What makes a TV series a comedy? What makes it a drama? These questions have become more complicated with the "blurring of lines in TV's categorical designations," media critic Brian Lowry writes at the New York Times. He offers up a bit of Emmys history while making the case that a Super Emmy, awarded during the 1974 ceremony and abandoned thereafter, should be resurrected. Looking to streamline the 1974 Emmys, the Television Academy chose to only televise the Super Emmys. These awards, honoring the best of the best, pitted the winners of acting, writing, and directing awards in the comedy and drama categories against each other, as Variety reported last month.
Best comedy actor Alan Alda beat out best drama actor Telly Savalas, while best comedy actress Mary Tyler Moore beat out best drama actress Michael Learned, to claim a Super Emmy that year. However, both Alda and Moore criticized the revamp on stage. Critics weren't impressed, either, and a Super Emmy was never awarded again. But a lot has changed in 50 years, writes Lowry. Today, FX's The Bear is favored to repeat as best comedy series, though it "doesn't serve up many laugh-out-loud moments," while HBO's Succession, a favorite in the drama series category, yields "plenty of laughs."
"Amid today's category confusion, perhaps a super solution is required," Lowry writes, noting competition between the winners would add excitement to the show. Crowning a top winner would also be in keeping with other award show formats. As Lowry notes, one best picture is crowned at the Oscars and a best album is named at the Grammys, regardless of genre. A Super Emmy isn't likely to be awarded again, however, according to former TV Academy awards chief John Leverence. "It is a basic principle of the Emmy structure that there is one Emmy given for one achievement," he told Variety. A Super Emmy "would diminish the significance of achievement." (Read more from Lowry's history lesson here.)
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