‘America’s Got Talent’ Judge Simon Cowell’s ‘Emmy Plea’ Falls On Deaf Ears This Year

“America’s Got Talent” judge Simon Cowell recently said that he believes the hit NBC reality TV competition deserves some “Emmy love.” Unfortunately, his plea once again fell on deaf ears.

On Thursday, July 13, the complete list of Emmy nominees was released, and “America’s Got Talent” did not make it in the best reality competition category. Shows that are up for the prestigious award include “The Voice,” “Project Runway,” “American Ninja Warrior,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Top Chef” and “The Amazing Race.” Former “AGT” host Nick Cannon also did not get a nomination in the host for a reality/reality-competition program category.

Read: Will Simon Cowell return as judge in “American Idol” reboot?

In addition, “America’s Got Talent” did not get a nomination in the production design for a variety, nonfiction, reality or reality-competition series category, casting for a reality program, cinematography for a reality program category, costumes for variety, nonfiction or reality program category, picture edition for a structured and non-structured competition reality program categories and the short form nonfiction or reality series category. The reality TV show, however, is nominated in the lighting design/lighting direction for a variety series category.

In May, Cowell told Deadline that creating a show like “America’s Got Talent” requires hard work. He also acknowledged the fact that it’s frustrating to see NBC’s “The Voice” as a nominee every single year. “I suppose I probably felt it more for ‘America’s Got Talent’ than ‘American Idol’ because it’s a much more difficult show to make. I watched a couple of episodes last year, and I’m not trying to be biased, but I genuinely thought this was the best TV I’d seen probably in all the years I’ve done it,” he said.

The judge also speculated on the reasons why “America’s Got Talent” has never been nominated for a major award at the Emmys. According to him, he and his co-judges make the show look very easy. Considering that “AGT” only airs once a year unlike “The Voice,” it’s more likely for the reality TV competition to be snubbed.

“If I had the opportunity and sat in front of all the TV Academy members, I would say to them, ‘If I showed you the process, the expertise, behind the scenes with every single act, it is like nothing I have ever seen in my life,” he said.

“America’s Got Talent” Season 12 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EDT on NBC.