Emmys 2014: TV Academy looking at nomination category issues, CEO says

It was a year of too much TV. And the TV Academy has taken notice.

The year gave rise to 40% more drama submissions and 60% more comedies, all seeking nominations for the 66th annual Primetime Emmys, said Bruce Rosenblum, the chairman and CEO of the Television Academy.

“There is far more terrific programming on TV today than five years ago or 10 years ago,” Rosenblum said.

Rosenblum was on hand Sunday for NBC’s session at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills. (NBC will air the Emmys telecast. ) And he was faced by a crowd of reporters wondering whether a changes are coming to the long-running awards show in light of a swell of original programming.

This year’s nominations showed some creativity in classification. Some dramas tried to improve their chances by entering as a comedy, while some projects that might traditionally be viewed as miniseries tried to hold their own as a drama. Then there were the cries of snubs, with critically revered shows and/or actors being shut out because there just weren’t enough slots to recognize everyone.

Rosenblum -- joined by Emmys host Seth Meyers, the show’s executive producer Don Mischer, and writer Mike Shoemaker (also producer of “Late Night with Seth Meyers”) -- said the TV Academy is “taking a look at” those issues.

“We look at the rules every year,” Rosenblum said. “If we think it’s appropriate to make some changes, we will. It’s a process we go through every year.”

Rosenblum added that there are no plans to implement a policing-type system on how shows are submitted, but said there are some subtle rules that the organization should review.

“It’s less that rules have become more fluid, more that our industry has evolved,” Rosenblum said. “We need to be responsive to the way the industry is evolving and reflective of the kind of shows being produced ... So much production is being done around town, and they don’t all fit into nicely, cleanly defined boxes.”

And simply adding more categories isn’t something Rosenblum is keen on.

“More categories is always challenging because the show will run five hours long, and that’s not what anybody wants,” he said. “We want to maintain the sheen of what this award show is, and when you expand, you run the risk of diffusing it.”

Setting Meyers up for a nice interjection:

“When we tried to submit ‘Late Night’ as a miniseries, they said, ‘Absolutely not.’ ”

Twitter: @villarrealy