With the recent announcement of this year’s Emmy nominations, I found myself pondering something.  Why is it that so rarely does a science fiction or fantasy show get acknowledged in any category except the ones for special effects, make up, or art direction?  Not even just television for that matter, but with film as well.  Very rarely do we see fantasy or science fiction films get nominated in the major categories, such as acting, writing, or directing.

For instance, if we’re talking specifically about this year’s Emmys, the fact that True Blood isn’t nominated for Best Drama is just preposterous in my opinion.  The show is one of the most brilliant currently on air.  Not only is it a wonderfully entertaining dark comedy, but it also has so many different levels of intelligence and appeal that there is literally something for everyone to enjoy.  Whether it’s using vampires and their fight for civil rights as a symbolic euphemism for gay equality, depicting love and the many forms it takes, or giving the audience some of the greatest supernatural battles, adventures, and mishaps ever on the small screen, the show is just an all around success.  Yet still, barely any nominations.  Yes, of course it’s been nominated for make-up and art direction, like our beloved fantasy shows always are. However, only once two years ago was it up for best drama, and the only acting nod it’s ever received was a guest starring nomination for the incredible Alfre Woodard, better known as Lafayette’s looney toon of a mother.  While she certainly deserved the nomination and really should have won, it’s actually pretty unbelievable that she’s the only one to ever have been nominated.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying every actor on the show is Laurence Olivier and Katherine Hepburn, but there really is some true talent residing in Bon Temps.  I mean, the fact that Nelson Ellis, aka Lafayette, hasn’t once been nominated for the Emmy really grinds my gears.  Like, COME ON.  The dude goes from playing a cross-dressing, drug dealing, semi-prostituting, sassy fry cook to a demonic wiccan creature, and then casually transforms himself into a repressed waiter of the 1960s in the movie The Help.  The guy has some serious range.  Not to mention, Nelson is heterosexual, playing just about the most un-heterosexual character ever to grace the television.  People may think that’s easy, but he could have easily made Lafayette into a complete stereotype, but instead manages to make Lafayette into a completely unique character unlike any I’ve ever seen.  Sure, Anna Paquin won the Golden Globe for best actress in the first season, and while that’s awesome, who really cares about the Globes?  To me, they’ve always felt like more of a party for celebrities, with the occasional award given out.  The truth of the matter is, it’s really all about EGOT. A term coined by one Tracy Jordan, it stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.  To me, and most of the world, those are the four highest achievements a performer can attain in the world of entertainment.  It’s these prestigious awards, and the esteemed voters who bequeath them, that seem to be prejudice towards the science fiction and fantasy genres.

I remember when I first became aware of the lack of fantasy productions during awards season.  It was when I was about 12, and had recently become a huge fan of the television show Charmed.  I started watching in the fourth season, but then watched the first three thanks to the syndication rights purchased by TNT.  I became completely obsessed with the show.  I might have even made a replica Book of Shadows for my end of the year project in the seventh grade.  That’s just a rumor though.

Anyway, I remember sitting down to watch the awards shows with my family, and praying to see Alyssa Milano or Holly Marie Combs in the crowd.  You have to understand, this was a time before YouTube, where seeing your favorite celebrity, not in character, wasn’t as readily available as it is today.  I literally have a vivid memory of having a fight with my sister, who didn’t like Charmed, about why it should have been mentioned during that particular awards show. I stand by said argument to this very day.  Whenever I watch a rerun of Charmed, I’m still impressed by Milano’s impeccable comedic timing, Combs’ strength and skill in her dramatic work, and Rose McGowan’s adaptability.  Rose came onto a show with a strong fan base after the lead was fired, and still managed to make millions of fans fall in love with her for an additional five seasons.  I still am miffed that a show — that broke the Warner Brothers Network record for the highest rated debut when it first aired, and at the time of its seventh season became the longest running hour-long series featuring all female leads — barely received any recognition by way of the Emmys.  Hell, I’d even have accepted a Golden Globe nomination.

So why is it that so few fantasy films and shows receive little to no EGOT love?  I suppose it’s a difficult question to answer, but if I had to guess, I would propose it deals with the fact that fantasy and science fiction are very unbelievable, obviously, hence the name of the genre.  However, acting is all about making what’s in fact not real, seem real. Shows and movies that have fire breathing dragons or vampires draining a fairy’s blood as he devours her sexually, tend to make the line of believability transparent or basically invisible.  Let me put it this way.  When Heath Ledger played the Joker in The Dark Knight, boy did he ever.  He lived the Joker.  He knew the Joker.  In my opinion, he had become the Joker to a certain degree, which I think played a part in his untimely and horrifically tragic death.  However, it won him the ultimate prize for an actor, the Oscar.  Now, in no way am I saying it was worth it.  What I am saying though, is that to make a character, who under normal circumstances would be completely unrealistic, completely realistic, a level of dedication is needed that is not like the normal amount an actor is used to giving.  With a show like True Blood, I think that the level of unbelievability is so high, that it makes some of the voters not take it seriously as a real contender of dramatic work.  Maybe for Stephen Moyer to be nominated for the Emmy, he needs to sleep in the ground and glue on some acrylic fangs.

Regardless of why they don’t vote for the genre more than they do currently, enough is enough.  I’m really quite sick of seeing some of the best work in film and television being passed over for some boring medical television drama.  In cinema, it’s like as long as you put Clooney in a political film, it gets rave reviews and nominated for all of the competitive Oscar categories.  I mean, I love Clooney just as much as the next guy, but lets make room for some other genres.  I don’t know, maybe I’m just still really bitter that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 didn’t receive a best picture nomination, or acting nominations for Alan Rickman or Emma Watson, but regardless, the truth is the truth.  The voters need to start recognizing the talent and quality that some of the science fiction/fantasy genre is producing now a days.