In This Section
TV Guide Spotlight
Also on TVGuide.com
|
« The Closer Blog
Emmy Loves Oscar
I had not been to the Emmy Awards since the early 1990s, when I was nominated for writing the television movie Doing Time on Maple Drive. And I have never joined the Academy, either, mainly because I find its Byzantine rules nearly impossible to understand. Also there are moments, like sitting through a three-hour ceremony in an auditorium that lacks a decent air-conditioning system, when there seems to be a few too many categories. And many of these categories simply don’t exist.
I’ll give you an example. In series television, outside of pilots, there really isn’t anything remotely resembling an individual achievement in writing. Story, character, plot, theme and dialogue: all these and more are formulated in “the writers' room.” In addition, scripts are often substantially rewritten by a show-runner, even though the name of the original author may still be on the title page. In other words, the credit doesn’t change, but the work is often largely by someone else! On the very few shows where this is not the norm, there are still so many notes given, and so much polishing done, that no one person can usually stand up and say, “That’s all me!” Besides, the main characters in any series are already well established; their behavior and vocabulary are deeply embedded in the show’s DNA. So why give an award for individual achievement in writing? Well, it's because they do it at the Oscars! Best writing for a drama or a comedy should be a staff award, just like it is for comedy/variety/musical. Speaking of which, how ridiculously broad is that category? And why doesn't American Idol qualify as a musical show and have to compete against people who race around the world, or sit on an island while plotting to win a million dollars? Or why aren’t these all considered prime-time game shows?
Ellen Burstyn’s nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Made-for-Television Movie or Miniseries (I’m exhausted just typing the category name) for a part that consisted of one scene and 38 spoken words, would seem to be proof that the winnowing process instituted this year may not have worked so well.
Worse, the notion that lead and supporting performers in a series can submit only one episode a season must be considered ridiculous. A series role is not like a character in a movie because the actor must be able to deliver a multifaceted performance over a much longer period of time. When asking why James Gandolfini and Edie Falco weren’t nominated for their brilliant portrayals in The Sopranos, the answer has to be that the single episode on which each was judged had to be deemed, somehow, unworthy of notice.
These arbitrary rules are instituted for the convenience of the nominators. Worse, like the individual achievement in writing, they ape the Oscars: further proof of television’s continued inferiority complex.
Naturally, even though the Emmy process is absurd, one still wants the award. It’s our nature, I suppose, to desire trophies or special notice, regardless of how silly and vain we know such commendations are. And Americans are a little bit award-happy. On Sunday, someone won an Emmy for producing the Oscars!!!! And that’s just nuts.
Would I be writing all of this if Kyra had won Best Leading Actress in a Drama this year? Of course not. I would have kept my criticisms to myself while reflecting on just how lucky we had been to obtain the extra publicity an Emmy Award confers on its honoree. And I would never have hurt Kyra’s chances by voicing my own doubts before the envelope was open. But the Emmy is one award that needs to be seriously rethought if it’s to sustain the support and the interest of the industry it purports to honor.
|
|
|
|
Aug 30, 2006 3:00 PM
|
Excellent points! I had wondered about the Ellen Burstyn nomination myself. But, I must profess I don't know enough about how the "system" works. I do happen to agree, however, that an individual award for lead or supporting character should be taken for the season as a whole as opposed to one particular episode.
I was genuinely disappointed Monday night for Ms. Sedgwick. But, I was equally disappointed for the entire cast, crew and staff that the show was not nominated. This is simply one of the best shows that has ever been "put together", delivering strong performances and story lines week after week. You're all #1 in my book!
|
|
Aug 30, 2006 4:52 PM
|
Your inside the industry view of The Emmy's is one that I've been dying to hear for a long time. Even without being close enough to understand all of the particulars of the way these things run year after year, I've seen enough safe/predictable/popular/pc/easy decisions made as to who should/shouldn't be nominated year after year, odd categorizing strategies, strange dealings like the nomination for mere seconds of a performance while an entire season's worth of constant greatness is overlooked, to want to give up entirely on the whole annual process and chalk it up to a general loss for the industry.
Watching genius overlooked year after year because it's not 'typical' in some way...something that one might say stands as the ultimate paradox...wears a fan of great television drama down after a while.
I vow to boycott every year...but there's always that one shining exception that makes me want to hold on to hope that they'll get at least one something right.
This year's hope, for me, came in the form of Kyra's nomination, earned a thousand times over (and Andre Braugher's win...another amazing talent deserving of his due.)
Kyra was an angelic vision and grace personified, as always. My disappointment at seeing her come away from the ceremony without the award was huge, but as fans of the show would shout from the rooftops---she's a winner in our book and proves her immense talent a hundred times over every second that she's on screen, and she wins your heart offscreen as well. I wish that we could form a statue for her built upon that. She's so deserving of all of the recognition in the world for the character who now all but lives and breathes in the world of so many of us because the knowing of her has become such a complete experience.
And what an amazing venue your show is for that talent, and the talent of countless others, from the ensemble cast on through to everyone who makes it the experience that it is.
It is very rare that The Emmy's get it right, as far as I'm concerned---unlike "The Closer" which never misses. Everyone who has a hand in it, in front of the screen and off, has earned the hearts and an ovation from the fans.
I hope that in some way, knowing that eases a bit of the frustration with 'The System.' 
I know that they say this year's system was supposed to be 'revamped' to avoid a lot of the things worth criticizing in the past...but I think they might need to go back to the planning board on that one.
|
|
Aug 31, 2006 7:56 PM
|
|
The writing for this show is exceptional so you and your team are to be commended for your efforts. I'm a voracious reader and a closet writer, and I know I could never do what you do--which is to create magic on a weekly basis for the viewers of The Closer. I'm amazed at the continuity, the allusions to past shows and past statements of characters, and the theme development. Incredible work. Thank you so much.
|
|
Aug 11, 2007 8:11 AM
|
I sure do agree with you on this subject.I have quit watching these awards shows for all the same reasons you wrote and need not repeated now.
Hoorrayyyy for you!!No wonder the Closer is such a great show.
|
|
Dec 24, 2007 11:53 PM
|
|
|
