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New Emmy rules make way for fresh faces
2006-07-06
The prime-time Emmy Awards, the U.S. television industry's equivalent of the Oscars, are starting to look less like one big rerun. Long notorious for recycling the same shows and stars years after year, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is testing a revamped nomination scheme to give newcomers, lower-rated shows and programs from smaller networks a better shot at the major categories. And the consensus among Emmy pundits, TV executives and some performers was that the revamped rules appear to have been at least a partial success. The 58th annual prime-time Emmy candidates announced on Thursday welcomed back three old favorites in the race for best drama -- past winners "The Sopranos" and "The West Wing" and perennial contender "24," the most saluted series this year with 12 nominations. But they will square off against two medical shows making their first run at the coveted prize for top drama, -- "Grey's Anatomy" from ABC and "House" from the Fox network. The mix is even more striking in the contest for best comedy and in the major acting categories, where a number of stars from second-tier channels, ratings underdogs and even canceled shows earned Emmy recognition. Examples included nominations for the struggling hospital sitcom "Scrubs," first-season workplace satire "The Office" and its star, Steve Carell, as well as Kyra Sedgwick in TNT's new cop show "The Closer." Geena Davis from the recently canned "Commander In Chief" was also nominated. "I think it definitely helped us," said Denis Leary, who scored a best-actor nomination for his role as a conflicted firefighter in the FX cable drama he helped create, "Rescue Me." "We are a very edgy show, and for them to recognize us I think is a recognition of the work and the voting process." This year, a blue-ribbon panel was added to the nominating system, choosing five nominees each for top comedy and drama series by reviewing the videotapes of 10 finalists selected by the academy members at large in an initial round of voting. A similar process was used to cull five nominees from the top 15 vote-getters in the categories for best lead actor and actress in a comedy and drama series. In past years, nominees were determined on the basis of a single vote that often favored shows most familiar to academy members who cast ballots for them without actually judging their work. "One of the major themes here is change," academy chief Dick Askin said. "As you can see, we have a lot of new faces." Leading TV writer-producer John Wells, executive producer of "West Wing," which was nominated despite poor ratings for its final season, agreed. "It seemed like it was successful, or at least certainly successful in getting some new people nominated, which is great," he said. "It has turned into a bit of thing where you go and you see all the same people. And I don't think that's exciting for anybody."
'Grey's,' '24' among Emmy contenders (2006-08-27)'24,' 'Anatomy' among top Emmy nominees (2006-07-06)New Emmy rules make way for fresh faces (2006-07-06)Some women disappointed in ABC's Vargas (2006-06-03)Vargas exit provokes debate, unease (2006-06-03)
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