September 19, 2004
Do the Emmys Still Matter? "Arrested Development" Sure Hopes So…
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Intended to serve as the standard-bearer for the opening of the fall TV season, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awards are far removed from the convergent frenzy of other Hollywood self-love pageants.
But what if Emmy's isolation ended? After all, the traditional fall-to-spring TV season has been declared passe by at least one broadcast network and is little observed by cable channels.
Could an earlier Emmy ceremony juice viewership, which last year measured just under 18 million? That's compared to nearly 27 million viewers for this year's Golden Globes and 43 million-plus for the Oscars.
For actors, the shift from Los Angeles' typically sizzling September to a cooler month amounts to a health and safety issue.
"At that time of year, it's 4 in the afternoon in Los Angeles and it's 98 degrees and they're sweating in their tuxedoes," observed analyst Bill Carroll of Katz Television Group.
Most importantly, a springtime awards show could benefit worthy but ratings-challenged shows that need a boost.
"Emmys have a noble history of saving shows," said Tom O'Neil, author of "The Emmys" and host of GoldDerby.com, an awards prediction Web site.
"All in the Family" was mired in the ratings cellar after it debuted in January 1971. The Emmys were held in the spring that year and the sitcom received the best comedy series award as well as the best new series trophy (no longer given) and went on to become an invaluable part of America's culture.
This Sunday, when the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are held (airing 8 p.m. EDT on ABC), the critically lauded yet low-rated Fox sitcom "Arrested Development" could be the beneficiary of Emmy largesse.
After evading cancellation, its best comedy series bid could draw audience attention to its charms.
Emmy's impact on endangered programs would be even greater if the awards came early in the year when they have a chance to affect viewership for struggling shows.
More than a few series canceled in May, when the fall schedules are announced, have enjoyed the empty honor of an Emmy nomination in July.
Those wary of change should consider the evidence: Until 1976 the awards were usually held no later than May, at the TV season's conclusion. They moved to September in 1977 after a split between East and West Coast factions of the TV academy.
The Los Angeles branch took control of the prime-time awards and change was afoot.
"Shifting from a (spring) retrospective to a (fall) preface probably made sense," said ATAS awards director John Leverence. "It helped brand the new Emmys as the fall kickoff and the (West Coast) academy as the organization that was going to do it that way."
Moving the Emmy presentations, which are produced on a rotating basis by the four major networks, to earlier in the year would change the period of eligible competition from the TV year to the calendar year.
This means the first competitive period of the change would be just nine months long, something Leverence downplayed as a mere "administrative hiccup."
Since politics and promotion are at the heart of Emmy timing, why not consider a change? The September-to-May TV model, although still dominant, is showing signs of stress.
Among broadcasters, Fox is leading the way to year-round original programming, prodded by its need to navigate the postseason baseball playoffs that usurp the network's first weeks of the fall season.
Other broadcasters have made some effort to offer fresh summer fare, although at this point it's generally been quick and cheap reality series.
For cable channels, summer has become a prime launching pad for flashy new series to entice viewers turned off by network repeats.
There's an irony in having an awards show kick off the new season while celebrating many shows that have nothing to do with the traditional cycle, said Preston Beckman, Fox's executive in charge of program planning and year-round programming operations.
"Big chunks" of the Emmy broadcast, especially in the movie and miniseries categories, honor programming from season-blind cable channels, including HBO, A&E and Showtime, he said.
Some in the industry are open to the idea of an Emmy makeover.
"I do think the awards cycles for TV will have to change in order to match the new reality of what's happening on television," said filmmaker Gregory Nava, whose "American Family: Journey of Dreams" is a miniseries nominee.
He and PBS rushed production of the drama for a marathon showing so it would air within the eligibility period ending May 31. It had debuted in the spring to avoid the fall crunch.
The academy's rules "are set for the way things used to be and that's obviously changing," Nava said.
But many observers contend both TV's autumn rebirth and the September Emmys are entrenched for now.
"In all honesty, we're going to have fall seasons," said Katz Television Group's Carroll. "That's the way advertisers buy."
"At the end of the day, the fall season is the kickoff season," said Leverence. "It's part of the calendar of this country: back to work, back to school, back to the TV set."
Fox's Beckman is skeptical about the value of a spring ceremony, contending it's more the competitors than the placement that decides whether viewers tune in. Niche cable nominees are the issue, he argues.
Emmy viewership is "not so much about where it is during the year ... as about the fragmentation of the audience and the celebration of programming that has been seen by virtually no one," he said.
Still, the really unique thing about the 2004 Emmys was supposed to be the addition of reality TV shows like “Apprentice” and “American Idol”… in an era when fast-food TV (cheap to produce and even worse than their food industry counterparts) at least their stars got some visibility.
- Arik
Posted by Arik Johnson at September 19, 2004 04:29 PM | TrackBack
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