So it’s been awhile since I did one of these posts but I read an article today that totally defines why I made up this type of category. So it’s that time of year for Emmy submissions and recently Showtime’s Shameless decided to submit the show under comedy instead of drama, which it did for previous years. To me, that felt like a sensible move but should it really be considered a comedy? When I think of drama, I expect the tone to be very serious for a majority of the running time. Though the series has ended, Breaking Bad is totally a drama, even though it had its light moments which made me laugh. But what about a show like True Blood in which the tone can be serious but also tongue-in-cheek?
Today’s online article from EW explains how FX chief John Landgraf felt that it is an unfair advantage for shows like HBO’s True Detective to be submitted for the Best Drama category. Although the show is coming back for a Season 2, the stories and the cast will be entirely new. Landgraf therefore felt that it belongs in the Best Miniseries category like FX’s American Horror Story. I will say that I do agree with Landgraf about True Detective as it’s not only the show that was submitted for Best Drama but most likely Matthew McConaughey as Best Actor in a Drama Series. “It doesn’t make sense to put actors who signed on to do one year and perform the beginning, middle, and end of a character against those who are only showing one-fifth or one-sixth of that character’s journey in a season.”
I understood and agree with his point there. However, there’s a grey area when it comes to these award ceremony categories and I feel like the comedy category becomes this hodgepodge of hour-long dramedies or half-hour sitcoms. Those are two very different type of shows and it is unfair for a show like Shameless to go up against Modern Family. The two shows have an entirely different feel to them.
These award ceremonies have updated its categories to reflect how the entertainment industry has evolved over the years. However, I feel like the Drama vs. Comedy category has not. I really think that we need a Best Dramedy category and agree that if the same story does not continue for the next season, shows like True Detective should be classified as a miniseries. Any ideas on what other categories the Academy has overlooked for this year’s Emmys?
Musings of a Chunkeemonkeeato 