DaveyG said: "This is worse than the ridiculous"Outstanding Musical Performance in a Talk Show/Morning Program" that awarded Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and other Bway performers with Emmy Awards for promoting their shows on tv. That was ludicrous and it was finally acknowledged and the category was pulled.
This is worse because some truly wonderful actors over several categories who made actual television shows lost out to actors that already received Tony noms or winsfor the same performances on the same stage. It's pathetic."
It wasn’t shot like a movie. It’s a well done taping of a live performance. Maybe akin to Beyoncé’s “Homecoming.” But an actual movie or tv show it is not.
I just can't share the outrage or mockery about this. First, it's the Emmys. How many Emmys did The Wire win? (Hint: zero.)
Second, the Emmys are an award for television excellence. I watched the Hamilton movie on television, as did everyone else. Sure, I saw almost all of the same performers in a theater. But most people didn't.
Third and fourth, Daveed Diggs and Renee Elise Goldsberry are awesome in the TV movie/variety show/whatever. I happened to rewatch Hamilton over the weekend, and I was reminded again of just how good those two are.
Fifth, you're really going to be mad that a Broadway show is getting more acclaim? Coming out of a pandemic, we hope, with theater on the ropes?
Sixth, I understand there's no natural category for the Hamilton movie so it doesn't seem to fit anywhere. So what? All I know is that anything that encourages more filming of good Broadway shows is a good thing.
Um, what are you upset about? You do realize this is not the first time this is happening.. not even the second or third.
Just as one example, in 1985 the filmed stage performance of Sweeney Todd was nominated for 5 Emmy Awards, winning 3, one of them for George Hearn (Outstanding Individual Performance).
It was eligible, it got nominated. Not only are the Globes completely irrelevant to the Emmys but there are other nominees with similar origins.
AMERICAN UTOPIA is also a film of a play (by Spike Lee, even! But no more cinematic in style than HAMILTON). Then, streamed. Then, nominated.
"Oh, but the performances are old!" Film isn't live. Age of footage moot. As is being done with MERRILY, sometimes the footage is decades old. Irrelevant when it was filmed.
It's a weird year. Had it been released in theatres as was the pre-covid plan, then no, it wouldn't have been eligible for an Emmy. No, the Emmy doesn't distinguish a filmed performance from one made for TV, like say, the Oscars does. (See: UTOPIA.) That's on them, not HAMILTON.
Like all awards talk, once you pull at the thread, it all unravels. Awards are silly.
So ask yourself why you're attacking the artists who made HAMILTON. You may think they're overexposed or over-awarded. But that's on you, not them. And it has little to do with the Emmys, either.
Obviously HAMILTON is highlighting this in a big way, but this isn’t exactly a new thing. Emma Thompson was nominated just a few years ago for her performance in SWEENEY TODD.
I think the Emmy voters were lazy and just checked off the names they knew, but I also don’t fault the HAMILTON crew. The precedent was very much there and they submitted accordingly.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards