Plenty of choices for the people when it comes to television
With 32 categories this year, awards show leaves almost no one behind
In the CBC sitcom Schitt’s Creek, the Moira character, played by Catherine O’Hara, is asked what her favourite season is. “Awards,” she replies. It’s a funny line. But when we’re in the middle of January and there’s an awards show on a Wednesday, is there really anything all that funny about it?
I guess you officially can call this the dog days of awards season, with the 43rd annual People’s Choice Awards taking place Wednesday.
A few months back, when it was announced that Joel McHale (The Great Indoors, Community) would be hosting the ceremony, even he made reference to the glut of awards shows that invade your homes through electronic screens at this time of year.
“The people have spoken, and they want Jimmy Kimmel to host the 2017 Oscars!” McHale was quoted as saying in a release. “And the people have also spoken, and said that it would be OK if I hosted the 2017 People’s Choice Awards. Well, one person said that. Luckily, that person was (CBS boss) Les Moonves, so no one questioned it.”
Anyway, we’re just coming off the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 8. The People’s Choice Awards honour “fan favourites in movies, music, television and digital.”
As for the TV categories, there are 32 of them. And given that it’s “the people” who are making the choices, the breakdowns are pretty hilarious.
They actually differentiate between favourite TV show, new TV comedy, new TV drama, network TV comedy, network TV drama, cable TV comedy, cable TV drama, premium drama series, premium comedy series, network sci-fi/fantasy TV show, cable sci-fi/fantasy TV show, premium sci-fi/fantasy TV show, competition TV show and animated TV show.
So, in other words, just about every show gets some sort of nomination.
But everyone keeps talking about how all the lines have blurred between the various types of TV, online content and movies. My experience from many conversations is that the average consumer does not bother to break things down so specifically.
If they’re watching TV, they know their favourite shows are on, say, channel 8 and channel 39 and channel 55, or whatever. They aren’t differentiating between network, or cable or premium.
And that’s even more true with online content. If somebody is watching something on Netflix, they may be aware if it’s a “Netflix original.” But other than that, they don’t know where stuff originates.
So having the People’s Choice Awards break things down into so many small pieces can be looked at in a couple of ways. On one hand, they’re trying to be inclusive, with so much content out there. On the other, it might come across as a little out of touch.
Anyway, there are five nominees for “favourite TV show.” They are: The Big Bang Theory, Grey’s Anatomy, Outlander, Stranger Things and The Walking Dead. Interestingly, in the two comparable categories at the Golden Globes — best drama TV series and best comedy/ musical TV series — only one of those shows, Stranger Things from Netflix, even got a nomination.
We’ve been complaining for years that the movies people actually go to see never win awards. Are we inching up to something like that on the TV side of things, too?
Regardless, it’s all up to the “people” on Wednesday night. And one thing that has been proven in recent elections is that the “people” are never wrong. Wait, what?