EdwardKnoxII 0 Report post Posted February 23, 2004 http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13545,00.html Emmy Rules Tweaked by Bridget Byrne Emmy voters are being asked to push the envelope. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has overhauled the rules in hopes of breaking the same-old-same-old pattern that has often resulted in the usual suspects winning year after year after year. Academy members will be able to nominate up to 10 contenders in each category instead of the usual five. While the top five vote getters will ultimately be the ones receiving nominations, organizers feel the larger pool might allow new blood into the often predictably stale ballot. John Leverence, vice president of awards for the TV Academy, explains that the board of governors approved these and other rule changes this week to reflect the altered face of television, where the influx of cable shows alongside the once dominant network fare has created "very crowded" entry fields. To have to choose, for example, only five nominees in the drama category felt "perhaps a little restrictive" for the Academy's 12,000 members, says Leverence. The tweaked rules, he hopes, will allow "more ample opportunity to recommend a wider variety." Series continue to be eligible for Emmys as long as new episodes are aired during the calendar year, unlike the Oscars where a movie only eligible during the year of its release. That means we get shows like The West Wing winning Best Drama Series for the past four years. The repetitive nature of the Emmys be a reason ratings have been down in recent years, as the lack of suspense might turn off viewers.. Young viewers especially could feel disenfranchised as their favorite shows (see: Gilmore Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) get shunned in the major categories. Leverence and Nancy Bradley Wiard, the chairman of the Academy's awards committee, also announced two other "landmark" rule changes. The minimum number of episodes required for submission in the comedy and drama series program categories has been increased from three to six, but the number of episodes in those categories submitted to the final round of judging that determines the winners has been reduced from eight to six. Got it? Leverence explained this change is because fewer shows now routinely produce the 22 episodes per season once traditional at major networks. Many cable like HBO's Six Feet Under or BBC America's Golden Globe-winning The Office only produce a limited number of episodes per season, typically in the six- to 13-episode range. Even the Big Four networks are now producing short-order runs--for example, ABC's limited crime series Line of Fire. The other revamped rule comes in the Outstanding Reality/Competition Program category, which will now have a single winner. This covers any "program that gives a prize or is itself a contest and/or competition"--whether it offers you a paid for wedding, escape from an island or simply millions of dollars. Previously, the category was lumped in with "special class" programming, in which there was always the potential of more than one winner, or no winner at all. Leverence explains that the popularity of reality shows had last year moved that special class category from the untelevised Creative Arts ceremony to on-air prime-time presentation. (And the surprise winner was...The Amazing Race!) But that created a potential problem for Emmy producers because if the format remained as it was, there might have been either an unmanageable host of winners or no one to step to the podium--not a good prospect for live television (even with a Janet Jackson-influenced tape delay). So now the rest of the special class categories are back to the untelevised ceremony, but the newly constituted Outstanding Reality/Competition with a single winner will be part of this year's Emmycast on ABC on Sept. 19. "Our awards rules and procedures have remained virtually unchanged over the last 10 years," says Dick Askin, chairman and CEO of the Academy, "and the new guidelines we have put into place will make for a better process and be more representative of television as it is today." Nominations for these 56th Annual Emmy Awards will be announced July 15. Anyone as confused as we are by the minutia of the rules can always fall back on The West Wing, just like last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that... Wow so this doesn't mean I have to hear about the West Wing and Friends winning about a shitload of Emmy's each and maybe new shows can get a chance to win? Count me in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest OctoberBlood Report post Posted February 23, 2004 http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13545,00.html Wow so this doesn't mean I have to hear about the West Wing and Friends winning about a shitload of Emmy's each and maybe new shows can get a chance to win? Count me in. They will still win, but you'll just have longer "And the nominees are..." videos. Heh, but really - this is a good step in the right direction, it looks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
starvenger 0 Report post Posted February 23, 2004 I still can't see the Academy changing that much. The best thing here seems to be that they've got some consistency in the number of episodes to be eligible for submission. And if there's any justice (and until it gets some real competition like a non-celebrity Mole), The Amazing Race should win the reality show award every year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
