She got pretty far however – nominated twice (one for best series and one for best actress). But that wasn’t surprising. She’s an established TV writer with lots of friends and contacts in the Academy so I’m sure they all voted for her initially. That’s fine.
Except.
How many web series that were better and done by people who poured their hearts and souls into them were shut out as a result of not “knowing people?” Ha ha, the “stunt” series got in. But at the expense of more deserving series by people whose lives could really change with the recognition of an Emmy nomination (not to mention a win). Suddenly the gag is less amusing.
When it came time for the final voting I think voters felt the stunt ran its course.
Emmys are supposed to celebrate excellence in television. They’re supposed to be HARD to win. You win one by contributing something truly of value and high quality, not by “beating the system.”
For these awards to mean anything their integrity must be protected. Otherwise, they’re a joke. I don’t even list in my bio that I won a People’s Choice Award. Who gives a shit? They’re nothing more than a fabricated TV event. But the TV and Motion Picture Academy are getting dangerously close to losing their stature. Thankfully, the Motion Picture Academy came to their senses (following the huge backlash) and dropped their stupid Best Popular Movie category.
All that said, I hope Megan Amram does win an Emmy someday – for work she deserves. Believe me, it will mean so much more.
Ken, have you seen this Hollywood Reporter feature on the 40th anniversary of Taxi?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/taxi-turns-40-a-wild-ride-down-memory-lane-cast-creators-1139168
Glad to see this one get put to bed the way it did. Maybe she will someday win an Emmy for actually deserving work.
ReplyDeleteBut speaking of bios, I'm fairly certain her's will now include a sentence that reads "Emmy nominated..."
I run into many people who have absolute contempt for the business. It's all phony, nobody actually does any work, they only succeed by blind luck, players only get ahead by knowing someone who indulges them, anyone off the street could do as good a job as someone who spent years working their way through the system.
ReplyDeleteWhile these cynics always position themselves on a higher moral plane, they're also the first ones to go, "Yay Megan! Show us how meaningless a Hollywood career really is! Prove to us an award is just a cheap gimmick signifying nothing!" You'd think a stunt like hers would outrage them more than most people because it exemplifies the very things they like to complain about. It's almost as though they WANT the industry to be a cesspool so that they can feel superior to the people who have to take it seriously.
Still, I can't wait for next year's effort "Revenge for Megan."
ReplyDeleteHow many times a year do we have to have Emmys? I feel like this is the third or fourth time we've had Emmys just in 2018 alone.
ReplyDeleteKen: I'm not sure where to put this, so I'll try here. Hoping you have an answer. I know you're a big Neil Simon fan, as am I, and I noticed that during the ovation for the special Oscar given to film editor Margaret Booth at the 1977 Academy Awards, while other people stand, Simon gets out of his seat and seems to purposely sit on the floor. She had recently cut "The Sunshine Boys" and I'm wondering was there some sort of animosity? Am I not seeing the moment correctly? It's all very odd. Any thoughts? Oh, and as an Emmy voter, bravo for your take on Megan. If she earns one, hurray for her, but not like this.
ReplyDeleteChris, that's an interesting observation. I went to IMDB to see if I could find any clues and was surprised to see that, in fact, she served as associate producer on three Neil Simon films in the next few years. So whatever was going on, it wasn't any deep animosity.
ReplyDeleteI know that tomorrow you'll be posting the tribute to David Angell and his wife that you always post on the anniversary of 9/11, which I always find very moving no matter how many times I've read it.
ReplyDeleteA pity that there won't be a decent, honourable commander in chief at the memorial events. I bet he won't even be able to perform that duty with any dignity.
Did Megan deserve all those votes? Not particularly. Do quality shows/movies win awards? More often than not, sure!
ReplyDeleteBut let's not pretend for one nanosecond that quality alone is the motivating, let alone predominant factor in deciding nominations/awards. For a long time now awards season has become a political campaign, with studios turning into campaign machines championing there little darlings with the best shots of winning. Including throwing there stars on the press circuit, sending out screeners, posting billboards, and kissing the ass of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association so hard it would make Harvey Weinstein blush.
You can go all out on quality and still be left because you're not a bankable sell. Case in point, the best drama on television the last few years has been the Leftovers. Carrie Coon has been a revelation. The show had a brilliant close out season. And yet NOT A SINGLE NOMINATION for a show that outright deserves to win. Because of course, the show hits the trifecta of being slow, depressing, and genre. It's fate was sealed long before its quality could be merited.
I could go on for shows like Search Party, Twin Peaks, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, et al. Quality shows out of the running for reasons that seem to have more to do with elect-ability than merit.
So if Megan wants to pan to the voters for an Emmy, I say go for it. Hollywood itself has already blown that door wide open.
Thought this was semi on-topic for a couple of things involving Ken's past work -- Frasier Crane starts his own brewery in Upstate New York (and that's 'Margaretvilla', not 'Margaritaville"): https://www.syracuse.com/drinks/index.ssf/2018/09/update_actor_kelsey_grammers_upstate_ny_beer_business_has_a_license.html
ReplyDeletethe emmys started going downhill for me with the creation of the reality host category at the expense of the individual variety performance award -- which should have instead been split between series and specials.
ReplyDeletePeter,
ReplyDeleteThere's no way the current resident of the White House will be able to do the day justice.
If we're to apply his McCain view to 9/11, he likes buildings that don't collapse.
As usual, he'll find a way to make whatever speech he gives about him. Sad...
While the Emmy's are supposed to award excellence often times people get unduly nominated because they have friends,are respected vets or any number of other reasons not having to do with the quality of work. Megan's nom this year still doesn't top the absurdity in Ellen Burstyn getting an acting nomination for a 15 second cameo(probably because voter's didn't watch whatever Miniseries she was in)or the talented Margo Martindale winning a guest actress Emmy for 1 minute of screen time on The Americans during the eligable season which airred. And all awards shows in general have a "payback award" aka we didn't give you anything for this work so let's just give you a makeup Oscar/Emmy/Grammy/ etc for this instead.
ReplyDeleteChris -- Re: Margaret Booth... You're not seeing the moment correctly. Simon was standing, and when the camera cut to him he was starting to sit back down in his seat. The angle, I suppose, could make it look like he was heading for the floor, but it seems pretty obvious to me to not be the case. He's in the row ahead of the little girl, not in the same row... And, in fact, a few seconds later, when they cut to John Travolta standing, Simon is behind him, again on his feet, smiling.
ReplyDelete