Actors and actresses submitting in the wrong category at the Emmys

[SamandWillowFan]

Does anyone find it odd when actors and actresses who are leads on their shows submit in supporting? Alicia Minshew, Rebecca Budig, and Cameron Mathison would submit in supporting for AMC when they were the leads on that show. This year, Thaao Penghlis submitted in lead when he was supporting on Days, and Annika Noelle submitted in supporting when that story was centered around her and the whole show revolves around Steffy/Liam/Hope.

Edited June 9, 2020 by SamandWillowFan

[Vizion]

Usually they submit in the wrong (supporting) category because they feel they have no shot in Lead. 

 

Considering how limited the competition is and that there are only 4 soaps left I find category fraud ridiculous now. You're barely competing against anyone now (the great actors have all left and the ones who remain barely and tarely get material), the least you could do is submit in the proper category 

[Faulkner]

I know it happens at the Oscars all the time (Alicia f***ing Vikander). I suppose, on soaps, certain Young Hot Thing actors have more airtime to attract the viewing demos, yet traditionally haven’t had the name recognition to compete with high-profile daytime veterans like the Susan Flannerys or Tony Gearys. It’s definitely safer in Supporting.

It’s odd to see folks like Scott Clifton winning Lead trophies, though, even though it’s obvious he’s been the male lead at B&B for a decade. I guess the issue there isn’t that he’s a relative no-name compared to older legends. It’s more that he’s not that good as Liam. Just like Cameron Mathison wasn’t that good as Ryan. He didn’t deserve to be nominated for an Emmy at all, Supporting or otherwise, much less as a lead. It was more egregious with CM, who was around when more soaps were on the air and thus eclipsed a wealth of better options. Scott Clifton could only thrive in a diminished daytime landscape. He’d be a footnote in the days when David Canary, Larry Bryggman, Peter Bergman, and Geary were dominating the Lead category.

Edited June 10, 2020 by Faulkner

[juppiter]

It’s probably politics. The thought in this small and inbred industry is probably that certain people paid their dues, and you don’t [!@#$%^&*] with them if you want to get anywhere. 

[Skin]

It comes down to the medium. Lead Actor and Actress was virtually synonymous for a long time as "Outstanding Veteran xx in a Drama Series". The way the committee would vote meant that anyone who didn't have seniority or at least years under their belt to ensure the votes to be in the category was going to be left out of the competition. They needed to have tremendous show buy-in in order to take the lead spot. This is why the Supporting categories were so stacked as basically those veteran actor/actress slots were only reserved for a few upper echelon of cast members who the show would back. Leaving supporting for everyone else who was over 26. This is essentially why the Younger Actor and Actress categories were created. Older and more senior actors didn't want to compete with newbies, thus the 25 year marker was created to thin out the pool of contestants to make the other categories reserved for older and more established actors. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Skin

[Frank2803]

Submissions for categories seemed based on tenure 

I suppose that's one  of the reasons the younger category was created to offset some of the bias 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

I have never understood how Irene Dailey won a Best Actress Emmy. To me the role of Aunt Liz Matthews was always a Supporting Character. 1979. 

[Joseph]

Sharon Case I Am Looking At You!