Why Absentia season 2 will not be eligible for 2019 Emmys
For the sake of this article, we’re putting the production rules aside — this is an issue worth looking into and discussing more down the road. The problem with season 2 and its eligibility for the 2019 Emmys is a little more fundamental, and it comes down to its premiere date here in the United States.
Earlier this week (head over here to get some more insight on this subject!), it was confirmed that Absentia season 2 will be premiering come June 14 on Amazon. Alas, the eligibility window for a given Primetime Emmys runs from June 1 of the prior year until May 31 of the current year — the Stana Katic series is effectively two weeks past that with its start date. This means that the earliest, in theory, it could be eligible is for the 2020 Emmys — and there’s still no guarantee that it’ll be eligible then due to the co-production rule. (Even though Amazon is involved now as a US distributor, the show still needs to be a viable US co-production in order to be considered. We’ll do more digging on that subject when we get closer to the next awards cycle.)
So why isn’t Absentia getting any credit from the Emmys for airing in other territories this spring? Unfortunately, premiere dates outside of the US don’t matter to the Television Academy, as they care mostly about when a show is airing stateside for the sake of continuity. Otherwise, things can get confusing and understandably so.
We know that there’s an enthusiastic crowd out there who would like to see either the show or Katic nominated for an Emmy, and trust us when we say that we’re right there with you! Ultimately, though, the most important aspect of all things Absentia is that viewers watch it. The larger the viewership, the higher the chances for more seasons — we’d take a season 3 over a nomination any day of the week! Fittingly, we do also think that with more viewers come more nominations and attention for a dark, super-intense show that deserves it. Even though we’ve been writing about it with regularity for close to a couple of years at this point, it does still feel like it’s bubbling underneath the surface for a lot of possible viewers who are out there.
Rest assured, we shall be doing everything that we can here in order to promote the show leading into season 2! If you missed our video discussing the renewal, for example, you can see that below — also, remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube for some more updates, and also take a look at our series playlist.
Are you feeling bummed-out about the current state of Emmy rules, and do you want to see Absentia or Stana Katic in consideration? Be sure to share right now in the comments. (Photo: Sony.)