We’re in the final days of Emmy voting (it wraps up on Monday), and nominations will be announced July 12. But what happens after that is very much up in the air.
I’m Rebecca Ford, and this week, we’re all wondering if the show must go on for the Emmy Awards or if the writers strike and potential SAG-AFTRA strike could derail those plans. As of now, the Primetime Emmy Awards are still slated for September 18, but the TV Academy and its broadcast partner, Fox, are reportedly considering contingency plans in case the strike carries on for several more months, as many expect it to.
The fact is, the Emmy Awards can’t take place without writers. Though the Tony Awards found a way to go on without a script, the Emmys rely more heavily on a scripted show, and give out multiple awards for writing. Considering how long it takes to prepare the show, the TV Academy and Fox would likely have to decide much earlier than September if they want to move the date to later into the fall, or even into 2024. (The TV Academy had no comment when reached by Vanity Fair.)
What could a delayed ceremony mean for the rest of awards season? The awards insiders Vanity Fair spoke to aren’t sure. None of them have heard directly from the TV Academy about what could happen, but they have plenty of questions. The biggest issue would be if a later date would result in an extended campaign period, which could potentially cost networks and studios more in ad buys and also lead to a lot of fatigue. Some publicists hope that the eligibility period and voting would remain on the same timeline, and just the results would be delayed. Still, one rep points out that campaigning for the next round of guild awards begins in the fall, so for many of these shows, they would already be in the promotion machine anyway.
The bigger question is if the Screen Actors Guild strikes, which, as one publicist puts it, would have “pretty enormous” effects on the rest of Emmy season. Not only would the actual Emmys broadcast be impossible to do without actors, but the campaigns for shows could also come to a halt if actors chose not to do interviews or other promotional events while on strike. As we’ve seen, Writers Guild of America members are not participating in any public-facing panels, and many have passed on press opportunities tied to the writing on their Emmy contenders.
A delayed Emmys would create even more of a mess in the fall as Oscar season really kicks into gear. Already, the fall festivals run into the last bit of Emmy season (last year, the Emmys happened during the Toronto International Film Festival), but if the Emmys push to November, they are clearly going to affect the Oscar landscape. “Everything is just colliding at this point,” says one publicist. (And speaking of the Oscars, that Academy also announced a major change this week.)
While we wait on the Emmys, we’ve got a flurry of stories about some of the season’s hottest shows. I love all the women we featured this week over at Awards Insider, from my chat with Helen Mirren about 1923 to David Canfield’s talk with Devery Jacobs about Reservation Dogs. Plus, Padma Lakshmi spoke about her shocking decision to leave Top Chefto focus her attention on her passion project, Taste the Nation.Lakshmi told my colleague Natalie Jarvey that she had run herself ragged trying to juggle both shows for such a long time. “We’re all burnt out. I know I am,” she said. I can’t help but think that that expression may soon be very fitting for what could be an extra long Emmys season.
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