Outlander: New Emmy rule may help show, Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe
Today, the Television Academy confirmed that there will, starting with this year’s ceremony, be eight nominees in both the Comedy and Drama Series category. That means that every show will now have an added opportunity to get a nomination. Outlander, by our own estimation, is considered an underdog contender and with that, this decision could help up serving as a nice way to get it more consideration.
Meanwhile, the Academy has also announced that other categories could also have as many as eight nominations, depending on if there are 240 or more submissions for that category. This, potentially, could help performers like Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, and Richard Rankin depending on the year. It may not be useful for every category this year (the total amount of submissions per category is not available at press time), but even if the acting fields could be consistently expanded outward to seven nominations per year, it could give more people a chance. Last year, the Drama Actor field contained only six nominees, whereas the Drama Actress field had seven.
We’ll see what happens with Outlander and its cast when nominations are announced next month, but the potential for more nominations per category helps every performer that is out there.
In a statement, here is what Television Academy chairman / CEO Frank Scherma had to say about the move:
“The increase in submissions is a reflection of the number of new voices, new television platforms and a tremendous growth in content from existing platforms across our industry … Despite production suspension resulting from [the current health crisis], there is a wealth of excellent work submitted for this year’s competition.”
Do you think that this Emmy change could help Outlander, Sam Heughan, or Caitriona Balfe?
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Photo: Starz