Every summer, the buzz around the Emmy Awards, and what will be nominated, kicks into full gear. What were the most talked about shows this past season? Who are the critics saying are favored to be nominated? Who was twitter talking about the most? Whose year is it? And while awards season is important for those in the industry, and can be fun for those of us who enjoy watching, it can also be frustrating.
Consider the Starz hit drama series “Outlander,” which just debuted its seventh and penultimate season. Outlander first hit our screens in 2014, and since then, it’s generated a loyal fanbase all over the world. One thing, however, that “Outlander” has never been able to generate is much success with the Emmy Awards.
Let’s start with acknowledging that “Outlander” is an Emmy-nominated show. It has to date received four Emmy nominations: for its music composition (season 1, 2015), production design and costumes (Season 2, 2016) and costumes again (season 3, 2018). The show has never been able to break into the big above the line categories (drama series, directing, writing or acting). And while this can feel frustrating and even puzzling to those who love the show, is it really that surprising? And honestly, does it even matter?
- ‘Outlander’ is a major genre show and those tend not to get nominated. For those who may not watch the show, it has been pigeonholed as a fantasy/romance genre show. And fair or not, the TV academy doesn’t have a strong track record of nominating so-called genre shows for it’s drama awards. There are, of course, always exceptions, such as “Stranger Things” (Netflix) or the Emmy juggernaut that was “Game of Thrones” (HBO). Both these shows felt like cultural events and like everyone was watching when they launched. So to expect “Outlander” to successfully do what Game of Thrones did in the awards space isn’t terribly realistic.
- There is FIERCE competition for top drama series, and the market is packed with c ontenders. In the age of streaming, it feels as if there have never been more shows on TV. There is certainly no dearth of content. In fact, it’s hard to keep up. This year, there were 163 shows submitted for drama series. It’s simply not possible to watch it all. The acting races are equally competitive. Lead drama actor and actress both had 109 names submitted this year (compared to 134 for lead actor and 114 for lead actress last year). That’s a lot of people jockeying for eight slots.
- When ‘Outlander’ premiered, Starz was a smaller studio. As previously mentioned, with so much competition, studios must market and campaign their shows and actors in order to get in front of voting members. This is similar to the Oscars each year, except the sheer volume of shows in consideration tends to be far larger than their film counterpart. It’s much easier to get a voting member to invest two hours of their time to watch a film. It can be much more difficult to get them to invest in spending the time to watch a new show. This whole process takes money.
- If it didn’t happen in the first few seasons, it’s unlikely to happen near the end. With so many new shows coming out each year, it’s highly unlikely that a long-running show that hasn’t managed to break though in the above the line categories within its first few seasons will do so in it’s final seasons. That ain’t the way it usually works. Again, there are always exceptions, such as “Schitt’s Creek” in the comedy category. But again, it’s hard to compare that to a run like “Outlander’s.” “Schitt’s Creek” was playing in Canada, winning awards there, and also starred two giants of comedy, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy. However, once it was picked up by Netflix and shown to a larger American audience…..blast off! But that’s highly unlikely to happen with a show that’s much further under the radar like “Outlander.”
- Awards are not the only marker of success. If only the shows that are nominated for and win Emmy awards are considered a success, there roughly 97% of television out there are unsuccessful. (That’s my math, not an exact statistic.) There are so many shows out there that have become beloved by the audience that have never had a bite from the Emmys. Take “Star Trek.” for example, an iconic series and franchise. The original series did receive 13 Emmy nominations, but never won one. The entire “Star Trek” franchise itself did not win a single Emmy until 1998, when “Star Trek: The Next Generation” took them home for sound editing, costumes and makeup. Another show that was very popular with audiences and critics alike was “The Wire, which over its five season run received only two nominations and no wins.
- The show launched successful careers for the lead cast despite no Emmy attention. Before “Outlander,” Sam Heughan was a jobbing actor struggling to land his big break. Caitríona Balfe, who had been working as a model for almost a decade, was trying to make it as an actress. They were both relatively unknown names. I think they both would admit that “Outlander” is what launched their careers.
- Its found an audience and garnered a dedicated fanbase all over the world. “Outlander” may not win many awards, but one thing it does have is a dedicated audience, all over the world. Its fans are passionate and enthusiastic about their love and support for the show, and the actors on it. This is especially evident on social media platforms like Twitter, where many entertainment journalists will see a huge increase in engagement when they discuss “Outlander.” There are also conventions held all over the world, with fans flocking to share their love and appreciation for the show and it’s cast.
