The Emmys’ New Rule & How It Affects Anthology Series Like ‘Black Mirror’

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Netflix

The Television Academy announced on Thursday a very important change to their TV movie categories.

The minimum length for qualifying television movies is now 75 minutes, a threshold that hasn’t been difficult for the majority of films to reach… barring one past trophy holder.

In 2017, the Netflix anthology series, Black Mirror, won the category for “San Junipero,” which was only 61 minutes long, and then in 2018, Black Mirror won again with, “USS Callister,” which was 76 minutes long.

So, while “USS” barely won, “San Junipero” would have been disqualified.

In 2019, upcoming anthology series such as Jordan Peele’s, Twilight Zone, Season 5 of Black Mirror, Greg Nicotero’s Creepshow, and Into the Dark will have to think twice before submitting their episodes for consideration.

The TV Academy also added a new category: Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special, and restructured the choreography categories into two separate sections: Outstanding Choreography for Variety and Reality Programming and Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming.

The 71st Emmy Awards, Live, Sunday, September 22, 2019, Fox