Emmys 2023: What if TV Movies had their own awards? (Key Stats + Personal Ballot)

by Juan Carlos Ojano

TV movies (now that mostly means streaming titles) have returned to favor amongst Emmy voters after a nadir of interest last season. All of the nominees for Outstanding Television Movie have received nominations outside that category - a stark difference from last season. This year, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (8 noms) and Prey (6) lead the pack, with Hocus Pocus 2 (3) and Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas and Fire Island (2 each) trailing behind. Even Boston Strangler got a single nom despite being absent in the Television Movie category. Frankly, this should have been the case for the past few years - especially beginning with the pandemic year/s - since this category has registered a steady uptick of eligible films.

Stats, graphs, and a personal ballot after the jump... 

The first graph shows the steady rise in eligible productions for Outstanding Television Movie, from 2018-19’s 21 titles to this year’s 61. This was a result of a steady climb in eligible titles, mostly because streamers started submitting more films in this category. This coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that found streamers to be the key players in film production and distribution.

However, the second graph shows that this growth in numbers did not change the number of TV movies that were actually getting nominated. For the past four years, the only TV movies that were getting Emmy nominations were the ones nominated for their own category. In fact, 12 out of the past 20 nominees in this category have been lone nominees.

The third graph shows that instead of having more nominations that corresponded with the increase of eligible productions, the presence of TV movies in Emmy nominations actually shrunk. There's a steady decline in nomination count until now. From 2018-19’s 13 to 2021-22’s measly six noms (eight out of the 13 noms in 2018-19 were specifically for Deadwood: The Movie).

The fourth graph shows how TV movies decreased in the number of categories they competed in. With lesser presence in other categories - from 2018-19’s nine to 2021-22’s two - and moving the presentation of the Television Movie category from the main show to the Creative Emmys, television movies appeared to be on their way out of the Emmy spotlight.

But lo and behold, this year saw an explosion in numbers. From last year’s total of six nominations from two categories, TV movies turned in a whopping total of 22 NOMINATIONS ACROSS 13 CATEGORIES. This begs an interesting hypothetical question: what if TV Movies had their own awards?

Also, since the Emmys have been postponed until January, this personal ballot serves as our little awards project for the time being. For this ballot:

• I have watched 38 of the 61 films eligible (62%) for Outstanding Television Movie.

• There are 24 categories available for this personal ballot, both Emmy-correlative and otherwise.

• 30 of the 38 films watched earned nominations in this personal ballot.

Without further ado, here are my picks for the best in TV movies this past Emmy cycle:

MAIN TITLE DESIGN
Disenchanted (Disney+)
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix) [WINNER]
Prey (Hulu)
Rosaline (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Hellraiser (Hulu)
Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+) [WINNER]
Pinocchio (Disney+)
The Portable Door (MGM+)
Prey (Hulu)

MAKEUP
Hellraiser (Hulu) [WINNER]
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix)
The Portable Door (MGM+)
Prey (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)

HAIRSTYLING
Hocus Pocus 2 (Disney+)
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix)
My Best Friend’s Exorcism (Prime Video)
Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock) [WINNER]

ORIGINAL MUSIC AND LYRICS
“Badder” - Disenchanted (Disney+)
“Glorious” - Honor Society (Paramount+)
“I Will Always Dance” - Pinocchio (Disney+)
“Now You Know” - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
“Open Up” - Rye Lane (Hulu) [WINNER]

MUSIC SUPERVISION
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe (Paramount+)
Father of the Bride (HBO Max)
Fire Island (Hulu)
Rosaline (Hulu) [WINNER]
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)

MUSIC COMPOSITION (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE)
Boston Strangler - Paul Leonard-Morgan (Hulu)
Hellraiser - Ben Lovett (Hulu)
Peter Pan & Wendy - Daniel Hart (Disney+)
The Portable Door - Benjamin Speed (MGM+) [WINNER]
Prey - Sarah Schachner (Hulu)

SOUND EDITING
Hellraiser (Hulu)
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix)
Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+)
Prey (Hulu) [WINNER]
Sick (Peacock)

SOUND MIXING
Boston Strangler (Hulu)
Clock (Hulu)
Prey (Hulu)
Reality (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)

COSTUME DESIGN
Anything’s Possible - Analucia McGorty (Prime Video)
Do Revenge - Alana Morshead (Netflix) [WINNER]
Rosaline - Mitchell Travers (Hulu)
Rye Lane - Cynthia Lawrence-John (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Wendy Benbrook (Peacock)

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Boston Strangler (Hulu)
Clock (Hulu) [WINNER]
Goodnight Mommy (Prime Video)
Hellraiser (Hulu)
Rye Lane (Hulu)

FILM EDITING
Meet Cute - Christopher Donlon (Peacock)
Prey - Angela M. Catanzaro and Claudia Castello (Hulu)
Reality - Jennifer Vecchiarello and Ron Dulin (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Rye Lane - Victoria Boydell (Hulu)
Run Sweetheart Run - Dominic LaPerriere (Prime Video)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Boston Strangler - Ben Kutchins (Hulu)
Fire Island - Felipe Vara de Rey (Hulu)
Prey - Jeff Cutter (Hulu)
Rye Lane - Olan Collardy (Hulu)
Run Sweetheart Run - Bartosz Nalazek (Prime Video) [WINNER]

STUNT COORDINATION
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix)
Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+)
Prey (Hulu)
The Princess (Hulu) [WINNER]
Sick (Peacock)

CASTING
Boston Strangler - Avy Kaufman (Hulu)
Fire Island - Jessica Munks (Hulu) [WINNER]
Prey - Rene Haynes (Hulu)
Rye Lane - Kharmel Cochrane (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Wendy O'Brien (Peacock)

WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe - Mike Judge, Lew Morton, Guy Maxtone-Graham, and Ian Maxtone-Graham (Paramount+)
The People We Hate at the Wedding - Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin and Wendy Molyneux (Prime Video)
Prey - Patrick Aison and Dan Trachtenberg (Hulu)
Reality - Tina Satter and James Paul Dallas (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Rosaline - Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (Hulu)

WRITING - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Do Revenge - Celeste Ballard and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Netflix)
Fire Island - Joel Kim Booster (Hulu) [WINNER]
Not Okay - Quinn Shephard (Hulu)
Rye Lane - Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Al Yankovic and Eric Appel (Peacock)

ACTING ENSEMBLE
Fire Island (Hulu) [WINNER]
Honor Society (Paramount+)
The People We Hate at the Wedding (Prime Video)
Rosaline (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Hamilton - Reality (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Toby Huss - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
Dylan O’Brien - Not Okay (Hulu)
Conrad Ricamora - Fire Island (Hulu)
Morgan Spector - Boston Strangler (Hulu)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jane Adams - Sick (Peacock)
Carrie Coon - Boston Strangler (Hulu) [WINNER]
Renée Elise Goldsberry - Anything's Possible (Prime Video)
Melora Hardin - Clock (Hulu)
Evan Rachel Wood - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)

LEAD ACTOR
Jon Cho - Don’t Make Me Go (Prime Video)
David Jonsson - Rye Lane (Hulu)
Jake Lacy - Significant Other (Paramount+)
Daniel Radcliffe - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock) [WINNER]
Bowen Yang - Fire Island (Hulu)

LEAD ACTRESS
Kaley Cuoco - Meet Cute (Peacock)
Zoey Deutch - Not Okay (Hulu)
Kaitlyn Dever - Rosaline (Hulu)
Vivian Oparah - Rye Lane (Hulu)
Sydney Sweeney - Reality (HBO Max) [WINNER]

DIRECTING
Andrew Ahn - Fire Island (Hulu)
Dan Trachtenberg - Prey (Hulu)
Tina Satter - Reality (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Raine Allen-Miller - Rye Lane (Hulu)
John Hyams - Sick (Peacock)

OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE

Fire Island (Hulu)
John Hodges. Brooke Posch, and Tony Hernandez, producers

Reality (HBO Max)
Noah Stahl, Brad Becker-Parton, Riva Marker, and Greg Nobile, producers

Rosaline (Hulu)
Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine, producers

Rye Lane (Hulu) [WINNER]
Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo and Damian Jones, producers

Sick (Peacock)
Kevin Williamson, Bill Block, and Ben Fast, producers

*****

NOMINATION TALLY (PER FILM) IN THIS HYPOTHETICAL/PERSONAL BALLOT
13 - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
12 - Prey
11 - Rye Lane
9 - Fire Island
7 - Boston Strangler, Reality, Rosaline
5 - Hellraiser, The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, Peter Pan & Wendy, Sick
3 - Clock, Not Okay, The Portable Door
2 - Anything’s Possible, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, Disenchanted, Do Revenge, Honor Society, Meet Cute, The People We Hate at the Wedding, Pinocchio, Run Sweetheart Run
1 - Don’t Make Me Go, Father of the Bride, Goodnight Mommy, Hocus Pocus 2, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, The Princess, Significant Other

NOMINATION TALLY (PER STUDIO)
58 - Hulu
20 - Peacock
10 - Disney+
9 - Prime Video
8 - HBO Max
7 - Netflix
5 - Paramount+
3 - MGM+

*****

WIN TALLY (PER FILM)
6 - Reality
3 - Fire Island
2 - Rye Lane, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
1 - Boston Strangler, Clock, Do Revenge, Hellraiser, The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, Peter Pan & Wendy, The Portable Door, Prey, The Princess, Rosaline, Run Sweetheart Run

WIN TALLY (PER STUDIO)
11 - Hulu
6 - HBO Max
2 - Netflix, Peacock
1 - Disney+, MGM+, Prime Video

*****

What were your favorite TV/streaming movies from this Emmy cycle? I would also love to read your picks, dear readers.

Comments

[Finbar McBride]

I think I’m confused here. If we are isolating TV movies from this season for accolades, how is the brooding work of Christian Bale in The Pale Blue Eye omitted from the nominees for Best Actor as well as Uma Thurman’s amusing US President with a Texas twang in Red, White and Royal Blue absent from the list of supporting actress nominees?

[Juan Carlos Ojano]

@Finbar McBride:

THE PALE BLUE EYE was submitted to the Oscars. It got an awards-qualifying theatrical run on December 23, 2022 before it went to streaming on January 6, 2023.

RED, WHITE, AND ROYAL BLUE was released on August 11, 2023, well beyond the eligibility period of June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023. It will most likely be eligible next Emmy cycle.

If it helps, I linked in the article the actual list of titles eligible for this Emmy cycle's Outstanding Television Movie. For your perusal here it is: https://letterboxd.com/juancarlosojano/list/list-of-productions-eligible-for-outstanding/detail/

Hope this helps clarify your concerns. Thanks.

[Joe G.]

This is a really fun idea. Though, I'll admit, that during the years of the pandemic and the Hulu/20th Century acquisition, it's been hard to figure out the difference between a film made for tv and one made theaters (e.g., Fire Island, the Boston Strangler).

The category is quite odd. It's surprising to me that Dolly Parton films have been so dominant in the category. While I love her and watch them, they're fairly low quality. Maybe she has it in her contract that studios mount an aggressive campaign?

I've also been surprised by just how much the emmys ignore TV movies. Though limited series in America have risen a lot, I don't think the quality or talent in MTM warrants the academy looking away. Your nominee list proves that, and I wonder if it would help for the academy, briefly, to have a seperate category (with 3-5 nominees depending on eligibility).

[Juan Carlos Ojano]

@Joe G:

There is literally no difference. Even post-pandemic, nothing really has changed with the "difference" because streaming has blurred the previously clear line. It all boils down to a very limited theatrical run if a film will be up for Oscars or Emmys. They even submitted FRESH - a film that premiered at Sundance and was acquired there - to the Emmys a few years back. It's just awards strategy at this point.

The Dolly Parton dominance in this category is baffling but also unsurprising. If I may be very honest, it's in my 38th place in a ranked listing of the eligible titles for this category. My gosh.

If the rising trend of productions eligible would continue - and it looks like that it would - I would rather see the Emmys give TV movies their separate categories, if they still want to retain the relevance of the Outstanding Television Movie category (even if we all know that most of the players would be streaming titles that they just opted out of Oscar consideration). Because right now, the quantity and quality is there to warrant such (even with just 3 nominations each category, it would still work).

It's a tricky situation that I would want to have a conversation with more people to get perspective.

[Christopher James]

Really enjoyed reading this, Juan Carlos.

I'm so happy that Weird and Fire Island got so much Emmy love.

From your personal ballot it reminded me of a few movies I still need to check out (Rosaline, Reality and Rye Lane being chief among them). I had forgotten that Not Okay falls into this category. It was one of my favorite pleasant surprises of the past year. So happy it was cited.

[Juan Carlos Ojano]

@Christopher James:

Thanks, Chris! Love the Emmy love for TV movies in general and I even wish for more.

Still surprised the Emmys passed on Reality, tbh. As for Rosaline and Rye Lane, I just think they're cinematic gems that I would've wanted to have enjoyed in the cinemas.

[Michael Arrington]

This is a great way to celebrate and cookie clicker acknowledge the talent and work behind TV movies, even if it's a hypothetical scenario.