Inside the Heads of Emmy Voters

[TrentMember Joined: May 14th, 2011 Topics: 144 Posts: 2360 View Predictions]

#230682

I have a few friends (4 to be exact) who are Emmy voters. Every year, a week or two after the Emmy’s, we meet up and discuss who was the most successful voter. This is the first year I am actually posting at GoldDerby after years of just reading, so I am going to share who they voted for with you.

 

They will be reffered to as #1, #2, etc. Three of them are white males, one is a white female.

 

#1 – on the panel for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Voted for Jim Parsons

Their reasoning: Thought he was the funniest and that Steve Carell’s episode was too mugged.

 

#2 – on the panel for Lead Actor in a Mini/Movie

Voted for Barry Pepper

Their reasoning: Disliked Carlos (wouldn’t explain why) and he thought Idris Elba would win for guest comedy actor so he didn’t vote for him. He was confused between the two men from The Kennedys which may have affected his vote.

NOTE: In the past, he has made other unique decisions such as voting for Holland Taylor last year, so I wasn’t surprised to hear that he made this decision.

 

#3 – had a panel overlap (VERY rare) – Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Voted for Julianna Margulies and Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Their reasoning: Torn between Margulies and Moss. Thought Julianna’s way of dealing with man issues was more realistic than Elisbabeth Moss’. Thought Ferguson was the most underrated of the Modern Family men.

 

#4 – on the panel for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Voted for “the girl from The Goonies” (Martha Plimpton)

Their reasoning: Thought that Linney, Falco and Fey had enough Emmy’s. Thought Poehler and McCarthy were too similar. Plimpton by default.

 

I use the accuracy of these guys and their voting methods every year to make my predictions, which is why sometimes I seem out there. Any comments on the voting methods of these guys?

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[Daniel MontgomeryKeymaster Joined: May 14th, 2011 Topics: 272 Posts: 2453 View Predictions]

#230684

Interesting to read. Not surprised by the antipathy towards “Carlos.” When it only got nominations for Ramirez and directing, it seemed like the TV Academy was making a point of it. Here is not only the most acclaimed miniseries of the year, but one of the most acclaimed films in any medium, and they passed it over for “The Pillars of the Earth” and “The Kennedys.” I personally didn’t love the miniseries — liked it, but not all of it — but surprised voters rejected such a highbrow, high-profile work of cinema when they usually fawn over the folks who come over from moviedom (i.e. Kate Winslet, Maggie Smith, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin Scorsese, etc.).

Also funny to learn that the voter who picked Barry Pepper was confused between the “Kennedys” stars. Did he think Barry Pepper played JFK? I’d be surprised if such confusion was widespread, but wouldn’t it be funny if it was. Maybe they thought he played Jackie. 

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[psychadelicboy33Participant Joined: Nov 3rd, 2010 Topics: 3 Posts: 1275 View Predictions]

#230685

Very intresting to hear this, (especially about the voter who voted for Hollland Taylor last year !) and thanks for sharing Beausalant!

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[EmmyfanParticipant Joined: Nov 26th, 2010 Topics: 37 Posts: 1943 View Predictions]

#230686

Thanks for sharing this info.  Do you have their votes for last year?

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[EmmyfanParticipant Joined: Nov 26th, 2010 Topics: 37 Posts: 1943 View Predictions]

#230687

Interesting to read. Not surprised by the antipathy towards “Carlos.” When it only got nominations for Ramirez and directing, it seemed like the TV Academy was making a point of it. Here is not only the most acclaimed miniseries of the year, but one of the most acclaimed films in any medium, and they passed it over for “The Pillars of the Earth” and “The Kennedys.” I personally didn’t love the miniseries — liked it, but not all of it — but surprised voters rejected such a highbrow, high-profile work of cinema when they usually fawn over the folks who come over from moviedom (i.e. Kate Winslet, Maggie Smith, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin Scorsese, etc.).

Also funny to learn that the voter who picked Barry Pepper was confused between the “Kennedys” stars. Did he think Barry Pepper played JFK? I’d be surprised if such confusion was widespread, but wouldn’t it be funny if it was. Maybe they thought he played Jackie. 

 

This is very interesting in how the decision to pick Julianna over Moss boiled down to the writing of the episode and not the performance. 

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[Anonymous Joined: Jan 1st, 1970 Topics: Posts: View Predictions]

#230688

I have a few friends (4 to be exact) who are Emmy voters. Every year, a week or two after the Emmy’s, we meet up and discuss who was the most successful voter. This is the first year I am actually posting at GoldDerby after years of just reading, so I am going to share who they voted for with you.

 

They will be reffered to as #1, #2, etc. Three of them are white males, one is a white female.

 

#1 – on the panel for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Voted for Jim Parsons

Their reasoning: Thought he was the funniest and that Steve Carell’s episode was too mugged.

 

#2 – on the panel for Lead Actor in a Mini/Movie

Voted for Barry Pepper

Their reasoning: Disliked Carlos (wouldn’t explain why) and he thought Idris Elba would win for guest comedy actor so he didn’t vote for him. He was confused between the two men from The Kennedys which may have affected his vote.

NOTE: In the past, he has made other unique decisions such as voting for Holland Taylor last year, so I wasn’t surprised to hear that he made this decision.

 

#3 – had a panel overlap (VERY rare) – Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Voted for Julianna Margulies and Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Their reasoning: Torn between Margulies and Moss. Thought Julianna’s way of dealing with man issues was more realistic than Elisbabeth Moss’. Thought Ferguson was the most underrated of the Modern Family men.

 

#4 – on the panel for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Voted for “the girl from The Goonies” (Martha Plimpton)

Their reasoning: Thought that Linney, Falco and Fey had enough Emmy’s. Thought Poehler and McCarthy were too similar. Plimpton by default.

 

I use the accuracy of these guys and their voting methods every year to make my predictions, which is why sometimes I seem out there. Any comments on the voting methods of these guys?

 

Thanks for sharing this Beau.

 

#1 Should quell some of those who always use that tired phrase “It’s best ACTOR in a Comedy”  Because we all know most people are voting for whomever they think is funniest.  I think people use Tony Shaloub as some berometer for this argument but ignore the fact that Monk at times was an extremely funny show.  He didn’t win in the final seasons because the show became increasingly less funny the longer it was on.

 

#2 I have trouble understanding what you meant or what this person was confused about and how their choice was made.  However, I care very little about the mini series/movie categories so I will forgive them.

 

#3 – I will sound mysoginistic but I believe this is your woman.  Can’t imagine a man factoring a. writing in an acting category b. using how a character dealt with “man issues” – in with how they vote.  I could be wrong.  But this person sounds kind of dense.  And voting Jesse Tyler Ferguson only hammers that point home.

 

#4 A lot of people said they felt she had the best tape so I am not surprised.

 

I would like to see how they voted overall… who got their 2nd, 3rd, etc place votes.  And I’d love to hear how they voted in the past.

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[TrentMember Joined: May 14th, 2011 Topics: 144 Posts: 2360 View Predictions]

#230689

This is gonna be a long post.

 

Interesting points from all of you. I will address every question in one post.

 

Margulies/Moss – I don’t think it was as much decided by writing as it was performance. Moss is a younger woman on a show dominated by men. Her srtuggles with her relationship are clearly going to be less realistic than Margulies, who is the true lead on a female driven show that is ABOUT her problems with the men in her life. Also, The Good Wife is set in modern times, which makes it much more relatable. 

 

The Kennedys – Let me better explain that. He disliked Carlos a lot and felt that Idris Elba had a better shot in his other category. Liked The Kennedys the best and didn’t pay attention to who played which character.

 

Their rankings for 2011 (which I should have put in the original post) were:

#1: Parsons, Galecki, LeBlanc, CK, Carell, Baldwin

#2: Pepper, Kinnear, Fishburne, Elba, Hurt, Ramirez

#3 Lead Actress: Margulies, Moss, Britton, Hargitay, Bates, Enos

#3 Supp. Actor: Ferguson, Burrell, O’Neill, Cryer, Stonestreet, Colfer

#4: Plimpton, Poehler, McCarthy, Falco, Linney, Fey

 

I’ve been discussing Emmy’s with these four since 2007 so I have their rankings (which took me a while to find on my computer) for every yeay between.

 

2010:

#1 (Lead Comedy Actor): Shalhoub, Parsons, Baldwin, David, Morrison, Carell

#2 (Supp. Comedy Actress): Taylor, Krakowski, Bowen, Lynch, Vergara, Wiig

#3 (Lead Drama Actor): Laurie, Hall, Hamm, Cranston, Fox, Chandler

#4 (Supp. Mini Actor): Strathairn, Goodman, Pryce, Stewart, Gambon

 

2009:

#1 (Lead Comedy Actress): Parker, Silverman, Collette, Applegate, Fey, Dreyfus

#2 (Lead Drama Actor): Hamm, Cranston, Hall, Laurie, Baker, Byrne

#3 (Supp. Comedy Actor): Morgan, McBrayer, Cryer, Wilson, Harris, Dillon

#4 (Guest Comedy Actress): Fey, Stritch, Aniston, Baranski, Rowlands, White

 

2008 (they all had comedy, very rare occurence):

#1 (Supp. Comedy Actor): Harris, Piven, Wilson, Dillon, Cryer

#2 (Lead Comedy Actress): Applegate, Fey, Ferrera, Parker, Dreyfus

#3 (Guest Comedy Actor): Arnett, Torn, Conway, Buscemi, Berman

#4 (Supp. Comedy Actor): Wilson, Harris, Cryer, Piven, Dillon

 

2007:

#1 (Lead Drama Actress): Falco, Sedgwick, Field, Hargitay, Driver, Arquette

#2 (Supp. Comedy Actor): Dillon, Piven, Cryer, Wilson, Harris

#3 (Supp. Drama Actor): O’Quinn, Imperioli, Emerson, Shatner, Oka, Knight

#4 (Supp. Comedy Actress): Perkins, Ferrell, Pressley, Williams, Fischer, Taylor

 

They were voters before that but that was before I knew them.

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[Daniel MontgomeryKeymaster Joined: May 14th, 2011 Topics: 272 Posts: 2453 View Predictions]

#230690

Thanks again for all this information, beausalant!

I’m still not entirely clear on the Moss/Margulies difference. Why is Moss’s performance necessarily less realistic just because she’s on a period drama dominated by men? Whether one actor is the true lead on a female-driven show seems like a different issue. How does that affect the realism of their performances?

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[TrentMember Joined: May 14th, 2011 Topics: 144 Posts: 2360 View Predictions]

#230691

I have no idea, I wasn’t the one voting . But personally I found Margulies’ performance better than Moss’.

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[DS0816Participant Joined: Sep 15th, 2011 Topics: 18 Posts: 642 View Predictions]

#230692

I think what this tells us is that numerous members of the Academy are not well-informed.

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[EmmyfanParticipant Joined: Nov 26th, 2010 Topics: 37 Posts: 1943 View Predictions]

#230693

This is gonna be a long post.

 

Interesting points from all of you. I will address every question in one post.

 

Margulies/Moss – I don’t think it was as much decided by writing as it was performance. Moss is a younger woman on a show dominated by men. Her srtuggles with her relationship are clearly going to be less realistic than Margulies, who is the true lead on a female driven show that is ABOUT her problems with the men in her life. Also, The Good Wife is set in modern times, which makes it much more relatable. 

 

 

The Kennedys – Let me better explain that. He disliked Carlos a lot and felt that Idris Elba had a better shot in his other category. Liked The Kennedys the best and didn’t pay attention to who played which character.

 

Their rankings for 2011 (which I should have put in the original post) were:

#1: Parsons, Galecki, LeBlanc, CK, Carell, Baldwin

#2: Pepper, Kinnear, Fishburne, Elba, Hurt, Ramirez

#3 Lead Actress: Margulies, Moss, Britton, Hargitay, Bates, Enos

#3 Supp. Actor: Ferguson, Burrell, O’Neill, Cryer, Stonestreet, Colfer

#4: Plimpton, Poehler, McCarthy, Falco, Linney, Fey

 

I’ve been discussing Emmy’s with these four since 2007 so I have their rankings (which took me a while to find on my computer) for every yeay between.

 

2010:

#1 (Lead Comedy Actor): Shalhoub, Parsons, Baldwin, David, Morrison, Carell

#2 (Supp. Comedy Actress): Taylor, Krakowski, Bowen, Lynch, Vergara, Wiig

#3 (Lead Drama Actor): Laurie, Hall, Hamm, Cranston, Fox, Chandler

#4 (Supp. Mini Actor): Strathairn, Goodman, Pryce, Stewart, Gambon

 

2009:

#1 (Lead Comedy Actress): Parker, Silverman, Collette, Applegate, Fey, Dreyfus

#2 (Lead Drama Actor): Hamm, Cranston, Hall, Laurie, Baker, Byrne

#3 (Supp. Comedy Actor): Morgan, McBrayer, Cryer, Wilson, Harris, Dillon

#4 (Guest Comedy Actress): Fey, Stritch, Aniston, Baranski, Rowlands, White

 

2008 (they all had comedy, very rare occurence):

#1 (Supp. Comedy Actor): Harris, Piven, Wilson, Dillon, Cryer

#2 (Lead Comedy Actress): Applegate, Fey, Ferrera, Parker, Dreyfus

#3 (Guest Comedy Actor): Arnett, Torn, Conway, Buscemi, Berman

#4 (Supp. Comedy Actor): Wilson, Harris, Cryer, Piven, Dillon

 

2007:

#1 (Lead Drama Actress): Falco, Sedgwick, Field, Hargitay, Driver, Arquette

#2 (Supp. Comedy Actor): Dillon, Piven, Cryer, Wilson, Harris

#3 (Supp. Drama Actor): O’Quinn, Imperioli, Emerson, Shatner, Oka, Knight

#4 (Supp. Comedy Actress): Perkins, Ferrell, Pressley, Williams, Fischer, Taylor

 

They were voters before that but that was before I knew them.

 

 

Thank you for sharing this information Beausalant.  Do you think that you will get the opportunity to help them cast their votes in the future?

 

When our predictions do not win, we all wonder what were the voters thinking when they cast their vote.  You were able to provide some of that insight of why the voters voted the way they did in 2011.  A lot of us try to predict winners a lot based on range and impact and to a certain extent – screentime.  This insight shows us that the voters do not consider this. 

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[EmmyfanParticipant Joined: Nov 26th, 2010 Topics: 37 Posts: 1943 View Predictions]

#230694

T. Beau,

Can you ask your voter friends if they voted in the 2005 Lead Actress in a Comedy when Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, Terri Hatcher, Patricia Heaton and Jane Kaczmarek were nominated?  If they did, can you ask if they remember their votes.

Also, ask if they voted in 2004 Supporting Actress in a Comedy when Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Megan Mullaly and Doris Roberts were nominated.

Thanks so much.

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[TrentMember Joined: May 14th, 2011 Topics: 144 Posts: 2360 View Predictions]

#230695

They’ve been voting since 2001, so I’ll email them all and find out. Chances are at least one of them was on the ballot for one of those.

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[TrentMember Joined: May 14th, 2011 Topics: 144 Posts: 2360 View Predictions]

#230696

Hi.

I just got an email back from one voters (still waiting on the other three). He said he did not vote for Comedy Supporting Actress in 2004, but he did in 2005 and said that he voted for “Doris in a heartbeat.” 

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[MissyGalMember Joined: Nov 29th, 2010 Topics: 0 Posts: 384 View Predictions]

#230697

Thanks for sharing all of this!

Also, it’s good to know that tapes really don’t play a part in voters minds. 

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