O to the Emmy Races
Variety highlights important aspects of the young FYC season
This time last year the COVID
pandemic was pausing productions and calling into question the ability of television series and talent to effectively campaign for Emmys, not only due to health and safety concerns, but also because of how it might look to be trying to celebrate amid so much death.
Now, more than days later, the pandemic is still not over and many of the changes implemented last year, including virtual FYC events, are in place once again. However, the rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards season won’t be a complete repeat of last year, so Variety is breaking down what is new and notable for the state of the season so far.
Calendar Consistency
Although many productions had on- and off-again production schedules throughout the year, the Television Academy is back to its original schedule of important dates for FYC season, most importantly marking p.m. on May as the entry deadline for all shows, talent and episodes (including hanging episodes). Nominations-round voting will begin on June and continue through p.m. on June , with nominations announced on the morning of July . Final-round voting will then begin on Aug. and continue through p.m. on Aug. . Online submissions have been open since February and the deadlines to apply for membership to guarantee voting eligibility, as well as for current voting members to apply for hyphenate voting status, have already passed.
Finally in the Running
Speaking of on- and off-again productions, a few high-profile series that were originally thought to be prominent Emmy contenders in ended up sitting out that race, unable to finish their projects amid the pandemic. But the nd Primetime Emmys’
loss is the rd’s gain. HBO’S “The Undoing,” FX’S return of “Fargo” and National Geographic’s first female-focused installment of “Genius” (centered on Aretha Franklin) are all going for statues in the limited series categories. This will be “Genius: Aretha’s” entrance into the awards race since it only just aired in March, but “The Undoing” already picked up four Golden Globe noms, as well as two SAG Award noms.
Streaming Shifts
The long-shelved episode of ABC’S “Black-ish,” titled “Please, Baby, Please,” finally saw the light of day on Hulu in August. It is now being submitted in the comedy writing and directing categories at the Emmys. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video’s “Sylvie’s Love” is entering into Emmys’ TV movie race after submitting on the film side of the ballot at the Golden Globes. “Black-ish’s” special episode was originally created for the fourth season of the broadcast family sitcom in , but since it’s an ongoing series, it will be included as part of the current (seventh) season submissions. Kenya Barris and Peter Saji wrote the episode; Barris directed.
“Sylvie’s Love” was shut out at the Globes but now is eyeing awards plays for the project, as well as for writer-director Eugene Ashe and stars Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha, from the Television Academy.
It’s All Talk
The Television Academy originally planned to combine the variety talk and variety sketch categories this year, for the first time since , but ended up reversing that decision. That is good news for series in both genres, in part because the skills to produce them are different enough it feels unfair to compare. But now the talk category will be the more competitive one, simply due to the volume of shows in the running. Last year only three sketch series made the ballot: incumbent winner “Saturday Night Live” from NBC, HBO’S freshman “A Black Lady Sketch Show” and Comedy Central’s long-time Emmy favorite “Drunk History.” This year, the two former series are eligible once again, as are rookies “The Amber Ruffin Show” and “Ziwe,” but overall the
A few high-profile series that were thought to be prominent Emmy contenders in 2020 ended up sitting out that race … But the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards’ loss is the 73rd’s gain.”