The number of eligible contenders in the short-form categories at this year’s Emmy Awards has been cut drastically following the Television Academy’s introduction of anonymous panels tasked with determining if entries are competitive enough to warrant Emmy consideration.
Last year, 50 different shows made the ballot in the Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. This year, though, that number was cut to 30.
The Outstanding Short Form Variety Series category, meanwhile, fell from 26 nominees to only 14. (Academy rules say that any category that does not field at least 14 nominees in consecutive years can be eliminated.)