At the Golden Globes this year, only one out of 11 TV award winners was a network TV show representative (Sterling K. Brown won best actor in a drama series for NBC’s “This is Us.”)
Tomorrow’s SAG Awards only have five network TV show nominations among all the categories.
Do network shows even stand a chance anymore?
Now that Netflix consistently pulls out award-winning shows, with Amazon and Hulu reaching their stride in quality shows, is it time to separate out network shows from paid services shows?
The way people watch Netflix shows vs. a show on ABC, Fox, etc. is so different. You can binge a Netflix series in a weekend, while NBC draws out one season of “This is Us” from September to April or so (but maybe that’s so we can all take a sobbing break).
Plus, Hulu and those networks have advantages network shows don’t. On a network like CBS, you can’t swear, show nudity, depict graphic violence and other things. Rules must be followed. On online networks, the rules don’t apply. Anything can happen. And it usually does.
Another big difference is network shows play to commercial breaks. They place cliffhangers and plot points in just the right spot to keep you watching. On Netflix, it seems like most original drama episodes end on cliffhangers so you’ll continue watching. And Netflix doesn’t even ask the pesky question “Are you still watching?” when it’s an original show. It can play out like one long, continuous story, and viewers soak it right up.
Network shows just can’t play the same game online networks can. So is it fair to pit them against each other in award categories?
Plenty of quality shows still exist on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and the CW. Should they be recognized in a different way? Or does that just further depict the difference in the TV formats?
It may be time to revisit how award shows handle TV shows.
