Well, TV fans, I have bad news, and I have even worse news.
The bad news? The Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series Emmy award will still not be presented on prime time television, which I wrote about yesterday.
The worse news? NBC cannot be blamed for this (and let me tell you, since I get a real high out of hating the Peacock, this is a real buzzkill for me).
According to Deadline Hollywood, this Emmy category, and other writing nominations were pre-arranged by the Emmys and the Writers Guild of America to only air in prime time every other year. It just so happens that this is the year in which these categories will be presented during the Creative Arts Emmys, or the Schmemmys, as Kathy Griffin refers to them, one week before the prime time show.
When Conan writer Deon Cole Tweeted after finding out that his nominated category would not appear in prime time (the Schmemmys will air on E! one week before the prime time awards), many took it to mean that NBC was cutting the category out of the show as a conspiracy against Conan. It's not like that isn't something that NBC would do, as petty as they are. Unfortunately, NBC cannot be blamed for this oversight. Rather, the union that is working for the writers is downgrading their members' publicity by agreeing to appear only on the Schmemmys.
So, I think the two points I made yesterday still stand: the prime time telecast will lose one of the few highlights of the show (the nomination videos), and it's unfair that the writers are delegated to the Schmemmys. As the Deadline Hollywood article notes, NBC probably isn't too thrilled about losing such a highlight in the telecast (then again, as I said yesterday, they'll just use that extra time to shameless promote their soon-to-be-canceled shows).
Also, I want to note, I don't mean to downplay winning a Schmemmy (to be honest, my ridiculous dream in life is to win ANY Emmy award, Schmemmy or not). It's just that this arrangement seems strange. How unfortunate would it be to be nominated for a writing Emmy in an even-numbered year, when you will only be featured on cable and in industry chatter, but to be shunned in an odd-numbered year, when those nominated people will be shown on prime time? It should be an all-or-nothing setup, not this peculiar arrangement.
It's a shame that Deon and Conan's fellow writers won't be able to be recognized for the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (since it's their only year for that show to be nominated) and that the other nominees won't be recognized on prime time. It's also sad that the audience will lose such a fun moment in the show. But the biggest shame of all is that it can't be blamed on NBC.
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