A Tatiana Maslany Award? Why Not?

Back in July, when Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany was snubbed for an Emmy nomination, fans everywhere were outraged: how could the awards show, supposedly celebrating the best of television, ignore one of the most talented TV performers of the year? After a few months though, the shock died down, and eventually the snub got overshadowed by Maslany's Golden Globe nomination and Critics' Choice win. Yet while most fans seemed to feel that those pieces of recognition more than made up for Maslany's earlier Emmy snub, one fan did not — and now, she created her own Tatiana Maslany Award to rectify the situation.

The award, to be funded by an Indiegogo campaign, is a way to "take things into the fans' hands," said creator Sarah Evans, a self-described "huge fan of Orphan Black, just like you." While Maslany's post-Emmy nominations and wins are "amazing," Evans said, she wants "Maslany to have an award specifically from her fans."

So Evans is commissioning an artist to create a statue specifically for Maslany, and is calling it a "Clone Club Award." To raise money, Evan has called on Orphan Black's fans, asking them to help cover the costs of the award's creation and expenses such as shipping and replica copies.

Fittingly, the breakdown of donations is described in order of Maslany's Orphan Black characters' importance: $1, the lowest, is "The Beth;" $5 is the Alison, where backers "busy running errands and taking care of your kids" will get to digitally sign a card to go along with the statue; $25 is the Cosima, where, as the budding scientist would've wanted, backers get a detailed behind-the-scenes video of the status's making; $100 is "The Sarah," allowing those with "double lives" to get their names etched on the statue; $500, "The Helana," is the biggest and fit for the "crazy," containing a replica of the statue along with the option to write a handwritten note sent to Maslany.

It's all done brilliantly, and it's doubtful it'll be long before the $2,000 needed for the award is raised. As Evans is surely aware, Orphan Black fans are incredibly passionate, and many of them will be thrilled to discover that a fellow Clone Club member wants Maslany to be recognized for her performance. The fact that fans themselves can have a part in making that happen? Even better.

The award shows how much of an impact Orphan Black has had on pop culture, despite its success being incredibly unlikely. It's a BBCAmerica show, starring a relative unknown, that just ended its first ten-episode season — and yet fans across the globe have come together in celebration of the series and its central star herself.

Few other series have inspired this much support after just one season, even those starring actors better known than Maslany. As fans of the show know, though, it's all deserved; Orphan Black is fantastic, suspenseful and powerful and featuring some of the best acting currently on TV. Hopefully, the show's cast and crew realize the impact the series has had on viewers, and if not, the Clone Club Award should do the trick. An award coming straight from fans, funded with their own money, for the sole purpose of recognizing a show they love? It's wild, unprecedented, and a testament to the feat of television that is Orphan Black. The second season couldn't come soon enough.

Image: BBC America