TCA press tour: Emmy producer, Neil Patrick Harris explain changes to this year’s show

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Since the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced last week that it intends to make the Sept. 20 Emmy awards telecast more attractive to ‘mainstream viewers’ by cutting down some of the time devoted to eight categories, there has been an outcry among network executives and TV scribes.

But the show’s executive producer, Don Mischer, and host, Neil Patrick Harris, both said at a press conference today that there is a lot of ‘misinformation’ about what the plans are for the show, which will air on CBS. HBO, which has 18 nominations in the eight categories, complained last week about the telecast’s increased focus on broadcast television -- instead of all of television. Today, 157 television writers and executive producers released a signed petition through the Writers Guild of America, requesting specifically that the academy keep the writing category in the broadcast.

One of those show runners was ‘Medium’ executive producer Glenn Gordon Caron, who appeared at a panel for his show and said the move seemed ‘short-sighted.’

‘This medium, this thing we do, where we gather every week and tell a story for an hour, is a written medium,’ he added. ‘It’s acted, which is a great thing. It’s directed, which is a great thing. It’s costumed, which is a great thing. But it begins with a blank page. How can you have this whole procession of people picking up prizes and not talk about the people who are there when nothing exists, who start the whole thing?’

But Mischer said the writers need not worry. What the producers hope to do is to tape the distribution of those awards 45 minutes before the telecast begins, so that they can trim the fat -- that is, footage of winners walking on and off stage and cutaways to loved ones for reaction shots. By reducing the time it takes to give out those awards, the producers hope to add ‘entertaining’ segments. More awards are given at the Emmys than on any other show, Mischer pointed out. The Oscars bestow 28, the Tonys issue 14, and the Grammys hand out 10 in the same amount of time.

‘The decisions were made also based on what in the research was the most interesting material to viewers,’ he said. ‘We are in the situation where we are trying to put on the air -- and of course, all this will be on the air -- the content that is most appealing to viewers. We are trying to keep the Emmys alive as a major TV event. It may be in the long run that it drifts away from that into a niche event. That’s something that’s very possible. But for right now, we’re going to try the best we can. And I think it’s best for the whole industry, whether you’re HBO or CBS or what genre you work in, for the Emmys to be seen by as many people as possible.’

Harris, nominated for his role on ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ which is nominated for best comedy for the first time, said he thinks that the industry is confused by what ‘time shifting’ in this case means. Harris is hosting the show for the first time and is also producing it.

‘It’s not like they’re happening on a different evening and they’re all just going to be montaged together,’ he said of the categories that will be pre-taped. ‘We’re just trying to edit down the standing and the hugging and the walking down the aisle. Quite frankly, the writers’ speeches are some of the best ones of the night. So we’ll be able to highlight them more than anything. There’s just some boring parts of that that we’re just trying to trim down.’

Mischer said he also wants to highlight the best of the TV season, including moments from top-rated shows that were not nominated.

‘I think, coming out of the telecast last year, everybody in this business knew we had to make a change,’ said CBS President of Entertainment Nina Tassler. ‘And look, change is not easy. The bottom line is the Emmys are about the celebration of the television business. We’re all in this business together. It’s not broadcast versus cable. ... This is about creating and producing an exciting and entertaining program. If the ratings are up, more people are going to be watching the new shows.’

-- Maria Elena Fernandez