Emmys: Why do TV networks want to broadcast their own funerals?

Imagine that you are a senior who organizes an annual end-of-summer luncheon in your retirement community with some contemporaries. One year, a group of much younger people crash the party and help themselves to their food and drink. As a gesture of kindness, you invite them back next year, only this time they’ll show up with more friends and consume a much larger portion of your food and drink. You’re a little upset, but you call back. This time, they and more friends get pretty much all the food and drink. And then invite you again.

It wouldn’t make much sense, but that’s essentially what happened to Amy.

First performed in 1949 in the infancy of television to celebrate Los Angeles area programs, the ceremony began to recognize the work of national television in 1952. Three years later, the ceremony itself began to be televised on national television, and since 1995 was broadcast on “Borbal”. rotation”, alternating between the four major current broadcast networks – stations available “over the air” for free, which I will henceforth call the network – ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, a deal that was recently renewed in 2018 for eight years. .

In the decades since the Emmy Awards were reintroduced in 1952, all of the nominees and winners have come from a network (a rating that also included DuMont and now includes PBS and The CW) or were syndicated. Then, in 1988, cable programming became a franchise: HBO’s first comedy nominated in the series categories. The Larry Sanders Show In 1993, the first drama nominated was HBO. the Sopranos In 1999, the first winning comedy was HBO. sex and the City in 2001 and was the winner of the first drama the Sopranos in 2004. And then, 20 years later, in 2008, streaming was invited to the competition. Among his first: a nominated drama house of cards (Netflix) 2013 Nominated Comedy orange is the new black (Netflix) Drama Winner 2014 a sewing tale (Hulu) in 2017 and the winning comedy Amazing Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime) in 2018.

In the era of “Peak TV,” with more than 500 scripts produced each year, the Television Academy has expanded the number of Best Drama and Best Comedy nominees from five to six in 2008, seven in 2015 and eight in 2020. It masked the fact. that TV shows take up a much smaller slice of the pie than they used to, and also that they no longer attract Emmy voters like they used to.

The network’s last show to win the award for best drama was on Fox. 24 Best Comedy in 2006 was ABC a modern family in 2014. The last time it received more than one nomination for Best Drama was in 2010 (CBS’ good wife and the ABC lost) and was the best comedy of 2017 (ABC’s black in color s a modern family). In 2012, and many times since, neither was among the nominees for Best Drama.

But networks have Never He performed just as poorly in the Emmy nominations as he did this year. The Big Four combined for 86 nominations: 29 for CBS, 28 for NBC, 23 for ABC and six for Fox, less than the individual totals for HBO/HBO Max (140) and Netflix (105). Also ahead of any network: Hulu (58), Apple TV+ (52), Disney+ (34) and Amazon Prime (30).

Networks scored just one of 16 dramas and comedies nominated, a comedy newcomer from ABC. Abbott Elementary (NBC drama It’s us and the ABC series black in color After being nominated last year, he retired from top racing). It also won one of 24 slots for a main drama or comedy. Abbott Elementary Quinto Brunson for Lead Actor in a Comedy. None of the 14 drama or comedy director slots went to a network show, and only one of the 15 drama or comedy slots, again Brunson.

Why is this happening? Network shows, unlike those on cable or streaming, are still full of commercials, limited in what they can say or show, have long seasons that unfold slowly, and rarely tell ongoing stories (to improve prospects for improvement). Not coincidentally, they are less popular with the intelligentsia and coastal media, whose tweets and articles serve a curatorial function for Emmy voters.

Last year, CBS aired an Emmy broadcast in which the networks won just one award, best sketch variety series, for NBC. Saturday night liveand for the first time, streamers won all three series awards. The networks’ prospects at this year’s Emmys, which NBC airs Sept. 12, don’t look much better.

Which begs the question: why would networks air a three-hour commercial for their competitors? (Apparently, they were very unhappy years ago, when they only dominated the TV movie and miniseries categories on cable; now, network shows are a slot minority in pretty much every genre except variety.) In my opinion, they do. are not and are. not. Once it expires in 2026, the wheel is expected to resume rotation unless major changes are made, possibly introducing the best network drama and best network comedy categories. (There are already hundreds of Emmy categories, what’s two more?)

And whether or not the networks, or the Television Academy, agree to such demands, I hope others will also apply for the Emmys. HBO reportedly made an offer in 2002, but it was turned down. I suspect their interest has waned or the streamer doesn’t want to participate. If one of them wins an Emmy, going back to the analogy we started with, the kids will eat the adults’ lunch. .

This story first appeared in the July 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.