Ben LawsonThis year's Emmy nominations are out and as per usual not everyone is happy. Sorry, "Orphan Black." But what isn't making headlines is the Emmy's bizarre distinction between categories. (Via BBC / "Orphan Black")
Take, for instance, the best miniseries category. "American Horror Story: Coven." is being considered a miniseries even though the same characters return every season. (Via FX Networks / "American Horror Story")
Whereas "Fargo," which will have a different story and set of characters every season, is in the same category. (Via FX Networks / "Fargo")
Then there is HBO's "True Detective," with almost an identical formula to "Fargo," getting its nod in the drama series category. (Via HBO / "True Detective")
All these muddled categories make it seem as if television companies could be milking the system to increase their odds of bringing home a few more trophies.
Entertainment Weekly reports "American Horror Story" likely chose the miniseries route when it went up for its first Emmy race two years ago to avoid competing with shows like "Mad Men" and "Homeland" in the always competitive drama series category.
"True Detective" could have made the same move this year and avoided stiff competition from HBO's own "Game of Thrones" and the final season of "Breaking Bad." But Vulture points out the choice to stay shows that HBO is betting it will best the competition.
According to Chicago Sun-Times, a category switch worked for "Shameless." The show had previously booked itself as a drama, but switching to the comedy category netted an "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" nod for William H. Macy this year. (Via Showtime / "Shameless")
Another oddity is Joan Cusack being nominated as a guest star in "Shameless" despite appearing in 41 of the series 49 episodes. And the really hilarious part is Cusack has been nominated for the guest star category four times for the same roll. (Via IMDB)
Then there are the three "Orange Is The New Black" stars also nominated in the guest star category despite appearing in most of the series's episodes. (Via Netflix / "Orange Is The New Black")
These are actors with crucial roles in their series facing off against people like Melissa McCarthy who earned a nod for a one-time gig as a host on Saturday Night Live.
As far as the Emmy's are concerned its a contract issue that determines whether an actor is a guest star or series regular, which as Time points out is invisible and irrelevant to viewers.
Seth Meyers will host the Emmy's August 25 on NBC.
