Category Archives: Emmy Awards

June 19, 2008 · 3:54 pm

Emmy Nominations: How They Work and Who They Benefit (2008)

[The following is a post I wrote last year around this time, explaining how the Emmy Awards nomination process works. Tomorrow is the deadline for the first stage of the process, where the popular vote will be completed and the Top 10s will be tabulated. Look for more coverage here at Cultural Learnings of the various categories as the process continues, but in the meantime enjoy this updated explanation.]

Tomorrow, June 20th, the first stage of the Emmy Nomination process ends. Getting nominated for an Emmy Award is not an easy task, and the entire process was recently made even more complicated in an effort to create fairness. To help you follow the process as it unfolds over the next month, here’s a rundown on how the decision is made and who benefits from each stage.

Stage One: The Popular Vote

How it Works: Voters select their favourite candidate from all individuals who have submitted themselves for nomination. They read For Your Consideration ads, watch screeners, but in the end likely just pick who they like, allowed to vote for as many as Ten candidates who gets more points the higher they are on their list.

Who it Benefits: Shows that are either perennial nominees or extremely buzz-worthy, and actors that are well-known in Hollywood. Thus, voters don’t really even need to see what these candidates have to offer, they just assume they’re really good. Examples of shows that perform well at this stage are big winners last year like 30 Rock, current awards season sensation Mad Men, or highly rated shows like Grey’s Anatomy, while perennial Emmy favourites like Julia Louis-Dreyfus (New Adventures of Old Christine) or William Shatner (Boston Legal) will place highly based on their past acclaim.

Who it Harms: Ratings-deprived, critically acclaimed programs without any of the above, and actors or actresses who lack star power or past Emmys attention. Friday Night Lights and The Wire are generally the two best examples, shows that so few people watch that their unquestioned quality (Mostly unquestioned, anyways) goes unrecognized when they can’t make their Top 10. Performers, meanwhile, have an even tougher time even on hit shows; multiple Lost performers will make it onto the next part of the process, but for relative unknowns like Yunjin Kim standing out amongst over 100 other names is tougher. It also does nothing for fan favourite shows, as Emmy voters don’t tend to watch recently canceled shows like Jericho or Moonlight, and therefore they have very little chance of emerging out of this round.

Stage Two: The Top 10 Run-Off

How it Works: The Top 10 series from the popular vote are isolated and screened in front of a blue ribbon panel. Each show/actor/actress selects an episode that will be screened for the panel if it makes the Top 10. They also prepare a short written statement explaining their show and the episode in context with the show. For example, should Mad Men make the Best Drama Series panel (Count on it), they will be screening the shows’s pilot, “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.”

Then, each member of the panel will rank the shows from 1 to 10, and a final ranking will be decided.

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Tagged as 30 Rock, Dexter, Explanation, Friday Night Lights, Grey's Anatomy, Jericho, Lost, Mad Men, Moonlight, Nominations, Pushing Daisies, Submissions

June 17, 2008 · 7:17 am

60th Primetime Emmy Awards Preview: Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

In the Emmy Awards’ smallest acting category, there’s not much in the way of wiggle room. The small numbers should mean more of a chance of grabbing a nomination for newcomers, like Pushing Daisies’ Anna Friel or Miss/Guided’s Judy Greer, but it’s also one of the most tightly contested of the major categories. This is because there’s a lot of forces at play here: you’ve got the power of the four Housewives, the heritage of Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond and Married…with Children, and the credibility of awards-show favourites like Mary-Louise Parker or Tina Fey.

Combine all of this with last year’s winner America Ferrera, and you have a category where making the Top 10 isn’t enough; you need to have something special that’s going to make you overcome the logjam that could lead to the category’s five nominees. On the one hand, this shuts out a lot of good candidates who probably deserve a shot, as they won’t rank highly enough in the popular vote to have a chance.

However, the one good spinoff is that for the candidates who do have that name recognition, it’s going to be a race that is decided by who has the best tape. The seven or so candidates who have a chance of cracking that Top 5 will have to put forward their best material of the season, and the result is a race that’s going to be very close even if there’s so many “real” contenders.

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Tagged as 2008, 30 Rock, America Ferrera, Anna Friel, Award Shows, Back to You, Christina Applegate, Clips, Comedy, Desperate Housewives, Emmy Awards, Emmys, Entertainment, Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman, Judy Greer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Marcia Cross, Mary Louise-Parker, Patricia Heaton, Samantha Who?, Submissions, Television, Teri Hatcher, Tina Fey, Ugly Betty, Videos, Weeds

June 13, 2008 · 12:54 pm

Emmy Awards Preview – Nominee Analysis: Pushing Daisies

Of the new shows which premiered in fall network lineups in 2007, there’s only really one that expects to make a big splash at the Emmy Awards. While plenty of new shows will be highly competitive, they debuted in the summer on cable networks where much of the season’s quality came from. Between the strike and a fairly mediocre development season, the freshman lineup of the networks just didn’t measure up…except for Pushing Daisies.

It was the most-buzzed about pilot for a lot of reasons, from its witty writting to its fanciful direction to its lead and supporting stars. While the show only aired nine episodes before going off the air due to the strike, and won’t be returning until the Fall, the show still made a fairly big splash with critics and viewers, and was nominated for a handful for Golden Globes earlier this year.

But translating that to Emmy success will be difficult, not the least of which because comedy is an intense set of categories this year and because the show has been off the air for six months. Considering that so many networks basically gave up on a lot of their freshman lineups, I think that the general perception did the same: while the pilot’s strength in technical categories and for Bryan Fuller and Barry Sonnenfeld is likely to shine through, whether the show’s extremely talented actors can do the same remains a big question. But if the submissions are strong, perhaps there is hope yet for the little pie shop that could.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Submission: “Pie-Lette”

The reasons you need to submit the pilot episode for a show like Pushing Daisies are numerous: not only is it the show with the biggest budget and therefore the strongest effects work, but it also feels the most like a small, contained story. While ABC ensured that every episode opened with a detailed sequence explaining the complicated life/death sequences of the show, “Pie-Lette” is without question where it has the most resonance as he makes the decision to bring his childhood sweetheart back to life. Part of me wishes that the episode had more for the supporting players to do, but this is about selling this sweet and charming show first and foremost, and the pilot certainly does the best job of this.

YouTube: The Opening of the Pie-Lette

Chances: The show is a strong competitor in this category due to its hour-long running time and a very showy episode submission, plus it’s definitely the biggest new comedy if they’re looking for something new.

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Tagged as ABC, Analysis, Anna Friel, Barry Sonnenfeld, Bryan Fuller, Chi McBride, Ellen Greene, Emmys, Entertainment, Kristin Chenoweth, Lee Pace, Nominations, Paul Reubens, Predictions, Pushing Daisies, Submissions, Swoosie Kurtz, Television

June 12, 2008 · 1:58 pm

60th Primetime Emmy Awards Preview: Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

The biggest news to emerge from the depths of the Emmy obsessed into mainstream media this year is certainly the news that last year’s winner in this category, Katherine Heigl from Grey’s Anatomy, is not in the running. That itself is a surprise, but it was her reasoning that has sent shockwaves through Hollywood. As she first told TheEnvelope.com’s Tom O’Neill, after GoldDerby reader KellyClarksonFan discovered the omission:

“I am truly grateful for the honor that the Academy bestowed upon me last year. I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the Academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials.”

Now, the AP amongst others have taken this to its logical location: it’s a clear slap in the face to the show’s writers, and yet another moment where Heigl’s mouth has made more headlines than her acting ability. For the record, I think she’s right on the money in terms of the material she was given, but this is still a bit much. However, I choose to look at the positive side of this: with last year’s (arguably undeserving) winner gone, there’s more room for some of the fantastic candidates in this category.

And there are fantastic candidates: you have multiple candidates who are due for an Emmy win after numerous nominations, a few dark horses who won’t make the Top 10 but deserve recognition, one or two who might slip in based on series hype, and plenty of room for surprises at the top. And with Heigl gone, more of these deserving contenders have a shot.

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Tagged as Battlestar Galactica, Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Chandra Wilson, Connie Britton, Damages, Emmys, Entertainment, Friday Night Lights, Grey's Anatomy, January Jones, Lost, Mad Men, Nominations, Predictions, Rachel Griffiths, Rose Byrne, Sandra Oh, Submissions, Television, Videos

June 11, 2008 · 8:35 am

Emmy Awards Preview – Nominee Analysis: 30 Rock

While it certainly didn’t come out of nowhere, considering that it had nominations in both lead acting categories, 30 Rock’s Emmy win last year was still a bit of a surprise. However, it was a pleasant one, and signaled and onslaught of critical praise and accolades for a series that (at that point) seemed to be on shaky ground where it matters most these days: ratings.

But with a third season guaranteed and more hardware in the closet, 30 Rock has gone from the upset victor to the perennial frontrunner for the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. And with great power comes, well, great responsibility; in this instance, responsibility to pick the right submissions to reflect the season’s quality.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Submission: Unknown

My Suggestion: “Secrets and Lies”

It’s hard to pick a single episode to encapsulate an entire season: I think the show’s smartest segment has to be “Rosemary’s Baby,” for a lot of reasons I’ll discuss further below, while part of me gravitates towards “Greenzo,” featuring a fantastic David Schwimmer in the title role. However, I like “Secrets and Lies”: it has a great storyline featuring Baldwin and perennial Emmy favourite Edie Falco, a couple of great moments for Tracy Jordan, and the fantastic ending sequences as corporate republicans reveal their inner demons. Regardless of which they actually choose, however, the deal is sealed either way.

Chances: Definite Nomination.

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Tina Fey

Submission: “Episode 210”

My Suggestion: “Sandwich Day”

In this instance, my suggestion isn’t hostile: the last pre-strike episode may have been rushed, but Fey knocked both her initial interaction with and her late-night phone call sessions to the co-op board of her new apartment out of the park. In particular, the image of Fey on the phone while walking on her treadmill and drinking a glass of red wine while proclaiming that she bought a black apartment stuck with me for a long time. However, “Sandwich Day” had Fey doing what she does best: being neurotic and eating on camera (plus looking really attractive in the dress on the left. An argument could also be made for “Succession,” as Liz goes corporate, but something about that episode didn’t sit right for me.

Chances: Definite Nomination.

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60th Emmy Awards Preview – Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

[Leading up to the announcement of the nominees in mid-July, Cultural Learnings will be delving into each of the major categories to highlight a major theme or a certain selection of potential nominees.]

As far as categories go, they don’t get too much more wide open than this year’s race for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. It’s long been a category dominated by the show of the moment: both The Sopranos and The West Wing saw multiple nominees on multiple occasions, and Lost was added to that list in recent years. So, for a show like Lost, the question isn’t whether one of its actors will get a nomination: it’s which one, and how many.

This goes for other series as well, as this is certainly a year where there’s a lot of shows that probably have multiple deserving candidates. These types of races are always difficult because of two competing phenomena: vote-splitting, which implies that these candidates will struggle to break into the final five or six nominees, and tape-sharing, where the tapes screened for critics could potentially overlap between candidates. The latter, for example, pretty well won Terry O’Quinn the Emmy last year, as he was in Michael Emerson’s submission almost as much as he was in his own.

This year, it’s three competitors from Boston Legal, four from Lost, and two from Damages that will either be fighting more with each other or working together to multiple nominations. And, well, let’s not forget everyone else, too.

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Tagged as Award Shows, Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Damages, Dave Annable, Drama, Emmys, Entertainment, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Lost, Mad Men, Michael Emerson, Nominees, Predictions, Supporting Actor, Ted Danson, Television, Terry O'Quinn, Video, William Shatner

September 17, 2007 · 8:46 am

Highlights and Lowlights: The Emotional Rollercoaster of the 2007 Emmy Awards

I won’t attempt to claim that I am any different than the myriad of television writers out there: I was never going to “like” the outcome of the Emmy Awards. My cynicism was front and center when it came to reacting to the winners, and even the more positive moments were passed off as exceptions to the rule, not a sign of changes to Emmy’s usual stagnation.

But even weighing this predisposed opinion regarding the validity of the ceremony, last night’s award show was perhaps the most emotionally manipulative in some time. By the end, it actually had us cynics doubting the most well-established prediction of the entire evening: The Sopranos winning Best Drama Series. Of course, David Chase’s departing HBO series won that Emmy, but I actually for a second doubted that.

And I don’t know if it’s good or bad: the emotional rollercoaster that the night represented hit so many inversions that anything seemed possible. Perhaps I am simply extremely malleable, but I was right along with them with my own emotional corkscrews and loop-to-loops. And, as such, I use those emotions to feature the highlights and lowlights of the 2007 Emmy Awards.

Disbelief – FOX Pre-Show Uses Britney to Push Ratings

This rumour that Britney Spears would appear and apologize for the VMAs incident fascinated me. Not because I was interested in Britney, of course, but rather I was fascinated that anyone actually believed it. The fact that FOX would prey on that public misconception throughout the pre-show, as if they didn’t know whether she was present, shouldn’t surprise me…but that was the reaction it elicited. [Sidenote: Why was there no actual Countdown on the Countdown to the Emmys?]

Discomfort – Awkward and Inappropriate Jokes and Cuts

Early on, the Emmys hit a rather unfortunate stride: an awkwardly impersonal opening animation act from Brian and Stewie from Family Guy, a questionable cut from a joke about Isaiah Washington to T.R. Knight within said segment, and then Neil Patrick Harris’ unfortunate jailbait joke regarding Hayden Pannetiere – all within about fifteen minutes. It continued on into the rest of the night (Brad Garrett, anyone?), and even Seacrest had some borderline “humour” in his repetoire.

Nostalgia – Emmy Rewards People for the Past

Terry O’Quinn. Jaime Pressley. Katherine Heigl. Conan O’Brien. These four are, amongst others, representing a particular trend: deserving performers who really should have won their respective awards in previous years. O’Quinn was robbed for his turn on Lost’s first season, but remains deserving this year, and the same can be said for Pressley even if my heart was with Jenna Fischer. And Late Night with Conan O’Brien had never won a single Emmy, so its victory in Writing was a long-deserved one.

But Heigl, despite her radiance and grace on stage, really deserved to be recognized for last season’s arc with Denny, as opposed to this season’s whiny George/Izzie period. Her character became one-dimensional and one-note, and even if she remained strong I don’t see that as a worthy winner of this award.

Confusion – The Sopranos go Broadway

I am still trying to decipher just why we had a musical tribute to the Sopranos from the cast of Jersey Boys. The music didn’t particularly relate to the series, and it seemed like a simple video tribute (Maybe asking various stars their thoughts on The Sopranos) and then the curtain call would have been both shorter and more fitting. The theatrical and broad is not, although FOX may disagree, necessary in every single situation.

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Filed under 30 Rock, American Idol, Award Shows, Brothers & Sisters, Emmy Awards, FOX, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, My Name is Earl, Television, The Amazing Race, The Office, The Sopranos, Ugly Betty

Tagged as Emmys, Sally Field

September 16, 2007 · 11:09 pm

Emmys 2007: What Sally Field Said to Get Bleeped by FOX

On tonight’s Emmy broadcast, Sally Field was giving an impassioned speech about mothers and war after winning for “Brothers & Sisters”. After stumbling, she ended with the following comment, paraphrased:

“If mothers ruled the world, there would be no god-damned war.”

For viewers in Canada, this was heard verbatim. For viewers on FOX in the U.S., the conclusion was bleeped out.

While there remains issues over the use of god, for obvious reasons, it raises an important question:

If this was on any network other than FOX, run by Rupert Murdoch, would it have been bleeped out at all?

We’ll see the fallout from this over the next few days. At the end of the Emmy broadcast, Sopranos creator David Chase joked that “If gangsters ruled the world…maybe they do.” Will it be a laughing matter in tomorrow’s papers? Only time will well.

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Tagged as Emmys, Sally Field

September 16, 2007 · 6:59 pm

Liveblogging the 2007 Primetime Emmy Awards

Welcome to Cultural Learnings’ LiveBlog for the 2007 Emmy Awards! We’ve done a week’s worth of coverage leading up to this moment, and now it’s time to see how the awards turn out, starting with the one-hour pre-show and moving into the three-hour broadcast. So stay tuned to see just how much the Academy is going to miss The Sopranos during tonight’s Emmys broadcast.

[With the show now over, Cultural Learnings has posted its Highlights and Lowlights post that summarizes a lot of the feelings within this LiveBlog. Admittedly, there isn’t 7000 words there, so it’s a bit easier to digest. – Myles]

6:57 pm: Everything is set – admittedly, I’m watching on my snowy antenna connection, but it’s more than adequate to be able to tell Ryan Seacrest from Brian Dunkleman.

7:00pm: And we’re here with…Mark Steines! And…Laila Spencer? Someone from The Insider. And it is Ellen Degeneres to open the show, which is perhaps fitting considering her nomination in Individual Performance in a Variety Series. Her prediction: Tony Bennett. I really want Colbert to jump her at this point. However, I do believe she is quite good at this: she called Elaine Stritch beating her a few years back. Doesn’t bode well for Colbert.

7:02pm: Oh, I hate this person! Ugh, poor Kate Walsh, has to deal with this Britney Spears question. She does not deserve this type of idiotic punishment. Are they seriously going to try to milk this entire preview pretending Britney Spears is going to publicly apologize to the ENTIRETY of humankind? Because no.

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Filed under Award Shows, Emmy Awards, Entertainment, Entourage, FOX, Lost, My Name is Earl, Television, The Amazing Race, The Office, The Simpsons, The Sopranos

Tagged as Emmys, Liveblogging

September 16, 2007 · 11:00 am

Cultural Learnings’ 2007 Emmy Awards Preview

On September 16th (Which is, coincidentally, tonight), the stars of television will gather together in Los Angeles for three hours of self-congratulation and lavish ceremony in which winners will be crowned, losers will be mocked, and hopefully some history will be made. And, after a few months off the job so to speak, Cultural Learnings is back with all the Emmy coverage you could ever possibly want.

Over the past week, we’ve taken a look at some key stories to watch out for during this evening’s ceremony. These stories don’t cover everything, but they give everyone an idea of what to expect.

We can also expect to see some spectacle: a rap battle between Kanye West and Rainn Wilson (The Office), a Broadway tribute to The Sopranos, and an opening musical number (maybe) featuring Ryan Seacrest. Plus, rumors continue to fly about Dick in a Box making its Emmy debut after winning an award last weekend.

The bulk of Cultural Learnings’ coverage of the Emmys will come in the form of an extensive Live-Blogging experience covering all the glitz, all the glamour, and all of the indignant anger sure to come when my favourites don’t win their respective awards. So check back later tonight for that.
For now, here’s all of Cultural Learnings’ coverage over the past week. Enjoy, and hope to see you this evening. If not, enjoy the show!