The Emmys

[susyhomewrecker]

I don't have a problem with choosing ONE episode for consideration, since that is how they judge all the other categories. Other categories, however, are divided into "comedy" and "drama," for example, because the academy recognizes that what actors do in those respective fields are quite different. Barry Manilow's show takes an entirely different kind of talent than Colbert's show does, and they should reward different talents instead of pitting them against one another.

[Deleted]

Exactly. Barry Manilow is a singer and Colbert, O'Brien, & Letterman are comedians while Hugh Jackman is an actor/emcee/singer/dancer. The formats are completely different and shouldn't be judged against each other. Two of them were musically oriented and three of them didn't, and should be divided accordingly. It's the weirdest category in the Emmys, they're always pitting comedians of varying types against musicians. It's insane.

[lallybroch]

I doubt there are enough nominees year-to-year to field a separate category for one-time variety performances, so they get lumped in with the talk show hosts. They probably want at least three nominees in a year (though more would be ideal), without merely padding the category with just anyone who might have done a lackluster job hosting the Teen Choice Awards or something.

[Deleted]

Plus the Daytime Emmys already has a best talk show host category. Are there really enough great talk show hosts to justify two categories?

[susyhomewrecker]

lallybroch said:

I doubt there are enough nominees year-to-year to field a separate category for one-time variety performances, so they get lumped in with the talk show hosts. They probably want at least three nominees in a year (though more would be ideal), without merely padding the category with just anyone who might have done a lackluster job hosting the Teen Choice Awards or something.

I think they could easily have found at least three nominees for each category. A lot of people suspected that Jon Stewart cancelled himself out in the comedy/variety category, as he was eligible both for "The Daily Show" and his Oscar gig. It also seems to me that in the past there have been more nominees for the music specials a la Manilow, and the category could be filled out from there. Next year, I'd like to see Conan nominated for hosting this year's Emmy show, but he stands a better chance if he's not competing with himself. Not every category has five nominees (I think a lot of technical awards only have 3) so it's not unheard of that they would limit the number of nominees to three. And that way we wouldn't have to deal with Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook, Emmy nominees.