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EMMYS: Why The TV Academy Reversed Its Decision On Merging Longform Categories

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Saturday April 20, 2013 @ 1:26pm PDTTags: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Emmys
Nellie Andreeva

The timing of last year’s decision by the TV Academy to consolidate the four longform acting categories into two was baffling as it came a couple of days after the record-breaking debut of History’s miniseries Hatfields & McCoys and the network premiere of HBO’s Hemingway & Gellhorn, which had opened at the Cannes Film Festival. The TV Academy moved to cut the categories in half amidst a renaissance of the longform genre with such programs as British imports Downton Abbey, which started off in the miniseries field, Sherlock and Luther; History’s Hatfields & McCoys and FX’s American Horror Story, which was submitted as a miniseries. At the time, TV Academy’s SVP Awards John Leverence explained the decision by saying that the decrease in longform categories “corresponds to their primetime presence.”

But this week, just as the consolidation was about to take effect, the TV Academy reversed its decision, keeping the lead and supporting acting fields intact. “What a difference 13 months make,” Leverence said yesterday. He said the May 2012 vote “was based on how the longform (programming) was trending — the patient was on the table getting last rites.” But now “there has been a major revival of the longform. The consolidation was based on last year’s reality, not based on this year’s reality; what we thought was happening reversed itself.”

I’d argue that the longform revival had already started when the TV Academy voted to consolidate the acting categories but it certainly continued over the last year with such new entries as Sundance Channel’s Top Of The Lake, History’s The Bible (not necessarily Emmy material), Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias and HBO’s upcoming Behind The Candelabra, which just landed a competition slot in Cannes. The final installment of Showtime’s The Big C also was done as a miniseries as was USA’s Political Animals. Leverence said the question about possibly reconsidering last year’s decision”based on the new longform landscape”, was first raised by members of the producing branch of the Academy. Bob Bergen and Lily Tomlin, Governors of the Performers Peer Group, then introduced the reversal proposal, which was voted by the Board Thursday night. With about two thirds of the Emmy entries in, the number of acting submissions in the longform categories this year is projected to be roughly on par with last year, Leverence said, giving TV movie/miseries performers the same odds of getting nominated as last year.

While the TV Academy Board on Thursday opted to keep the acting longform categories, they did not address possibly reinstating separate TV movie and miniseries/limited series fields which have been merged since 2011. That may change as the longform volume is expected to keep growing. Fox and FX are making a big push in the limited series arena, with FX recently greenlighted its first program under the initiative, a remake of Fargo, and Fox expected to make its first order soon. History continues to fly the miniseries flag with the upcoming Bonnie & Clyde mini (in association with Lifetime). Additionally, NBC has The Sound Of Music staging coming up. What’s more, the broadcast networks, which carry the Primetime Emmys, had long been complaining about the telecast featuring so many longform categories because for the last decade, TV movies and miniseries had largely been obscure programs on cable that few viewers had seen. Not anymore. With longform entries like Hatfields & McCoys, American Horror Story, The Bible and Steel Magnolias drawing larger crowds than many series, broadcasters now probably won’t mind keeping the movie/miniseries acting fields.

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TV Academy, Humane Association To Meet Wednesday On Animal Safety

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday April 14, 2013 @ 6:09pm PDTTags: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, American Humane Association

The American Humane Association will hold a hearing Wednesday at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to discuss issues surrounding the monitoring of animal action on film and television sets. The AHA’s “No … Read More »

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TV Academy Sets 29 Peer Group Governors

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday November 15, 2012 @ 8:03pm PSTTags: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

NoHo Arts District, CA, Nov. 15, 2012 – The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced the names of the 29 newly elected Peer Group Governors who will serve a two year term (2013 and 2014) on the Television Academy’s Board of Governors beginning January 1, 2013. Television Academy Chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum announced the governors-elect at the Television Academy’s November Board meeting, noting that they constitute a distinguished group of television professionals.

“I’m extremely excited that this new board will be balanced with governors of varying levels of Television Academy experience, giving us fresh ideas and perspectives from first-time governors as well as great insights, expertise and continuity from returning governors,” said Rosenblum. “It’s a diverse group that can boast of numerous Emmy® nominations, and more than 45 Emmy Awards recognizing their individual work and achievement in such areas as performance, script writing, stunt work, reality programming, art direction, animation, sound and picture editorial and producing.”

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Ryan Murphy Joins TV Academy’s Executive Committee, Hall Of Fame Committee Set

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday March 28, 2012 @ 9:34am PDTTags: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Bruce Rosenblum, Ryan Murphy
Nellie Andreeva

Ryan Murphy TV AcademyNew Academy of Television Arts & Sciences chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum has named writer-producer Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) as his sixth and final Executive Committee appointee, completing a group of industry heavy-hitters from different … Read More »

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Bruce Rosenblum’s Surprise Entry Into TV Academy Chairman Race: He Talks, Board Members React, & What His Opponent Says

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday August 18, 2011 @ 4:59pm PDTTags: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Bruce Rosenblum, John Shaffner, Warner Bros
Pete Hammond

A new day may be coming for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences if Warner Bros Television Group president Bruce Rosenblum has his way. The high-powered exec — who also holds the title of Office of the President, Warner Bros Entertainment (along with Jeff Robinov and Kevin Tsujihara) — has essentially been recruited to run for chairman of ATAS in the upcoming November election to replace current chair John Shaffner, an Emmy-winning art director who ironically works for WBTV on several Chuck Lorre-produced sitcoms. Rosenblum will be opposed by at least one other candidate, Nancy Bradley Wiard, a veteran ATAS officer currently in her second term as first vice chair who confirmed to me in an exclusive interview today that she’s definitely in the race to stay, although she added, ”I guess I am going to have to get a publicist now.”

Rosenblum’s entry is a significant development both inside and outside the Academy because the position hasn’t had a big name since former Walt Disney Studios president Rich Frank served, first for a couple of years in the mid-1980s and later in a four-year term in the mid-90s. Since then, there has been criticism that ATAS has not had a true industry heavyweight to lead it through the ever-changing landscape of the business. “I think it’s great,” one veteran TV exec and longtime Academy member who once worked with Rosenblum told me today. “He’s an important guy, and it hasn’t been an important position for several years. If he gets it, it will instantly be an important position again. He employs a lot of the industry, and I think Bruce would bring dignity back to the Academy along with innovation and evolution.”

On the other hand, one board member who will be voting in the election expressed a little wariness today over Rosenblum’s entrance into the race: “To put an executive of this level, it could be a huge conflict. Everyone in that room could potentially work for him. Who’s gonna get in a big fight with him? Also, he has nothing to gain. Why would he want to do this with all the various headaches, personalities and convoluted structure he will have to take on? Who is dumb enough to step in to this pile of s***?”

Another board member welcomed the idea: “To get us through the transition that we need to make is gonna take someone of that stature and acumen to do that. I see this as a good development, a necessary one. It’s probably time for someone who hasn’t been an insider on the board to give this a fresh spin.”

Wiard, who actually once served on the executive committee with Rosenblum, touts her years of service and insider knowledge as a plus. She also says she realizes the importance of having major industry names appointed to the committee (she says she already has two of those commitments should she win) — just not running the whole show. Before Rosenblum jumped in the race, she says she was actually considering asking him to serve on the executive committee again. “We do need people with power that are willing to help the organization, to be able to put on another Super Highway Summit, to do those types of things,” she said. “I can’t reach out into that world, I don’t know that world well enough. It’s why our Foundation works; the big players are willing to serve, but I do not believe you need a president of a corporation to run the room. I do believe we are better off having one of our own.”

For his part, Rosenblum says he made the decision a couple of weeks ago and seems raring to go. “A couple of people came and approached me and asked if I would consider it,” he told me when we spoke earlier today. Read More »

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TCA: ‘Glee’s Sue Sylvester Will NOT Host Emmys, ‘In Memoriam’ Won’t Be ‘Bummer’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday August 5, 2011 @ 6:17pm PDTTags: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Emmys, Jane Lynch, John Shaffner, Mark Burnett, Primetime Emmy Awards, TCA Press Tour, Television Critics Association, TV

Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’s coverage of TCA.

Jane Lynch said that executive producer Mark Burnett surprised her on the plane back to L.A. from the TV upfronts in New York earlier this year by asking her to save a place on her dance card to host the 2011 Emmys. Burnett, the reality kingpin behind Survivor and The Voice, told her he didn’t have the authority to actually offer her the job, but she said yes on the spot. Lynch, an Emmy winner herself for Glee, has already poked fun at her upcoming hosting role Sept. 18 with TV spots in which she admits to saying to producers upon being asked: “You know I’m not Ellen DeGeneres, don’t you?”

On today’s lively panel with Lynch, Burnett and John Shaffner, chairman and CEO of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Lynch said she would be sitting in the writers’ room throughout the development of the awards telecast (her friend Jill Soloway will be among the writers group). Of live hosting duties, Lynch said she brings “the necessary energetic cocktail of excitement, anticipation and fear.” And both she and Burnett say that viewers will be seeing Jane Lynch, not a version of her Glee character, no-nonsense coach Sue Sylvester, which Lynch used in her emcee duties at the Fox upfronts the last 2 years. “A little Sue Sylvester goes a long way,” she said.  “We will probably leave her track suit on the Paramount lot.” She also said she hopes to avoid classic awards show disasters such as Rob Lowe’s Snow White number on the Academy Awards. For his part, first-time Emmy producer Burnett says he will use his reality TV experience to keep the show’s pacing clipping right along. “The most important thing, [because] the Emmys are three hours long, is pacing,” saying there would be a lot of comic bits to keep things moving along.” Read More »

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