How to win an Emmy

When I first realized I wanted to work in television, and dreamed up the program I wanted to produce, I immediately thought: "Where can my program have the most impact." I thought about the various opportunities and choices I had as far as the channel where I would want it to air. I know it seems like a strange thing to wonder before my show gets piloted, but I think it is important to know what you can get away with on the air and what environment the characters in my show would inhabit.

When I think about the environment of my program, I think; "Would they be living in the world that I exist, where people curse and have intimate relations? Or will it be a family friendly world?" I started thinking about what would be best for my show and that made me wonder about the EMMY awards. Since I started watching television, I have always watched the EMMYs. It gives you an idea of what industry insiders consider to be award worthy achievements, and whether you agree with the particular winner or not, those are the people who need to be impressed.

The choices I have for my show includes network television (i.e. NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC), cable television (MTV, History, Comedy Central), premium (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax), and, if Obama gets re-elected, public television (PBS). When I looked at those choices, my mind immediately began to run. "If I went premium, I may be able to write however I wanted with minimal restrictions, but my viewership may not be as large, though, I would have a better chance of having loyal returning viewers." "If I went network, I would be a bit more restricted on content, but my program would be available to a wider range of people." I was at a stalemate...I then decided to look at the history of the EMMY awards to help me get a bit more perspective.

The EMMYs have been around since 1949 and since then, naturally, the two largest networks at the time (NBC & CBS) dominated the awards. It wasn't until 1997 that a premium channel program won an award. "Dennis Miller Live" was the first HBO program to win a major award at the EMMYs, followed swiftly by "Tracey Takes On..." the following year.  Since then HBO and Showtime have made more and more appearances as nominees and winners at the EMMYS, with shows like "Sex and the City," "Sopranos," "Homeland," "Dexter" and "Boardwalk Empire".

What does all this mean to me? Well it shows me that people are paying attention to premium channels and they are steadily growing as competition for network and cable channels. The fact that the amount of scripted television shows on premium channels has been growing since HBO's inception in the early seventies, is a great catalyst for me to want to develop my show for those channels. Also, it would be much more fun drawing from some of my actual experiences as they happened as opposed to substituting the "F" word, for something less effective...also, sex...just kidding. Though I do believe realism and entertainment works best when people can draw from their personal experiences, since many people have experienced similar situations. That's why comedians are funny, isn't it? They draw from common experiences and put a satirical twist on those events.