Emmys Announce New Rule: Nominees Must Now Compete Only Against Themselves
Inspired by one actor's historic double win, the Television Academy has decided the fairest race is the one with a single runner.
In the wake of Matthew Rhys becoming the first person to win two lead acting Emmys in a single night, the Television Academy convened an emergency committee to ask the only question anyone wanted answered: why stop at two categories, or at competition itself?
Under the new rule, each nominee will now appear alone on their category's ballot, running unopposed against a version of themselves from an earlier scene. Trophies will still be handed out live, but the suspense has been relocated entirely to wardrobe choices.
"We looked at the numbers and realized other nominees were simply getting in the way of a clean broadcast," said a spokesperson for the ceremony's rules subcommittee, before leaving to determine which of his own two nominations he preferred to lose to.
Producers say the format change is expected to shorten the show considerably, since acceptance speeches can now begin the moment nominees are announced, and in some cases before.
The Academy has not ruled out extending the format to next year's telecast itself, which under an early draft proposal would be nominated for, and required to compete against, its own rerun.