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    Blog Posts by Deadline Hollywood

    • Emmys: Evolving formats a tough reality

      By Deadline Hollywood | Yahoo! TV Emmys Blog – Thu, Jul 5, 2012 3:38 PM PDT

      The cast of Jersey ShoreThe Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has received a lot of criticism from the TV industry over the past decade for the way the Emmys have dealt with the explosion in reality and unscripted programming. Primary among the gripes are the fact there are too few categories, too many contenders, and too much of a one-size-fits-all framework.

      "Everything is simply too lumped together for Emmy consideration," charges one reality TV producer. "You're putting Jersey Shore in the same category as Storage Wars. It makes zero sense."

      In defense of the academy, it hasn't been easy keeping up with all of the sub-categories and sub-genres that have evolved since the unscripted boom began. And as primetime has changed, it's worked to keep up. It added the Outstanding Reality Program category in 2001, Reality-Competition Program in 2003 and Reality Host in 2008. That's in addition to categories honoring top Nonfiction Series and Nonfiction Special.

      And in May, the TV Academy's Board of Governors voted to approve the creation for the first time of a Reality Peer Group. The move "speaks volumes for the academy's sense of importance and critical mass that reality has achieved as an industry," believes John Leverence, the academy's longtime senior VP of awards.

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    • Emmys: Jessica Lange on ‘American Horror Story’

      By Deadline Hollywood | Yahoo! TV Emmys Blog – Mon, Jun 25, 2012 11:41 AM PDT

      Constance Langdon is not a neighbor you want to borrow a cup of sugar from, and you most definitely should beware when she comes bearing home-baked gifts (or, for that matter, "sweet breads"). And yet as portrayed by Jessica Lange, who came into American Horror Story with two Oscars and an Emmy on her mantel, the Harmon family's oft unwelcome visitor did not repel, she but regaled us. Thus far, Lange has netted a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe for her first venture into series television — might another Emmy make her housewarming complete?

      AWARDSLINE: When you first started seeing the American Horror Story scripts, did you suspect the role of Constance could be Emmy-worthy?

      LANGE: I didn't really know what to think. We were shooting really fast, so I don't think anybody was thinking about the outcome as much as the process of getting through it. This was the first time I'd ever done this kind of television — a miniseries — and not being all that familiar with the world of TV, I didn't have any frame of reference. So when the performances started getting recognition, yes, it did kind of surprise me. I mean, I knew how good the writing was, and I knew there was a great deal that I could do with it — it's a big character with a huge range of emotions.

      AWARDSLINE: Given how dicey the subject matter could get, how did you find the humanity amidst of all this surreality?

      LANGE: I just paid attention to creating this character and playing her as absolutely real as I could, in the context of all this other stuff. I really didn't think in terms of the overall sweep of the piece, or the tone of it.

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    • Emmys: ‘The Good Wife’ creators aim to remain true to their characters

      By Deadline Hollywood | Yahoo! TV Emmys Blog – Sat, Jun 2, 2012 2:13 PM PDT

      Michelle King, Julianna Margulies, Robert KingRobert King, co-creator of CBS' The Good Wife with wife Michelle King, called star Julianna Margulies' 2011 Emmy win for best actress in a drama series the highlight of their year. When you lose the Emmy competition, Robert jokes, "you dismiss the awards and say those don't matter anyway. And then when you win, it's 'damn right — everything's right with the universe.' Everybody understands art."

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    • Emmys: Producers view ‘Downton Abbey’ in ‘quite a contemporary way’

      By Deadline Hollywood | Yahoo! TV Emmys Blog – Fri, Jun 1, 2012 11:40 PM PDT

      Downton AbbeyIt's been 100 years since the Titanic sank but less than a year since a TV event that kicked off with that very disaster, Downton Abbey, took the Emmy Awards by storm last September. Relatively unheralded and on unsexy PBS, Downton Abbey managed to launch its own British invasion in claiming six trophies (including top movie/miniseries as well as the supporting work of Dame Maggie Smith.) The show about the lives of English aristocrats and servants in the early part of the 20th century seemingly became a pop culture phenomenon the instant it arrived on our shores, demonstrating again that the Brits do period drama better than anyone else.

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