When the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (such a great name!) announced earlier this week that a handful of “minor†Emmy categories would be eliminated from the live portion of the show and instead broadcast as part of a (presumably) carefully edited highlight reel, we rejoiced. After all, our bladders can only handle so much excitement, so this felt to us like it would be a perfect time to take a bathroom break during the generally lengthy broadcast. However, it turns out the good people over at HBO don’t exactly feel the same way. Michael Lombardo, president of HBO’s programming division, was quoted by the Los Angeles Times saying, “We are disappointed†in the Academy’s decision to relegate the mini-series and made-for-TV-movie awards to this pretaped segment, and adding that the move makes it seem like the Emmy broadcast is “focused on recognizing broadcast television [versus cable].†Hmmm, sounds to us like a perfectly synergistic case for the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency to solve!
TCA Press Tour: HBO orders more ‘True Blood,’ battles new Emmy plan [Showtracker/LAT]