Emmy Awards

Emmy FYC events are back — and boy, are they ever back. After two years of mostly virtual panels — with some drive-in events in the mix — networks and studios were once again given permission by the Television Academy this year to swing the doors open and hold in-person panels, screenings and experiences.

The Television Academy and NBC said Wednesday that the 2022 Emmys will take place Sept. 12, which is a Monday. The show will air live coast to coast at 8-11 p.m. ET/5-8 p.m. PT on NBC.

Moving forward, the competitions will be organized solely by content genre as opposed to the current method, which separates programs based on program airtime. The changes, which will be included in the Call For Entries put out in January, will result in digital daytime dramas as well as other daytime programs, including some talk shows and game shows, potentially moving to the Primetime Emmy Awards.

The categories were previously part of the Daytime Emmys. Seven new categories have been added for preschool content.

Sunday’s 73rd Emmy Awards drew 7.4 million total viewers on CBS, besting last year’s all-time low total for the annual awards show, according to preliminary Nielsen data. The 2021 show was up 16% in total viewers compared to last year. The 7.4 million total-viewer tally was the largest audience since the 2018 show, which aired on NBC.

After winning 44 Emmys in total this year — tying the record for most wins by a single platform/network in a single year, set by CBS in 1974 — Bela Bajaria, the Netflix head of global TV, said the scores of statuettes made for “an historic night.”

From the singalong opener to a tribute to the late Michael K. Williams, here’s a roundup of the standout moments from the Emmy Awards.

Larry King, Norm Macdonald, Michael K. Williams and no fewer than three cast members of The Mary Tyler Moore Show were among the stars remembered during this year’s Emmy In Memoriam segment.

The 2021 Emmy Award nominations showed major improvement in recognizing the contributions of BIPOC talent, and Black performers had a strong showing at the Creative Arts ceremonies. But this positive upswing was more of a wrecking ball on Sunday night when nominees of color failed to win most categories, including all six acting fields.

When Frank Scherma was elected as chairman and CEO of the Television Academy three years ago, he came to office with grand plans to reform the organization. What he didn’t plan on was a global pandemic interrupting that focus. That’s why, as Scherma confirmed on Wednesday morning, he plans to run for re-election in November in a bid to continue as chairman/CEO for another two-year term.

The comedian and star of CBS’s The Neighborhood, who will host this year’s Emmys, talks about his inclusive approach to TV’s big night and why “I don’t want that Oscars feel.”

The Television Academy said Thursday that attendees at next month’s Primetime Emmy Awards and Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be required to provide a negative COVID test in addition to being fully vaccinated. This year’s ceremonies are being limited to nominees and a guest with the rise of the Delta variant this summer hampering the return to fully live in-person events in Los Angeles and around the country.

The Television Academy said Thursday that Debbie Allen will receive the 2021 Governors Award, bestowed on the dancer-choreographer-actress-writer-producer-director “for her unprecedented achievements in television and her commitment to inspire and engage marginalized youth through dance, theater arts and mentorship.”

Allen will be recognized during the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast September 19 on CBS and Paramount+.

The Television Academy revealed Tuesday that “following discussions with health and safety experts” for L.A. County, the organization is limiting the number of nominees who will be allowed to attend the Emmy Awards on Sept. 19 as well as the Creative Arts Emmys on Sept. 11 and 12.

As cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant continue to rise across the country, including in Los Angeles County, the Television Academy has added a vaccination requirement to all attendees of this year’s Emmy ceremonies. The organization joins most Hollywood events, including premieres, now requiring proof of vaccination before entry.

The Television Academy has once again canceled the post-Emmys Governors Balls, and has also announced that the Creative Arts Emmys will return to the weekend before the Primetime Emmys telecast, and take place on Saturday, Sept. 11, and Sunday, Sept. 12. Just like the plans for this year’s Primetime Emmys ceremony, the live audience for the Creative Arts Emmys will be limited to nominees and their guests, and be held at the Microsoft Theatre in downtown Los Angeles’ LA Live complex.

CBS looked inside its own neighborhood to find this year’s Emmy host: Cedric the Entertainer will take the stage when the 73rd Primetime Emmys airs on Sept. 19. Cedric the Entertainer stars in the Eye network comedy The Neighborhood, which airs Mondays (and likely returns the night after the Emmys, kicking off the entire fall 2021 TV season for CBS).

The yearlong pandemic blurred the already thin line between the media, with movies that were meant for theaters landing on streaming, and Marvel hopping onto the small screen.

Broadcast shows like NCIS (which just finished its 18th season), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy (17 seasons) and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU (21 seasons) continue to have massive staying power and tremendous fan bases. And because they boast such large episodic libraries, they’re all among the most-watched acquired shows on streaming. In the world of the Emmy Awards, however, these shows seem to no longer exist.

CBS has set a date for the 73rd annual Emmy Awards, which will also be streamed on Paramount+. The Awards will take place on Sunday, Sept. 19, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. Host and venue will be announced later.

The great Emmy debate over a merged variety series category has been solved, at least for now: The Television Academy has decided this year to maintain separate categories for variety talk series and variety sketch series after all. The decision to keep the two categories, reversing course from a previous plan to merge them back together, came after intense lobbying from the late night shows, their producers and their PR representatives.

Hal Holbrook, the craftsman who reincarnated Mark Twain on stage and screen for more than six decades and also stood out as Abraham Lincoln and Deep Throat, two other American legends, has died. He won five Emmys, earned an Oscar nomination at age 82 for Into the Wild and starred in Magnum Force and Wall Street. He was 95.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Tuesday that all of its awards shows will remain virtual through 2021. This includes the Daytime Emmys, Sports Emmys, News and Documentary Emmys and Technology and Engineering Emmys.

The 2020 Daytime Emmys, Sports Emmys, News & Documentary Emmys and Technology & Engineering Emmys will be replaced by virtual ceremonies, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced on Wednesday. The Technology & Engineering ceremony had originally been scheduled for April 19 in Las Vegas, and had been postponed until October due to restrictions to combat the coronavirus; the Sports Emmys had been scheduled for April 28 in New York but postponed to fall; the Daytime Emmys had been scheduled for June 12-14 in Pasadena but postponed to fall; and the News & Documentary Emmys had been scheduled for September in New York.

After days of discussions amongst themselves, a group of TV communications and awards execs may ask the Television Academy to potentially push the Emmy awards calendar, or at least address some of their questions about how this year’s campaign season will proceed.