 9.8 millions viewers on it’s premiere night, and continued to grow for 7 straight weeks. The last time this happened? 23 years ago.

I was particularly thrilled for women this Emmy season. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt deservingly was nominated; Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke were nominated for supporting actress for Game of Thrones. Headey should probably go ahead and accept the award just for The Walk scene in GOT. Although I would be sad to see Christina Hendricks go without any award for the impeccable Joan. The Lead Actress favorite is of course, Taraji P. Henson for Cookie, but Viola Davis’s performance in HTGAWM honestly floors me every episode. Tatiana Maslany also FINALLY got nominated! I was sad to not see Broad City anywhere on this list, but Abbi Jacobson responded flawlessly. And Mindy was left off again, but hopefully her move to Hulu will give TMP the re-vamp I think it deserves.

Regardless, I know I’ll be tuning in to see Andy Samberg host the show on September 20th Fox. How many days until award show season…?

See a full list of Emmy nominations here.