Like a pageant in a city with a population as attractive as, well, Los Angeles,” there just aren’t enough tiaras to hand out to worthy competitors in the season of TV awards.
Snub lists stretch longer and longer every morning for Emmy nominations. An actress of the caliber Julia Roberts can go unnoticed without anyone blinking. And even among those series lucky enough to score mentions, the consolidation of wealth one of the best performing projects can be shocking. Just look at the limited series supporting actress race. Five of the seven nominated artists in the categories – Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Natasha Rothwell, Sydney Sweeney – came from HBO’s white Lotus† Top nominated and reigning drama succession (also from HBO) has 14 nominated performances. And Apple’s Ted Lassoa juggernaut comedy for two Emmys running has 10 performers on the final ballot.
Maury McIntyrethe president and chief operating officer of the Television Academy and an all-round Emmy expert, spoke with The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday and acknowledged the substantial showings of a few shows. “It’s kind of a testament to the phenomenal ensemble shows out there,” he says. †succession is an ensemble performance. You can’t just identify one star that is fantastic. That whole ensemble is fantastic. In the same way people love Ted Lasso for the ensemble. It would be great to recognize more shows for their performances. And that’s something we look at, just to make sure there isn’t something endemic about the tuning process that makes some of these one-show ensembles [get nominated]†
Who and what is nominated is a source of endless debate, but the pool seems to be evolving. The breakthrough of korean drama squid game, itself the recipient of five acting nominations, is proof that TV Academy voters are open to material that could have been completely ignored until recently. But there are more than a few critically favored foreign language shows – see: pachinko or My brilliant friend – slip through the cracks.
Volume doesn’t help. Comedy entries were up 67 percent from 2021 and drama soared 30 percent — back to pre-pandemic levels. Limited series, the genre least affected by production interruptions, rose 50 percent.
“Our job is to make sure our voters watch as many different kinds of shows as possible,” says McIntyre. “How can we, in the months leading up to the vote, expose our members to the many phenomenal shows out there? But we can’t ask them to see everything, we can only ask them to rate what they’ve seen.”
Inspired by snubs or category sweeps, there are often column calls and the cozy campfire that is Twitter to boost the available achievement slots from seven to ten. Nobody at the TV academy may commit to such suggestions until the board revises the rules, subject to annual discussion and change, but those arguments will always be weighed against the harsh truth of all awards. They excite, upset and exist because there just isn’t enough to get by.
“There’s always the question ‘Should we have more nominees?’ or ‘Should we expand categories?'” says McIntyre. “Obviously we want to have a balance, because scarcity definitely shows more value.”