{"id":5817,"date":"2026-08-23T18:35:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T18:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5817"},"modified":"2026-08-23T18:35:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T18:35:25","slug":"there-are-scores-of-great-new-animated-shows-the-emmys-wont-nominate-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5817","title":{"rendered":"There Are Scores of Great New Animated Shows. The Emmys Won\u2019t Nominate Them."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tOne of the great creative innovations America has given the world in the past 30 years is TV animation.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Tucci in Italy\u2019 Cinematographer Matt Ball on Making Italy Look Delicious<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThat sounds like hyperbole, but it\u2019s true. The Simpsons<\/em> changed how we look at the American family (and current events). Rick and Morty<\/em> changed how we looked at comedy and the tragedy behind it. (\u201cWubba lubba dub dub.\u201d Also, current events.) South Park <\/em>changed how we looked at each other (and current events).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe problem is that those shows all started doing that a very long time ago. Rick and Morty <\/em>is nine seasons in. South Park<\/em> is 28. The Simpsons<\/em> is 37 damn seasons deep. There are children who weren\u2019t born when the series debuted who now have children who themselves are old enough to think Bart has got this whole life thing figured out.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll three of those shows are nominated for outstanding animated program this year. So is Bob\u2019s Burgers<\/em>, which just completed its 20th season. Now, a charitable view would hold that such shortlisting reflects the durability of these shows \u2014 how they manage to maintain their creative spark through so many changing winds.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere is something to that \u2014 it\u2019s not easy to do anything well for three decades, let alone maintain character freshness.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut I fear the fact that animated characters don\u2019t age \u2014 and that they\u2019re basically money-minting machines for a few networks (especially Fox) \u2014 has led us to a pretty calcified place. No show should so regularly take a place on the Emmys stage. The Simpsons <\/em>and Bob\u2019s Burgers <\/em>have been nominated every year since the Obama days. Nothing is that good for that long.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat isn\u2019t on the animated shortlist this year? Dark sci-fi like Owen Dennis\u2019 Among Us<\/em> on Paramount+. The acquired taste but still bold stylings of Raphael Bob-Waksberg\u2019s time-jumping family series Long Story Short <\/em>on Netflix. Joe Cappa\u2019s Adult Swim single-dad delight Haha, You Clowns<\/em>. These are all newish shows from the past year or two with great energy and original takes. But to look at the Emmys noms is to not even know they exist (and indeed, many viewers won\u2019t without the exposure).<\/p>\n

\n\tA little breath of fresh air in the category comes via Smiling Friends<\/em>, Adult Swim\u2019s truly wacky take on a nonprofit and what it means to do good\/be happy. And while I would hardly call anything in the George Lucas-verse fresh in 2026, Star Wars: Visions <\/em>at least uses varied artists and styles in a way that feels original. But these shows seem token-y amid the Simpsons <\/em>and South Park<\/em> oak trees and probably won\u2019t win anyway.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat can the Emmys do to fix this? Fortunately, there are a few things.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor starters, stop with just nominating a single episode. Unlike TV Academy convention elsewhere, the Emmys don\u2019t award a show \u2014 they award an episode. That means that the kind of newer, zanier material that takes months to really settle into is completely disadvantaged \u2014 you\u2019re not going to appreciate something weird and new if you just try to watch one episode. You\u2019re just going to go back to something you know and like, such as The Simpsons <\/em>or South Park<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Read more Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO Calls Out Mark Ruffalo\u2019s Paramount Remarks: \u201cObsession and Demonization\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, the irony is that The Simpsons<\/em> and South Park<\/em> were themselves once oddball and required a multi-episode commitment to appreciate. But now that they are appreciated, voters just keep rubber-stamping them. I mean, Rick and Morty<\/em> hasn\u2019t really been good in several years. But voters just keep checking the box without thinking there might be a new Rick and Morty <\/em>waiting out there.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe other irony is that many of the characters on these very shows would hate this kind of lazy legacy thinking and would balk at it. A category that is literally designed to celebrate subversiveness champions the sclerotic.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother fix: Stop with the international ghettoizing. My colleague David Canfield just covered this on the live-action side, but it applies on the animated side, too. Bluey<\/em> is one of the best shows on television these past 10 years. And many people in America watch it. Find a way to make it eligible for the primetime Emmy.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile we\u2019re on the topic of Bluey<\/em>, get rid of the \u201cEligibility in animation is for programming that targets an audience age 13 and above\u201d rule. This is just not how people watch television anymore.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd finally, open up the Phase II voting beyond just the animation branch to the whole TV Academy. Animation is one of two realms that has this limitation. And it\u2019s having a bad effect. People in the animation branch work in the field, which means they tend to vote for the shows of folks they know or have worked with. So we get the 30-year veterans.<\/p>\n

\n\tI get why this exclusionary voting rule was first drafted: Animation is a specialized craft, and specialists should vote on their specialty. Also, there is a fear that the, ahem, unwashed masses who don\u2019t work in animation won\u2019t really know the shows because they\u2019re too busy watching the live-action stuff. But if that was ever true, it\u2019s not anymore. Everyone watches everything.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll of these might seem like big changes, hard to implement, but they\u2019re really not. They\u2019re possible and would make a world of difference. And if you doubt it, there\u2019s a group you can ask that will help. A group that looked at the world as it is and said, \u201cMaybe there\u2019s another, more daring way to view it.\u201d They are, of course, called animators.<\/p>\n

\nThis story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Charlize Theron Reflects on \u2018Mad Max: Fury Road\u2019 a Decade Later: \u201cThere\u2019s a Deep Connection to This Film\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why the Emmys favor long-running animated series like The Simpsons, overlooking fresh, innovative shows that deserve recognition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[245,826,827],"class_list":["post-5817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-awards","tag-emmy-awards","tag-emmys-2026"],"yoast_head":"\nThere Are Scores of Great New Animated Shows. 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