ABC and the Television Academy are moving ahead with a September broadcast of the Emmy Awards, but the organizations haven’t decided yet how they’ll present the show.
Insiders who spoke with Variety confirmed more details about the ceremony would arrive in June.
The Emmys would normally have a host and other details nailed down by this time, but planning for how to carry on has been significantly slowed down by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Up in the air: The Emmy Awards will still air on September 20, though the format has yet to be finalized, according to Variety
The Television Academy has already moved its first-round voting to July, and nominations will be announced two weeks later on July 28.
None of the changes in pace have affected the ceremony though, which is still scheduled for September 20 as originally planned.
ABC Senior Vice President Rob Mills, who’s in charge of alternative coverage, special and late night shows, said the telecast is ‘going to happen in some way shape or form, but we have a little bit of time.’
‘Because we have the benefit of time, it’s much easier to figure it out. I don’t know what they’ll look like, but they will happen,’ he said.
Going forward: ‘Because we have the benefit of time, it’s much easier to figure it out. I don’t know what they’ll look like, but they will happen,’ ABC Vice President Rob Mills said
Mills said the Emmys were in a more desirable position than the Academy Awards, as there have plenty of television programs airing amid the pandemic, whereas movie theaters have been forced to close and only some films have been released digitally in recent months.
‘The [Motion Picture] Academy has had a harder time because movie theaters are shut down and they’re figuring out how features are going to be released,’ he explained.
‘The Emmys are still going to happen,’ Mills continued, ‘But we still don’t know what they’re going to look like because we just don’t know where the winds are going to blow in the next few months.’
Though no host has been named yet, Jimmy Kimmel may be a logical choice due, as he has already hosted the telecast and is leading ABC’s late night coverage with his at-home broadcasts.
Catching up: A host would normally have been announced by now. Jimmy Kimmel may be a logical choice for ABC because he has already hosted and leads the network’s late night coverage; pictured with his wife Molly McNearney in 2018
Ghose show: The show is normally broadcast from LA’s Microsoft Theatre, though it’s uncertain if anyone will be sitting in the audience this year
As more businesses reopen, ABC and the TV Academy may try to hold some kind of social distanced ceremony from its usual location in Los Angeles Microsoft Theatre, which would significantly decrease the number of attendees and change the live show’s energy.
MTV is planning to broadcast its Video Music Awards from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on August 30, so its successes or failures could impact how the Emmys will carry on.
The daytime Emmys are will be using a remote format featuring celebrities quarantining at home for its June 26 broadcast, and the primetime Emmys might use that format for all or part of the ceremony.
Even if the Emmys return to their usual home, there may not be any celebrities in the audience.
Though governors and mayors around the country have begun taking steps to reopen businesses, the pandemic is far from over, and Hollywood movers are taking a more cautious approach than in other industries.
Taking its time: The Television Academy has already moved its first-round voting to July, and nominations will be announced two weeks later on July 28
Award show producers contacted about the ceremony seemed optimistic that the Emmys could still celebrate the best in TV while raising audience morale.
One producer said: ‘I would imagine that like my family, a lot of other families are watching TV together in a way that they haven’t in a while.
‘Think of the kind of positive things that TV has brought us in terms of not just entertainment but also information, and how it’s something that people have relied on. It does feel like that’s something that could be tapped into for the ceremony as well… It can focus more on what we’ve all been through rather than just the normal celebration of TV.’