Steve Pond: In Praise of the Emmys' Poor TV Movie Category

Limited series got a total of 100 Emmy nominations this year; television movies got 5 [In Praise of the Emmys' Poor TV Movie Category]( [2024 TV Movie Emmy nominees]( Emmy voters are now halfway through final balloting for this year’s awards, making decisions about which drama and comedy series, limited series, talk series, variety series and specials, structured and unstructured reality programs, reality competition shows, animated programs, documentary and nonfiction programs and game shows they like best. And, oh yeah, they’re also picking their favorite TV movies, although they probably won’t have to think too long or too hard about what seems to have become the Emmys’ least consequential category. It wasn’t always like that. The Outstanding TV Movie category has produced some notable television, including “Death of a Salesman” with Lee J. Cobb, the ultimate tearjerker “Brian’s Song,” the shocking “Special Bulletin”and 21st century standouts “The Gathering Storm,” “Recount,” “Grey Gardens,” “Behind the Candelabra” and even last year’s winner, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” Over the years, the category has often been lumped with the limited series category, and there was a time when TV movies got more Emmy attention than limited series. But that was a long time ago: maybe around 1991, when the movie and limited series categories were merged and the movies outnumbered miniseries four-to-two in nominations. These days, though, the heat is entirely on limited series, leading to a statistic that’s almost embarrassing: While the five programs nominated in the Outstanding Limited Series category averaged almost 14 total nominations each, the five nominated television movies got a grand total of five nominations. The bottom line is that the total number of nominations in all categories for limited series was exactly 100; the total for all TV movies was 5. In other words, there was not a single TV movie nominated outside the one category that was entirely restricted to TV movies. This sorry state of affairs came one year after four of the five movie nominees received multiple nominations: eight for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” six for “Prey,” three for “Hocus Pocus 2” and two for “Fire Island.” And it came in a year in which other contenders for Outstanding Television Movie were films directed by Oscar winners William Friedkin (“The Caine Mutiny Court Martial”), Brian Helgeland (“Finestkind”) and Peter Farrelly (“Ricky Stanicky”) and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Michael Cristofer (“The Great Lillian Hall”).  That doesn’t necessarily mean that the TV movie is a dying genre; it’s just that it has been overwhelmed by bigger, bolder and more prestigious limited series. And when movies and limited series are lumped together in almost all of the categories in which they’re eligible, that’s become a problem for the movies, which are simply buried by all those high-profile miniseries.  Granted, it’s hard for a movie to compete against the eight hours of “Fellow Travelers” or the seven-plus hours of “Fargo” and “Ripley”; even the three-hour-and-55-minute running time of the seven episodes of “Baby Reindeer” is significantly longer than the any two of the TV movie nominees. Still, let’s not write off a category that seems to have fallen on hard times. Before voting ends, and three weeks before the Outstanding Television Movie Emmy is handed out at the second Creative Arts Emmy ceremony on Sept. 8, can we tip our cap to the five movies that beat the odds and at least landed their single Emmy noms? [The list continues here. Â]( [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- [WrapPRO logo] Discover why entertainment executives and professionals rely on the WrapPRO platform daily for exclusive coverage, analysis, deeper reporting, and access to VIP events & screenings throughout the year. [Subscribe Today]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( TheWrap | 2034 Armacost Ave Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( [LiveIntent Logo]( [AdChoices Logo](