Will academy voters play the same old Emmy game?

USA TODAY - September 8, 2000

By Robert Bianco
USA TODAY

The most exciting Emmy battle Sunday may be the fight to save the awards from themselves.

Long derided for bizarre choices and institutional intractability, the Emmy Awards went so far askew last year that the hidebound Academy of Television Arts and Sciences finally was forced to take action to bring the awards -- which will be presented at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC -- back from the laughingstock abyss. So it revised the way Emmys are chosen, modifying the odd split-voting system that seemed purposely designed to produce even odder results.

For years, the academy let members vote on the nominations but only let them vote on the final awards if they took part in select, sequestered screening panels -- a call to TV civic duty most members, and almost all working members, rejected. The result was a long list of quirky decisions, and a longer list of shows, from Moonlighting and Lonesome Dove, to ER and The X-Files, that went into the Emmys leading the nominations, and came out largely empty-handed. So this year, in an experiment, the academy has expanded the system, allowing members to watch the nominated tapes at home.

The goal is to get more members -- particularly younger active members -- involved in the selection process and to bring the awards more in line with the clear wishes of the majority expressed in the nominations. The hope is that it will prevent award anomalies such as last year's, when the heavily favored The Sopranos was bypassed by the panelists, who picked The Practice instead. (The panels always have had an almost unnatural affection for David E. Kelley, who also took home the sitcom Emmy for Ally McBeal.)

Will the new plan work? That depends on whether the academy members actually bother to watch the tapes, a doubtful proposition. Then again, even if they don't, and they transform the Emmys into a mere popularity contest, they can't do much worse than the panels have done lately. So why not give them a chance to do better?

To be fair, this year they have some awfully tough choices to make. In drama, the race seems to be between NBC's The West Wing and HBO's The Sopranos, a battle that should play out in almost all the dramatic categories, from writing to acting. In the preliminary creative arts awards already presented, The West Wing won four Emmys and The Sopranos was shut out, which could be a sign that the mob drama is an offer the academy is ready to refuse.

The comedy field is more wide open, with any one of the nominated shows capable of taking home the Emmy. As for movies and miniseries, look for HBO to continue its dominance, though the networks have their best shot in years with Arabian Nights and Annie.

We'll find out who wins -- and get our first glance at how well that system works -- Sunday. All we know for sure is the new system makes predicting the Emmy results even harder than usual, which gives predictors a built-in excuse for getting them wrong.

Let's hope this year, for the first time in memory, the academy isn't left searching for excuses as well.


Full list of awards to be presented Sunday

* Supporting actress, comedy series

Jennifer Aniston, Friends, NBC

Kim Cattrall, Sex and the City, HBO

Lisa Kudrow, Friends, NBC

Megan Mullally, Will & Grace, NBC

Doris Roberts, Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

* Directing, comedy series

Ally McBeal, Fox

Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

Friends, NBC

Malcolm in the Middle, Fox

Sports Night, ABC

Will & Grace, NBC

* Supporting actor, comedy series

Peter Boyle, Everybody Loves Raymond CBS

Brad Garrett, Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

Sean Hayes, Will & Grace, NBC

Peter MacNicol, Ally McBeal, Fox

David Hyde Pierce, Frasier, NBC

* Writing, comedy series

Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

Frasier, NBC

Freaks and Geeks, NBC

Malcolm in the Middle, Fox

Sex and the City, "Evolution," HBO

Sex and the City, "Ex and the City," HBO

* Writing, variety, music or comedy program

Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker, HBO

The Chris Rock Show, HBO

Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill, HBO

Late Night With Conan O'Brien, NBC

Late Show With David Letterman, CBS

* Directing, variety or music program

72nd annual Academy Awards, ABC,

Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker, HBO,

Great Performances: Crazy for You, PBS

Late Show With David Letterman, CBS

Saturday Night Live: The 25th Anniversary Special, NBC

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, NBC

* Individual performance, variety or music program

Billy Crystal, 72nd annual Academy Awards, ABC

Cher, Cher: Live in Concert -- From the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, HBO

Eddie Izzard, Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill, HBO

Chris Rock, Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker, HBO

Molly Shannon, Saturday Night Live, NBC

* Supporting actress, drama series

Stockard Channing, The West Wing, NBC

Tyne Daly, Judging Amy, CBS

Allison Janney, The West Wing, NBC

Nancy Marchand, The Sopranos, HBO

Holland Taylor, The Practice, ABC

* Supporting actor, drama series

Michael Badalucco, The Practice, ABC

Dominic Chianese, The Sopranos, HBO

Steve Harris, The Practice, ABC

Richard Schiff, The West Wing, NBC

John Spencer, The West Wing, NBC

* Writing, drama series

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, WB

The Sopranos, "Funhouse," HBO

The Sopranos, "The Knight in White Satin Armor," HBO

The West Wing, "In Excelsis Deo," NBC

The West Wing, pilot, NBC

* Directing, drama series

ER, "All in the Family," NBC

ER, "Such Sweet Sorrow," NBC

The Sopranos, "Funhouse," HBO

The Sopranos, "The Knight in White Satin Armor," HBO

The West Wing, NBC

* Supporting actress, miniseries or movie

Kathy Bates, Annie, ABC

Elizabeth Franz, Death of a Salesman, Showtime

Melanie Griffith, RKO 281, HBO

Vanessa Redgrave, If These Walls Could Talk 2, HBO

Maggie Smith, David Copperfield (Masterpiece Theatre), PBS

* Writing, miniseries or movie

Cheaters, HBO

The Corner, HBO

Homicide: The Movie, NBC

If These Walls Could Talk 2, HBO

RKO 281, HBO

* Supporting actor, miniseries or movie

Hank Azaria, Tuesdays With Morrie, ABC

Klaus Maria Brandauer, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, HBO

James Cromwell, RKO 281, HBO

Danny Glover, Freedom Song, TNT

John Malkovich, RKO 281, HBO

* Variety, music or comedy special

72nd annual Academy Awards, ABC

Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker, HBO

Cirque du Soleil -- Quidam, BRV

Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill, HBO

Saturday Night Live: The 25th Anniversary Special, NBC

* Variety, music or comedy series

The Chris Rock Show, HBO

Dennis Miller Live, HBO

Late Show With David Letterman, CBS

Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher, ABC

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, NBC

* Lead actress, miniseries or movie

Halle Berry, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, HBO

Judy Davis, A Cooler Climate, SHO

Sally Field, A Cooler Climate, SHO

Holly Hunter, Harlan County War, SHO

Gena Rowlands, The Color Of Love: Jacey's Story, CBS

* Directing, miniseries, movie or special

Annie, ABC

The Corner, HBO

Fail-Safe, CBS

Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, HBO

RKO 281, HBO

* Miniseries

Arabian Nights, ABC

The Beach Boys: An American Family, ABC

The Corner, HBO

Jesus, CBS

P.T. Barnum, A&E

* Lead actor, miniseries or movie

Beau Bridges, P.T. Barnum, A&E

Brian Dennehy, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Showtime

Jack Lemmon, Tuesdays With Morrie, ABC

William H. Macy, A Slight Case of Murder, TNT

Liev Schreiber, RKO 281, HBO

* Made-for-television movie

Annie, ABC

If These Walls Could Talk 2, HBO

Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, HBO

Tuesdays With Morrie, ABC

RKO 281, HBO

* Lead actress, comedy series

Jenna Elfman, Dharma & Greg, ABC

Patricia Heaton, Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm in the Middle, Fox

Debra Messing, Will & Grace, NBC

Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City, HBO

* Lead actor, comedy series

Michael J. Fox, Spin City, ABC

Kelsey Grammer, Frasier, NBC

John Lithgow, 3rd Rock From the Sun, NBC

Eric McCormack, Will & Grace, NBC

Ray Romano, Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

* Lead actress, drama series

Lorraine Bracco, The Sopranos, HBO

Amy Brenneman, Judging Amy, CBS

Edie Falco, The Sopranos, HBO

Julianna Margulies, ER, NBC

Sela Ward, Once and Again, ABC

* Lead actor, drama series

Dennis Franz, NYPD Blue, ABC

James Gandolfini, The Sopranos, HBO

Jerry Orbach, Law & Order, NBC

Martin Sheen, The West Wing, NBC

Sam Waterston, Law & Order, NBC

* Comedy series

Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS

Frasier, NBC

Friends, NBC

Sex and the City, HBO

Will & Grace, NBC

* Drama series

ER, NBC

Law & Order, NBC

The Practice, ABC

The Sopranos, HBO

The West Wing, NBC


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