'Unfair' Emmy Submission Practices

[YRBB]

FX Chief has started a debate on what he deems unfair Emmy submission practices. His actions are probably fueled by the desire to give his shows more of a chance but he makes some interesting points.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/04/09/fx-hbo-true-detective-emmy-unfair/

[JackPeyton]

It's interesting.

Agree with what he says about true detective, however I also think of it as a tv show before anything else. So why not go for best drama if it is in fact one of the best? I wonder how people would feel if there wasn't a second season coming with a new cast and story.

The comedy aspect is hard. OITNB and shameless are comedies - but not sitcoms. They are very much equally funny as dramatic as they find the humor in the drama but don't downplay drama either. Very much that awful word, dramady.

It is kind of like how networks complain about hbo and now Netflix having an unfair advantage of shorter seasons, better production and bigger stars.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

FX is being hypocritical criticizing HBO's decision. FX had every intention of submitting 'American Horror Story' in the regular drama series category after season 1 but when they realized that as an anthology they were eligible for the much weaker mini-series category they decided to submit it there in order to virtually guarantee Jessica Lange an Emmy win. As great an actress as Lange is, she never would've won for that role in the regular series category and FX knew it.

HBO is putting 'True Detective' in the drama series category because they believe that they can go toe to toe against the best and win and they're right. I think it's honorable for HBO to want McConaughey and 'True Detective' to have to beat Cranston and 'Breaking Bad' in order to win. FX decided to submit AHS in the mini-series category for one simple reason: they knew they couldn't compete in the drama series category, they wouldn't have even been nominated. 'True Detective' on the other hand can beat anybody. They don't have to sit at the kiddie table to get a trophy nor should they be forced to.

[JackPeyton]

It's interesting tho that he wants Ahs vs TD when we all know TD would clobber them.

[All My Shadows]

As far as the comedy/drama aspect goes, I wish shows could be nominated in any particular category regardless of genre. If the producers thought comedy was their strong suit that year, then they submit the show for comedy. But if particular cast members thought that their dramatic performances were better than their comedy performances, then they should be allowed to submit for drama. It sucks that a lot of great comedy performances on "dramas" and dramatic performances on "comedies" were never honored in any way simply because each show, as a whole, has to pick one blanket genre. Especially when we have so many shows that blend high comedy and high drama today, they really need to look into changing those rules.

I do think it's interesting how he defines miniseries as a "show" with "groups" of episodes. A miniseries doesn't have an umbrella title or thematic connection, it's just a single story cut into episodes and that's it. Miniseries do not have "seasons." The definition was changed to suit AHS, so I don't get why he's such a stickler for vocabulary.