‘Battlestar Galactica,’ ‘Buffy,’ and Other Series That Genre Show Producers Believe Deserved More Emmy Love
Leading up to the 20th anniversary of the March 10, 1997 premiere of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Yahoo TV is celebrating “Why Genre Shows Matter” and the history of how these shows have tackled universal themes (e.g., how much high school sucks) and broader social issues.
What’s one Emmy nomination you would have loved to see a genre show receive over the years? It’s a question we posed to more than 30 executive producers of current sci-fi/fantasy series who agreed to take part in our Why Genre Shows Matter survey over the last month, either by email or phone.
Why was that particular query part of our survey? The response we received back from J. Michael Straczynski, co-creator of Netflix’s Sense8, explains it well:
Rather than look at one particular show or individual, I think it might be more instructive to look at this in terms of categories. In 62 years, the TV Academy has seen fit to grant SF and fantasy programs the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series five times [‘Game of Thrones’ in 2015 and 2016, ‘The X-Files’ in 1996, and ‘The Twilight Zone’ in 1960 and 1961]. ‘The Bold Ones’? ‘The Waltons’? ‘Columbo’? Sure, not a problem. ‘Star Trek’? ‘Outer Limits’? ‘Lost’? ‘Buffy’? Not a chance. And it’s only won Outstanding Drama Series three times [‘Game of Thrones’ in 2015 and 2016 and ‘Lost’ in 2005].
Actors may get the nomination or the win, same for effects, or music… but to acknowledge writing means taking the stories seriously, and the TV Academy has never extended genre shows that respect. They see it as kiddie programming.
Which goes in a way to the topic at hand: “Why Genre Shows Matter.” Nobody ever asks “Why Mainstream Shows Matter,” so there’s always the presumption of societal irrelevance. Even in a courtroom one is innocent until proven guilty, but genre shows have to prove their value when other shows don’t have to bear that burden… which is even more astonishing considering that SF shows in particular are dealing with the technological, social, and political issues that are of greatest social interest right now. Mainstream shows won’t touch stem cell research, or cloning, or robotics, or artificial intelligence for fear of being labeled “genre”… but that’s the world we live in, folks, and if they ignore that world, then aren’t they in greater danger of irrelevance than shows that do address these questions? Why does yet one more cop show matter while a show about colonizing Mars does not? Shouldn’t that be the other way around?
Sleepy Hollow co-showrunner Albert Kim put it succinctly: “I can think of scores of genre episodes that should have won every writing award out there. From Buffy’s ‘The Body,’ to Star Trek: The Next Generation’s ‘Inner Light,’ to Battlestar Galactica’s ’33,’ to Doctor Who’s ‘Blink.’ I could go on and on,” he wrote. “Some of the best writing in television has been done on genre shows, but they’re almost always overlooked because of the traditional bias against anything having to do with sci-fi or fantasy.”
Here now, a look at seven other takeaways.
1. Battlestar Galactica should have been nominated for everything
12 Monkeys showrunner Terry Matalas simply wrote, “Battlestar Galactica for all of them. Every single one.” The 2004-2009 series racked up a number of nominations (including two wins for Special Visual Effects and one win for Sound Editing), but it never cracked the best drama or acting categories. Only two episodes received writing noms (“Occupation/Precipice” and “Six of One”).
Among those who believe the series deserved better are the show’s former showrunners. “I think Edward James Olmos should have absolutely received an Emmy nomination for BSG,” Ronald D. Moore (Starz’s Outlander) wrote. “His performance as Adama was one of the best on TV through the years we were on the air, and it was almost criminal that he was never recognized for his amazing work.”
David Eick (Freeform’s Beyond) agreed with Kim: “Battlestar Galactica and Ron Moore should have won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for its premiere episode, ’33.’ (Or at least been nominated … I mean, c’mon. It’s f***ing off the hook.)”
Related: ‘Battlestar Galactica’ EP David Eick Revisits 5 Episodes That Remain Relevant
Other nods that helped make Battlestar Galactica the most-mentioned series:
Jeff Davis (MTV’s Teen Wolf)
Battlestar Galactica should have received a nomination for Best Drama simply because it was incredibly good drama.
Ken Woodruff (Fox’s Gotham)
The first season of Battlestar Galactica was so good. I remember thinking of it as The West Wing in space. While the series did pick up writing nominations in later seasons, that first season was by far my favorite.
Marco Ramirez (Netflix’s Daredevil)
Mary McDonnell for Battlestar Galactica. She brought sophistication to her work, bringing a bit of West Wing flavor to what was essentially a show about space battles with robots.
Joss Whedon (who took our survey in honor of Buffy‘s 20th Anniversary)
Battlestar, I still think, is the greatest show ever made. It’s The West Wing with rockets, and some of the most brilliantly subversive storytelling. The kind where that’s the feeling I had when I saw The Matrix: “I’m going to put down my pencil for a while until I learn more about writing and structure.” Battlestar would definitely be my pick.
2. Buffy was the second-most mentioned series
Again, the show received a number of nominations over the years (including two wins, one for makeup and one for original music composition), but Whedon only earned one nod, for writing the silent episode “Hush” (which also nabbed a cinematography nod).
Related: ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ 20th Anniversary: Joss Whedon Looks Back — And Forward
As Bruce Miller (Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale) wrote, “I would say that the amazing serialized storytelling on Buffy never got the recognition it deserved…” Melissa Rosenberg (Netflix’s Jessica Jones) said she considers it “probably one of the Top 5 all-time best series in the history of television.”
Of course the musical episode, “Once More, With Feeling,” which earned a nomination for music direction, was particularly award-worthy. It got votes from David Greenwalt (NBC’s Grimm), who worked on Buffy before co-creating Angel with Whedon, and also Drew Goddard’s (NBC’s The Good Place), another man with ties to the Whedonverse. “I was [a writer] at Buffy the year Joss forgot to submit himself to the Emmys for directing ‘Once More, With Feeling,'” Goddard wrote. “It was a good reminder not to be too precious about award shows … but if we could go back and retroactively fill out the right paperwork for him, that’d be great.”
3. Some wrongs will never be righted…
Daredevil‘s Ramirez also mentioned John Noble for Fringe. “He brought grace and poise to what could’ve easily been reduced to a ‘kooky scientist’ stereotype. With the support of some smart writing, he broke my heart almost every episode,” he wrote.
And who could argue with Nick Antosca (Syfy’s Channel Zero)? “Mads Mikkelson should have been nominated for best actor for Hannibal, because nobody has ever given a more satanic performance,” he insisted.
4. …but some wrongs still can be
With one season left of The Leftovers, there’s still time for Carrie Coon to pick up her first nomination. “Carrie Coon has been robbed. I cannot believe that she has not been nominated,” The Vampire Diaries and The Originals EP Julie Plec told us. “I think her work in the whole show, but Season 1 specifically, is so magnificent. The fact that she didn’t get every award that was possible to give to an actress is a shame.”
A second season of Sense8 could put Bae Doona in contention. Dana Gould, creator of IFC’s Stan Against Evil, thinks her performance in Season 1 was “utterly compelling, and I would have loved to have seen her nominated,” he wrote. “In a big, flashy, complicated story, she was small, still, and immensely powerful.”
And hey, let’s lighten the mood a little: “Justin Roiland should get an Emmy for his voice work on Rick and Morty,” Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss wrote.
5. It’s never too early to start this year’s Emmy advocacy
Season 1 of The Good Place will be eligible for the 2017 Emmys, and it has a big fan in Damon Lindelof (HBO’s The Leftovers), who creator Mike Schur famously invited to lunch to get his thoughts on the concept before he pitched it to NBC. “The Good Place blew my mind,” Lindelof wrote. “Mike Schur told me what he was gonna do before he did it and it STILL blew my mind. Best first season finale for any show I think I’ve ever seen. All that, and FUNNY too. This show should get Emmy nominations for everything there is.”
Emily Andras (Syfy’s Wynonna Earp) thinks the show’s star deserves a nom. “Kristen Bell did fantastic work making an inherently unlikable heroine utterly lovable on The Good Place — and she made it look effortless,” she wrote.
Dan Harmon, co-creator of Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty is leading the charge for a certain actor on a freshman HBO series. “I think Jeffrey Wright as Bernard on Westworld definitely earned an award. If I explain why, I’ll spoil Season 1 for someone,” he wrote. “I think saying that just spoiled Season 1 for someone.”
6. If you don’t think you’re worth it, why you should anyone else?
You can’t blame Andras for backing her own leading lady. “I also think Wynonna Earp herself — Melanie Scrofano — is a once-in-a-generation talent, but I might be the tiniest bit biased,” she wrote.
Lucifer EP Joe Henderson believes his lead is best-actor material. “Tom Ellis. He needs to be funny, dark, broken, confident, and childlike all at once,” he wrote. “He makes it look effortless, so it’s easy to underestimate … but he works damn hard to walk that fine line, and we reap the benefits.”
Robert Cooper (BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency) kept it simple: He thinks Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s music for Season 1 deserves recognition. (Also, he asked, “How could Kermit the Frog be ignored for so many years?”)
Supernatural EP Robert Singer gave a longer list. “This one will sound self-serving, but I believe both of our lead actors deserve much more credit than they are given. Also on our show our director of photography, Serge Ladouceur, has done exceptional work virtually unnoticed, and our production designer, Jerry Wanek, has probably built more sets than any other designer around, and makes our show, which is shot on not a large budget look absolutely fabulous every week,” he wrote.
And as NBC’s Grimm approaches its series finale at the end of March, co-showrunner Jim Kouf issued a blanket statement: “Grimm for anything.”
7. Finally, don’t take awards too seriously
Once Upon a Time creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis put their weight behind ALF. “Because never has there been a more expressive alien in the history of television. We feel his anti-cat stance prejudiced the Academy against him, but history will judge him kindly,” they wrote.
Timeless EP Eric Kripke went a different direction: “Tough question, but I’d have to say Simon MacCorkindale in Manimal. Turning yourself into a hawk? Or a tiger? Or a wolf? That’s range.”
Perhaps, in the end, it’s best to think like Sera Gamble (Syfy’s The Magicians). “I am personally not really bothered by the fact that genre gets ignored, for the most part, by awards voters and nominators, or that genre is considered populist,” she said. “It makes genre fans actually self select what they like. If they come to our shows, it is because they liked it, not because a bunch of critics said they liked it or it was showered with awards.”
Still… “I can’t believe that Buffy was never nominated as a show,” she added. “That just blows my mind.”
Read more from Yahoo TV’s “Why Genre Shows Matter”:
‘Luke Cage’ Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker on Embracing Exploitation
Superheroes, Spells, and Sexual Abuse: A Conversation With Melissa Rosenberg and Sera Gamble, EPs of ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘The Magicians’
