The Emmy Awards: Some thoughts

[Tim]

Being the big TV viewer I am, I have to comment on the Emmy Awards. As most of you may know, these are annual awards given out every year to TV shows, their stars, directors, writers, etc. Although I don't watch the actual broadcast, I do like to catch the highlights and see which show and which actors won.

I have heard complaints over the years that say cable shows have no place in the Emmys, that it should be for network shows only? Just WHO are making these complaints, I wonder. Disgruntled network people who are jealous that cable shows and their stars clean up at the Emmys every years (just look at the winners in recent years, 95% of them are cable shows and actors). I have no problem with cable shows being part of the Emmys. The Emmys are for television programs, and that included cable shows.

However, one thing I have noticed is the absence of a category for Science Fiction And Fantasy Shows. Why? Over the years there have been many such shows: Charmed, Ghost Whisperer, Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, and lots more. However, none of these shows or their stars get nominated because there is simply no category for them. Would it kill them to add a Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Show and a Best Actor In A Science Fiction And Fantasy Show category?

For those that say the Emmys are too set in their ways to change, I would point out that they have a category for reality shows. No such category existed ten years ago, so the argument that the Emmys cannot change doesn't wash with me.

I mean I've seen one of the few networks shows the Emmys seem to love, Modern Family. Sorry, but I just don't see what the big deal about this show is, yet it gets nominated again and again (and it's won a few times).

So why aren't shows like Supernatural and such given a fair shot?

[Tim]

Betty wrote:

Jan 7, 2014 20:41:59 GMT -5 Tim said:

So why aren't shows like Supernatural and such given a fair shot?

As I've said before, I think demographics really hold SF/F back at the Emmys. These shows tend to have a much younger viewer base (particularly WB/CW ones), and the Emmys are more about what educated, middle class 40+ year olds watch, hence all of the awards shows like Mad Men and Modern Family keep getting. Plus, much of SF/F is also about escapism and imagining a better world than the one we live in, and the Emmys hate that more than anything.

[Tim]

Once again the cable channels have stomped all over the networks.

98 percent of the winners were cable shows and actors that starred in them.  One winner was Canadian Tatiana Maslany, for the show Orphan Black.

Man, the old networks may as well just give up.  Every year the cable channels clean up at the Emmys, leaving them in the dust.

[Squad 51]

I only know that Drew was happy for his friend Sterling K. Brown who won one award this year. In this "O.J.Simpson" drama wherever aired.

[Tim]

It happened again.

With one or two exceptions, the Emmy Awards were dominated by cable and streaming shows.

[matt]

Sept 17, 2022 17:31:53 GMT -5 Tim said:

It happened again.

With one or two exceptions, the Emmy Awards were dominated by cable and streaming shows.

Yeah at this point why bother airing it on Network TV. If it barely honours Network shows.

[Squad 51]

Obviously. Though I didn't follow it but it seems to me that Netflix and Co. have won this 'war' now. TV is outdated, it seems.

[Tim]

Yeah, the writing is clearly on the wall.

Network TV will probably die when the last of the pre-Internet generation does.

[Dark Avenger]

Sept 17, 2022 18:08:27 GMT -5 Squad 51 said:

Obviously. Though I didn't follow it but it seems to me that Netflix and Co. have won this 'war' now. TV is outdated, it seems.

It seems that way. When I find streaming worse than TV. I continue to see streaming shows canceled after 1 or 2 seasons. I don't think there's any straming shows to even last more than 5 seasons.

It sucks but TV is dying.

Sept 17, 2022 18:35:03 GMT -5 Tim said:

Yeah, the writing is clearly on the wall.

Network TV will probably die when the last of the pre-Internet generation does.

Yeah, it really is. I'll bet Network TV will just be a dumping ground for cheap reality TV and live events and sports. Scripted shows ONLY on streaming or Cable. Also physical media will likely die too like DVD or Blu-Rays. I'd be so sad if the later was gone, I want to own something I love for life and not rely on when someone else will keep it on their service or worry if it'll still be there if they take it down.

But anybody who wasn't alive pre-Internet generation seems to prefer to fork out money to pay for what they want to watch than rely on free to air television. The streaming services charge too much. The price of Netflix goes up every year even though the library of content drops so much in 10 years because every company known to man starts a new one up. But what can you do.

Sad but scripted Network TV shows likely won't be around in another 10-20 years I feel.

[Tim]

I'll probably be dead by then, and beyond caring about such things.

[Squad 51]

Maybe that's why I also turn more and more back to the good ol' times with these past shows watching. *sighs* Today it's not good to stream all.

[Tim]

Never thought I'd long for the days of Three Networks And Nothing But.

[Trinity]

Sept 18, 2022 9:25:03 GMT -5 Squad 51 said:

Maybe that's why I also turn more and more back to the good ol' times with these past shows watching. *sighs* Today it's not good to stream all.

I hear you. It's so fun to re-watch old classics.

I don't even stream but find digital copies for the shows online. I just hate leaving the fate of my watching in the hands on someone else. I need want control and own the stuff I love.

Sept 18, 2022 11:27:27 GMT -5 Tim said:

Never thought I'd long for the days of Three Networks And Nothing But.

Don't I wish. Those days are gone. And you didn't pay a cent to watch stuff.

[Dark Avenger]

Sept 18, 2022 17:43:58 GMT -5 Trinity said:

Sept 18, 2022 9:25:03 GMT -5 Squad 51 said:

Maybe that's why I also turn more and more back to the good ol' times with these past shows watching. *sighs* Today it's not good to stream all.

I hear you. It's so fun to re-watch old classics.

I don't even stream but find digital copies for the shows online. I just hate leaving the fate of my watching in the hands on someone else. I need want control and own the stuff I love.

Sept 18, 2022 11:27:27 GMT -5 Tim said:

Never thought I'd long for the days of Three Networks And Nothing But.

Don't I wish. Those days are gone. And you didn't pay a cent to watch stuff.

That's the bad part of streaming. You can be in the midst of watching something and they take it off. I'll always prefer to own things myself and not rely on a service.

But the Emmy Awards needs to rebrand. Why bother having it on Network TV if nothing rarely from that is Nominated these days.

[Tim]

Or give cable and streaming shows their own awards.