Most of this year’s limited or anthology series Emmy frontrunners had several choices on where to compete. “Dahmer: Monster — The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” is part of a new “Monster” anthology series, but it could have gone drama. “Beef” might have found a home in drama or comedy, but landed in limited (same goes for “Mrs. Davis”).
All of these series have a trailblazer to thank for the flexibility that comes with the limited/anthology category: HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon.” It’s been 25 years since that landmark miniseries was an Emmy contender — and it’s remarkable to look back at what a controversial decision it was at the time to even call it a “miniseries.”
Of course, in hindsight, it was much more of a miniseries than, say, “Downton Abbey” or “The White Lotus” — two winners in the category that conveniently moved to the drama field after producers decided they weren’t one and done.
Close-ended “limited series” are a standard part of the TV landscape now. But in 1998, one-season dramas weren’t considered “miniseries” or “limited series” (that term wouldn’t even enter industry use for several years) — they were just considered dramas.
“Miniseries,” on the other hand, were considered to essentially be multi-night TV movies. They came out of the longform departments, aired on multiple nights over the course of one week and were events like “Roots.” At least, that was the conventional wisdom at the broadcast networks.
That’s why execs at the Big 4 were apoplectic when HBO decided to enter “From the Earth to the Moon” as a miniseries. It was a 12-episode series, airing every Sunday over the course of two months. In the eyes of TV traditionalists, that wasn’t a miniseries. That was a series.
Here’s how crazy things got: The broadcast networks and some leading TV movie producers got together and formed an anonymous group called “The Coalition for Emmy Fairness,” complete with advertisements in the trades (including Daily Variety) and a briefing book filled with talking points.
“The Coalition for Emmy Fairness” ad, as seen in the May 1, 1998 issue of Daily Variety. (The “Variety” watermark is via the Ultimate Variety archive website and didn’t appear on the original ad.)
I still have a copy of that briefing book — and I recently thumbed through it, taking a trip down Emmy memory lane. My immediate impression: These talking points are hysterical. “HBO has been spreading the ‘miniseries’ Big Lie for at least a year,” it reads. “HBO’s motivation is pathetically transparent. Emmys and the buzz they generate are a key ingredient of HBO’s very lifeblood. Unlike the past five years, they don’t have a strong Outstanding Television Movie candidate this year. They’re relying on ‘From the Earth to the Moon’ to bring home the awards bacon.”
Well, yes, HBO was motivated by Emmy buzz – which isn’t quite the burn in 2023 that perhaps it was in 1998. Of course, it is funny to see the “Coalition” gripe that the Television Academy has “sold its soul to HBO,” given that we sometimes today hear the same thing — but about key streamers like Netflix.
The Coalition believed its best argument was that “miniseries” had to be judged as a narrative whole, and that “From the Earth to the Moon” consisted of episodic, stand-alone episodes. But ultimately, the Academy ruled that “From the Earth to the Moon” did have continuity: Producers like Tom Hanks oversaw the entire run, and the chronological story line of the space race — including the characters — spanned multiple episodes.
“From the Earth to the Moon” was ultimately nominated for outstanding miniseries, and won the category in 1998. As TV movies and miniseries fell out of favor, those categories were combined in 2011. But that same year, “Downton Abbey” won — a still-controversial move, given its immediate jump to drama, but opening the door the following year to nomination of the anthology series “American Horror Story.” By 2015, the category was renamed outstanding limited series — and “anthology” was officially added to the competition in 2021.
Ironically, “From the Earth to the Moon” would be more miniseries-like than many of today’s modern limited series competitors. And to think, the “Coalition for Emmy Fairness” was so hot and bothered that they even threatened to pull up stakes and create a new TV awards show with the Museum of TV & Radio (now the Paley Center). That never happened, and most of those execs and producers are out of the business. But the Television Academy is still awarding the best in television — from the earth to the moon — at the Emmys.