The Emmys Are Losing A Bit Of Their Prestige

There are so many award shows judging Hollywood's top talents, so it's hard to know how these awards rank when it comes to prestige. The hardest judgment call to make has to be the difference between the Emmys and the Golden Globes. The Grammys own the best-of-the-best in music, the Tonys handle Broadway's finest, and the Oscars are the highest qualifier for movies, so it only makes sense that the Emmy Awards would rank as the top form of recognition for the television landscape, right? However, since the Golden Globes take on both film and television, that adds a level of confusion — and some competition between the two for the top decider of "Good TV." Honestly, I'm starting to see a shift I never expected: the Golden Globes could be surpassing the Emmys in value.

When it comes to the Emmys, the Television Academy — which is comprised of over 20,000 qualified industry peers — nominates and votes for each award. But, when it comes to the Golden Globes, voting is left in the hands of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) — an exclusive group of only about 100 members of the press, who have been allotted a spot for voting. Emmys voters are thus a lot more well-versed in the categories themselves, while Golden Globes voters are mainly concerned with making sure they don't leave anybody out.

While the HFPA has little to no affect on the Oscars, it's a whole different ball game when it comes to television. It's the HFPA's job to watch and breakdown television accordingly, while most of the Television Academy is busy actually making the television we're consuming.That's not to say that one group of voters discredits the other. It just that these different backgrounds mean we usually get wildly different opinions on what shows are considered quality. For example, when looking at the nominees from the past year in both Golden Globes and the Emmys, there are some significant differences worth noting.

The Golden Globes have branched out, and the Emmys have remained faithful to certain shows. Nominated among the Best Comedy Television Series category at the Golden Globes in 2015 was The CW's Jane The Virgin, while the Best Drama category in 2015 held Showtime's The Affair. But, when looking at the nominees for those categories for the 2015 Emmys, comedy nominations went to Modern Family and Louie for consistent years in a row (of which they were not nominated with the Golden Globes) and drama nominations went to the confusing dramatic switch for Orange Is The New Black and Showtime's Homeland once again. Meanwhile, The CW network was completely disregarded and the HBO series, Better Call Saul, was seemingly placed in Breaking Bad's recently vacant spot.

I feel as if the Golden Globes are continuing to surprise us and the Emmys are continuing to essentially remain the same — especially based on already released buzz and the successes of past years. That makes me way more excited about the Golden Globes television categories than the Emmys, because, in the former, dark horse candidates seem to have more of a shot at the prize. If the awards are going to the same shows every year, I start to wonder if those shows are still maintaining the same quality that they had when they first won something or if they've just become institutions that are expected to win, while newer or smaller shows are left out in the cold. And, as soon as I begin to wonder that, the prestige of the Emmys dims more and more, in favor of the Globes.

But, of course, I'm going to watch both ceremonies, because seeing my favorite actors and shows get the accolades that they deserve is always fun no matter what. I'll just keep my fingers crossed for a line-up full of surprises in 2016 to help put the Emmys back on top.

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