Kelsey Grammer takes a phone call from his wife as executive producer Dee Johnson laughs during the Starz panel for "Boss" during the cable television sessions at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, California August 2, 2012. (REUTERS/Phil McCarten)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF - Kelsey Grammer clearly does not have the power to Boss around Emmy voters.

Grammer, who currently stars in the drama series Boss, is puzzled and hurt that his performance was not rewarded with an Emmy Award nomination this year.

"I actually kind of took it personally," said Grammer, whose series originates on Starz in the United States and airs across Canada on Super Channel, with season two commencing Aug. 17. "But that's for me to wrestle with.

"To me it's just a mystery at this point. My relationship with the Emmys has been pretty great. Frasier is the most successful show with Emmys, I think it's 37 (wins), I got four myself for Frasier.

"But you know, there must be some criteria out there that I'm not aware of."

Grammer, whose performance in Boss as Chicago Mayor Tom Kane has been largely well-received critically, seemed to be hinting at some sort of bias or conspiracy in the Emmys process.

"I mean, if this is the best work I've ever done, it seems a little funny that I wouldn't get nominated," Grammer said. "You just hope that what the nominating process is about is performance. If it's about that, then it's surprising that I didn't get one.

"For some reason, my peers don't seem to think this is worth recognizing."