Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large That’s why I wasn’t happy in the late 1990s when hourlong shows like “Ally McBeal” and “Desperate Housewives” entered (and won, in some cases) the Emmy comedy race.
Hourlong dramedies are not comedies! No one ever called “All in the Family” — which had some deep, dark moments — a drama, and yet there were a couple of laughs in “Desperate Housewives” (which opened with a death!) and suddenly it’s a comedy?
Sadly, I lost this battle years ago. And as we know, the comedy race is really now a dramedy race. The frontrunner, FX’s “The Bear,” is famously an anxious and often dark show. (For some reason, I’m fine with it being in comedy.
I am unpredictable.) Those were the early days of gaming the Emmys. Later, it was all about shows like PBS’ “Downton Abbey” entering the miniseries (as they were called then) field — and then suddenly being picked up for another season and moving to drama.
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