comScore
  1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough
  8. The Braiser

Insidery

Animators Angered Over Community Emmy Nominations

by Kellie Foxx-Gonzalez | 2:44 pm, June 19th, 2012


Family Guy’s Seth McFarlane and The Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening are all riled up over Community. And no, it isn’t because Dan Harmon is gone.

A group of creators, producers, and other staff involved in animating wildly popular shows such as American Dad and Futurama, recently released a letter condemning the inclusion of Community in the Emmy category for animated programs, in addition to being eligible for awards in the comedy series and writing categories.

Writes Al Jean, producer for The Simpsons:

We have been told that animated program writers could not also submit their work for writing Emmys, for reasons we never understood, but supposedly pertaining to the purity of the branches…This letter is in no way intended to be a slight on the terrific show “Community” but a request from us to enjoy the very same rights they now do.  Clearly the Academy’s ban on submitting in multiple categories is being enforced in an arbitrary and unfair manner.  We therefore request that we also be able to submit our programs for both animation and comedy series as well as in the writing category.

Animated shows are not allowed consideration in non-animated writing categories, yet the reverse seems to be fine by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the ultimate arbiter in the matter of which shows are up for which awards.

The Academy released a response statement, citing that while it is a “general rule of the Emmy competition that producers, writers and directors enter separately in their own program or individual achievement categories,” the animated program category is an exception because there is no separate award for animation writing and directing. Community, which for the last two years has included a special animated episode in each season, entered the comedy category vying for individual awards, such as Best Writing for a Comedy Series, in addition to entering their standalone episode in the animated series category as an entire production team. According to the Academy, this can be done if the episode involves a “significant and substantive format change throughout e.g. from whole-episode live action to whole-episode animation.”

In other words, Community is being considered as a series crafted by individual producers and writers in the comedy category, and as a standalone animated episode in the animation category, whereas animated series can only be considered as a whole animated program, as there are no awards for individual animation writers and producers. Thus, the award “injustice” faced by animated television shows would be remedied either by animated series opting to enter the comedy category instead of animated series comedy, or by the inclusion of individual accolades for animation writing and producing on the part of the TV Academy.

What do you think? Is it fair that Community is being considered for both comedy and animated series awards? Should animated series just opt into the comedy category, or should the Television Academy recognize individual animation writers and producers?

(via Deadline.)

Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

TAGS: | | |


  • http://profiles.google.com/d20plusmodifier Kyle Ferrin

    I think that fact that the category is called “Animated SERIES” should disqualify Community, considering that it is not an Animated Series. It has Animated Episodes, but if I was searching for an Animated Series and Community came up in the results I would be confused. 

    Having said that, I love Community and hope it wins everything that it is correctly participating in. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1208921 Nikki Lincoln

    I think the Simpsons and Family Guy should do a live action episode next season and then enter that episode. 

  • http://twitter.com/vcstr Melissa Blewitt

    I agree. Community is a fantastic show, and the animated episodes are wonderful but it does seem like a slight to animated series for them to be eligible for that award. I don’t think it should qualify in that category.

  • http://twitter.com/cosmo111687 Andres

    Ridiculous. Animated shows should be accepted in every category. They don’t write themselves.

  • Jen Roberts

    It sounds like the animated series’ creators were all “We don’t get to enter our writing teams for Emmys and that’s wrong” and the Emmys’ response was “Well, yeah, there’re no animation writing awards. DUH.” How does that justify anything? How about we start giving Emmys to the writing teams for animated series?

  • http://www.facebook.com/maxwell.lachance Maxwell LaChance

    Yes it is fair.  Please show me the last time Family Guy, Simpsons, or American Dad did an a live action episode.  (I think Simpsons did one that went into the real world way back in the early 90′s, and FamilyGuy did that Dallas twist ending reshoot that one time).  

  • http://zadl.org/ Captain ZADL

    Agreed. The distinction is pointless.

  • Laura Crook

    But what about the people who write those episodes? They deserve the chance to be recognized for their writing the same way live action writers do.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kristin-Frederickson/852880113 Kristin Frederickson

    The Academy’s always been something of a joke.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Travis.K.Fischer Travis Kyle Fischer

    Aren’t we WAY past time to still care about Emmys?

  • Anonymous

    The emmy’s are such a ***ing joke anyway. All this contextualization is pointless.

  • http://twitter.com/marthagail Martha Gail

    But on both of those it was just for a short period. Homer was in the “real world” for maybe 30 seconds and the Family Guy bit was maybe a minute long. At least Community did full length animated episodes.

    That being said, I still don’t think the two single episodes should qualify it for an animated series Emmy.

X