It's Time for TV Awards to Create a Best Dramedy Category (original) (raw)

Updated Jul 23, 2024, 10:00 AM EDT

Currently a features writer at Collider, Elisa Guimarães is an arts and entertainment journalist and a critic with over a decade of experience. Passionate about movies and TV shows as a whole, she started her career when she was still in college, writing for a local newspaper after a brief stint in film school. However, her love for all things media-related can be dated back to her childhood, as she was raised in a family of librarians and cinephiles. She adores coming of age stories, true crime, teen dramas, science fiction, horror, and some other things as well. Elisa is also a published author of short stories in Portuguese, as well as a translator and a master in linguistics. As of 2023, she's in the process of working towards her PhD.

Summary

Television awards struggle to categorize shows correctly, causing debates over whether a Best Dramedy category is needed.
Shows like The Bear blur genre lines, leading to confusion in nominations and competitions in comedy and drama categories.
Introduction of a Best Dramedy category could provide a fair playing field for shows that seamlessly blend comedic and dramatic elements, reducing snubs.

As the 2024 Emmy nominations settle in, and the hullabaloo about snubs and much awaited nods begins to die down, an issue that has been getting all the more present over the past few years begins rearing its head once again. It’s an issue that was there when the 2023 Emmys announced their nominees, and when the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards did the same. It’s a debate older than any of the shows currently running for the prize of Outstanding Comedy or Drama Series, older than streaming platforms, perhaps even as old as cable. A debate that we can’t help but bring back when we see The Bearfacing off against What We Do in the Shadows or Abbott Elementary, or when we see Shogun and The Crowncompeting side by side with Fallout and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It’s a debate that can be summarized in one simple question: Is it time for television awards to introduce a Best Dramedy category?

Granted, the question is hardly ever formulated with such specificity. Usually, what we hear on the streets or read on social media is something along the lines of “Why on Earth is X nominated as a comedy?”, or “Wait, Y is a drama?” There is not one TV viewer in this world that hasn’t once discovered that a beloved comedy series was actually dramatic, or vice-versa, at least according to the journalists and industry insiders responsible for awards shows. This year’s greatest “offender” in this respect is, just as it was last year, _The Bear, a show about a young chef trying to put his family’s restaurant back on track after his brother’s suicide with Uncut Gems levels of tension that got nominated as comedy not only at the Emmys, but also at the 2024 Critics’ Choice Awards, winning over the aforementioned What We Do in the Shadows and Abbott Elementary. But FX’s kitchen comedy/drama/whatever floats your boat isn’t the only show to receive a dubious nomination in recent awards seasons. From Orange is the New Black to Transparent to Severance, perhaps it’s time the people behind television awards admit that differentiating comedies from dramas isn’t as easy as it used to be.

75th Emmy Awards Poster-1

Release Date

January 15, 2024

Ceremony to celebrate the 75th edition of the Primetime Emmy awards.

Main Genre

Awards Show

Seasons

Studio

Fox

This Year’s Emmy Nominations Are Full of Sad Comedies and Funny Dramas

This doesn’t mean all shows are equally hard to categorize. It is pretty obvious to anyone watching that The Crown, a dramatized history of the contemporary British monarchy, and Shogun, a series chronicling a clash of cultures and a subsequent power struggle in feudal Japan, are dramas. Likewise, few would have the gall to call mockumentary Abbott Elementary or wacky thriller Only Murders in the Building anything but a comedy. The four shows have all been nominated by the Television Academy. The first two are up against 3 Body Problem, Fallout, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Slow Horses, The Gilded Age, and The Morning Show, while the latter face fierce competition in the form of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Hacks, Palm Royale, Reservation Dogs,The Bear, and What We Do in the Shadows.

When we look at this year’s Emmy nominations, a few shows stand out in the drama and comedy categories. The first one, of course, is the aforementioned The Bear, which received a nomination not only for Outstanding Comedy Series but also for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Jeremy Allen White), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Ayo Edebiri), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Lionel Boyce), Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Jon Bernthal, Bob Odenkirk, and Will Poulter), and – phew! - Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (Jamie Lee Curtis), not to mention writing and directing nods. Now, though there’s no denying that The Bear does have its fair share of hilarious moments, the series is often as gut-wrenching as a TV show can get, with its most recent third season being more tragic than anything else. Sure, due to the writers’ strike, the 76th Emmys will be honoring Season 2 of The Bear.Still, it might be weird to realize that one of the show’s most anxiety-inducing episodes, Thanksgiving flashback “Fishes,” is also nominated for Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

"Fishes" and "Honeydew" Are Not Comedic Episodes of 'The Bear' Season 2

Jamie Lee Curtis as Donna on The Bear, eyes closed and hands clenched together at the dinner table to say grace.

Jamie Lee Curtis in 'The Bear'

Image via FX

"Fishes" is quite an unforgettable episode of television. Many adjectives can be used to describe it: suffocating, unnerving, harrowing... Funny, however, is definitely not one of them. In it, we are treated to a special family dinner at the Berzattos years before Carmy took over the restaurant. Curtis is the true star of the show, appearing as Carmy, Mike, and Nat's (Abby Elliott) overbearing, narcissistic, and alcoholic mother. Due to her influence and to the tension brought forth by Mike's untreated mental illness, the dinner quickly devolves into a free-for-all that ends with someone driving a car through a wall. While this does sound pretty absurd, it is no laughing matter: "Fishes" is an examination of how mental illness and substance abuse can impact a family, shaping entire personalities and relationships. It also serves as a deep explanation as to why things at The Beef, or The Bear, can never be properly functional.

After all, the restaurant's owners simply cannot thrive in a healthy, welcoming environment. In the writing category, "Fishes" is up against Abbott Elementary's "Career Day", Girls5eva's "Orlando", Hacks' "Bulletproof", The Other Two's "Brooke Hosts a Night of Undeniable Good", and What We Do in the Shadows' "Pride Parade". For Outstanding Directing, its competitors are Abbott Elementary's "Party", Hacks' "Bulletproof", The Gentlemen's "Refined Aggression", The Ms. Pat Show's "I'm the Pappy", and The Bear's own "Honeydew".

The fourth episode of the show's second season, "Honeydew" is also far from being a funny watch, while it is much lighter than "Fishes". But, then again, having brain surgery can be much lighter than "Fishes". The episode follows Marcus (Boyce) as he stages under chef Luca (Poulter) at a restaurant in Denmark. In between thinking of his sick mother back home and enjoying his stay to the fullest, the character offers us, much like a lot of The Bear, an examination of what life is actually about and how the art of cooking matters to the world and to those that engage in it. It is not, by any means, comedic. Instead, it is a drama with a bit more levity than, say, the Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) episodes of The Crown.

The Drama Category Nominations Also Don't Really Make Sense

Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) sit in the back of a car in the Succession series finale.

Image via HBO

The drama categories also have its own set of entries that feel like fishes out of water. Sure, there is a dramatic element to Fallout, Prime Video’s videogame adaptation set in a retrofuturistic world in which multiple atomic bombs were dropped on the United States. However, the show’s farcical tone makes it clear that many, if not most, of its scenes are meant to elicit laughter instead of tears. We are not simply supposed to despair over the horrors of _Fallout_’s universe, but also delight ourselves in its absurdity. Likewise, the streaming platform’s other competing series in the drama categories, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, is as much a drama about a couple going through a rough patch in their relationship as it is a comedy about spies/assassins trying to make it as loving husband and wife. Episodes like "Double Date," in which the main characters run into a pair of fellow killers that set them on a dangerous path, and "Do You Want Kids?" in which they have to deal with an annoying, childish target, are a lot funnier than anything The Bear has to offer. Fallout is nominated for Outstanding Drama Series and Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Walton Goggins), while Mr. and Mrs. Smith is running for Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor (Donald Glover), and Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Maya Erskine).

In previous award shows this year, a presence that really made us think was Barry, whose actors Bill Hader and Henry Winkler were nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, in a TV Series — Musical or Comedy in the Globes and in the Critics’ Choice Awards, in which the show also ran for Best Comedy Series. Max’s critical darling about a hitman turned actor is definitely much more of a comedy than The Bear, with its Season 2 episode “ronny/lily” being by far one of the funniest things that have ever appeared on a TV screen. But Barry can also be extremely nerve-wracking and emotionally devastating. On the opposite end, we have the streamer’s very own Succession, a Best Drama Series, Best Actor in a Drama Series (Kieran Culkin), and Best Actress in a Drama Series (Sarah Snook) winner at the Critics’ Choice that can be more than just a little funny in its poignant critique of billionaire families and corporate culture.

This Difficulty Separating Comedies and Dramas Isn’t New

Finding out what constitutes a comedy or a drama isn’t an easy job. Back in 2015, the Emmys announced that they would judge a series’ comedic value based on its runtime: the Outstanding Comedy category was reserved for shows with less than 30 minutes per episode. Dramas, on the other hand, were allowed to be longer. This led to numerous anomalies, the most notable of which were Transparent getting nominated for Outstanding Comedy in 2015 and 2016, right at the moment the show was running some of its more dramatic seasons, and _Orange is the New Black_getting a drama nod in 2015 after running as a comedy just a year prior.

Thankfully, this bizarre rule didn’t last long, and, in 2021, Cobra Kai and The Flight Attendant were nominated for Outstanding Comedy despite having various episodes longer than half an hour. Nowadays, according to the Television Academy’s book of rules and procedures, to be eligible as a comedy, a show must make sure that “the majority of the running time of at least six episodes are primarily comedic”. Swap the word “comedic” with “dramatic” and you have the rules for drama series. Eligibility rules are pretty much the same for the Golden Globes.

But who decides whether a series’ content is primarily comedic or not? Is there an intern with a chronometer counting up how many minutes of comedy or drama each episode presented to the awards associations has? How do you establish the comic or dramatic value of a scene such as _Severance_’s defiant jazz party? What do you do if a show has 12 episodes per season, half of which are deemed dramatic, and half comedic? There are no easy answers to these questions — except, perhaps, the one about the intern with the chronometer (they most certainly don’t exist).

TV Shows Aren't Made LIke They Used To Be, Prestige TV Changed Everything

Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), Alex (Justin Chambers), and April (Sarah Drew) sitting on a couch wearing scrubs in Grey's Anatomy.

Image via ABC

The fact of the matter is that there once was a time in which TV shows were easily sorted into these two categories: dramas were one-hour-long police procedurals, hospital melodramas, and family tragedies, while comedies were shorter sitcoms about loving families, groups of friends, or wacky workplaces. But as cable television emerged, so did this little thing called prestige television that blurred the line between genres. With a smaller and more well-defined audience, cable networks didn’t feel obligated to put their money exclusively into easily digestible crowd-pleasers. They could also allow themselves to invest in more complex shows that defied the limits of comedy or drama. This trend soon spread to broadcast television, introducing viewers to an era of dark comedies and quirky dramas such as Desperate Housewives, Six Feet Under, and Californication.

With the advent of streaming, this trend only intensified. Without commercial breaks and time slots, shows were no longer restricted to a running time of 20 to 40 minutes, and, nowadays, it's not unusual for a series’ episode to have the same runtime as a feature film — even if said series is a comedy. Likewise, audience clustering means that shows can now be produced with more and more specific kinds of viewers in mind, which, in turn, means that easily recognizable and digestible genres are no longer a necessity. None of this is to say that old-school TV series no longer exist. Of course, they do, and they’re doing quite well, thank you. Just take a look at CBS’ Young Sheldon andABC's Grey's Anatomy. But, every year, there are more and more shows that defy the limits between comedy and drama.

It’s Time to Accept This New Reality and Bring in the Awards for Best Dramedy

This all circles back to the nomination of _The Bear_for Outstanding Comedy Series (or Best Series – Comedy or Musical, depending on which award show you’re talking about). More than just weird, this might strike fans as unfair. After all, the show is being made to compete in a category pertaining to a television genre to which it doesn't belong. Someone is going to come out of the competition on the losing side, and we don’t mean that in a “who’s taking home the trophy” kind of way: depending on who wins, either awards shows are saying that comedies like Abbott Elementary and Only Murders in the Building need to be more than just funny to be considered good, or thatCarmy drugging a bunch of children, like he does in Season 1, isn't funny enough. The same is true when it comes to the drama categories: how do you even begin to compare the absurdist humor of Fallout with the melodrama of _The Crown and The Gilded Age , the suffocating doomsday atmosphere of__3 Body Problem,_or the historical realism of Shogun?

However, it doesn’t feel that wrong to compare The Bear with Mr. and Mrs. Smith or even Fallout. Nor does it feel wrong to put these shows side by side with, say, Reservation Dogs. While the FX series is much more successful in being purely comedic, it has its fair share of dramatic moments that could qualify it as dramedy. Perhaps it's time to allow these series to compete with others of their kind, to give them a league of their own. It’s time to put an end to this ridiculous awards show head-scratcher and give viewers and creators alike an Outstanding Dramedy category. Honestly, it would also mean fewer snubs, as the drama and comedy categories would have more space for easier-to-define shows, such as I'm a Virgo and Hijack, while also giving shows like The Righteous Gemstones the proper room to compete. Heck, we could even apply this logic to film! Is Little Miss Sunshine, that ran as a comedy in various award shows in 2007, a comedy or a drama? Maybe it's both, and that is precisely what makes it so beautiful. It's time to give all this beauty the recognition that it deserves.

You can find the full list of 2024 Emmy nominations here at Collider.