The biggest snubs and surprises from the 2016 Golden Globe nominations

The nominations for the 73rd annual Golden Globes were announced early this morning, and while there weren't too many surprises, there were a few snubs that shouldn't go unnoticed.

Most notably, not one actor on Game of Thrones was nominated for an award this year, a complete contradiction of the most recent SAG announcements (which included an ensemble nomination for the cast). This feels especially strange considering that just a few months ago, Game of Thrones took home the Emmy award for Best Drama, while Peter Dinklage walked away with the Best Supporting Actor award for his work as Tyrion Lannister in the show. Even showrunner D.B. Weiss snagged an award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series.

This is where it's important to look at who's voting. The Emmys are a part of the Academy and the way the voting process works is that once you've won an award, you get to be a part of the voting process. Considering Game of Thrones' complete domination of the television award show in recent years, it's not surprising that they'd have a load of people to help bring in votes year after year. The Golden Globes, however, are voted upon by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association; a group of less than 100 journalists who come together every year to dole out the awards.

Not to mention, that the HFPA has a history of trying to bring attention to as many new shows as possible. Last year, for example, they gave two major awards — Best Actress in a Drama Series and Best Drama Series — to The Affair. Similarly, it's what happened this year with shows like Mr. Robot, Narcos and Outlander and their various stars.

The HFPA is known for coming up with surprising nominations that the Emmy's and Oscars would generally stay away from. Outlander is a good example on the television front, and on the film side, Mad Max: Fury Road being nominated for Best Picture - Drama is a perfect example.

Genre films rarely garner nominations from the three big award shows (Golden Globes, Oscars and SAGs), but the HFPA is making a statement by including it as one of their top choices. There's been a demand for quite some time from critics to include more genre films in the award process, and it's clear that the committee has listened by nominating Fury Road. Is this something we should expect to see at the Oscars? Doubtful. The Academy is far less likely to place their bets on a movie like Fury Road when there are more traditionally "dramatic" films to fill that spot.

Continuing the tradition of being snubbed year after year, Orphan Black and Tatiana Maslany were once again forgotten by the HFPA. Hailed as one of the best performances year in and year out, the actress has been left out of almost every award show nomination pool, with the exception of the most recent Emmys.

Another surprising snub was HBO's True Detective, which while hated by critics, scored in almost every major category last year. This season was incredibly disappointing, but it's interesting that not one element of the show got nominated, from acting to writing to directing.

It's a surprising year for HBO in general, who scored far less nominations than it's used to. HBO is a network that prides itself on its accolades and domination of conversation in the media. While it's surprising that the network didn't garner more award nominations, a direct result of Game of Thrones effectively being shut out, it hasn't been the best year for the network, who's had more flops than hits. Where HBO did succeed, however, was perfectly reflected in the nominations it did receive, including nominations for the well deserved Silicon Valley and Veep.

K.C. Bailey/Netflix

The comedy category, in general, is where many of the bigger snubs can be found. Most notable are the lack of nominations for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Master of None. Aziz Ansari garnered a nomination for his acting work in the show he created and co-wrote, but both Netflix series were essentially shut out of the Golden Globes, which is incredibly surprising considering the critical acclaim both shows received upon release.

The next step is seeing how the HFPA handles the new nominations. Will they continue to award new shows or will they play it safe with series that have been nominated and have won previously?

The Golden Globes air Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Ricky Gervais is set to return to host for the fourth time.