Jessica with American Horror Story co-star Lily Rabe, the show’s producer/creator Ryan Murphy, and Zachary Quinto
You may or may not remember that in July American Horror Story: Season One earned 17 Emmy nominations. This tied it with Mad Men, and put it far ahead of Homeland, Downton Abbey, and Game of Thrones. So how did FX manage to be the only network not completely shut out of the drama category? Well, actually, they were.
American Horror Story‘s producers decided to submit the show into the “movie/mini-series” category instead of the “drama” category, arguing that because it is an anthology series (no continuing narrative elements between one season and the next) it could be considered in either grouping. They decided to enter it in the less competitive “mini-series” category, completely removing networks from a chance in the drama category.
Clearly it seemed to pay off when they received 17 Emmy nominations. Major categories included “Outstanding Miniseries”, “Lead Actress” for Connie Britton, “Supporting Actress” for both Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy, and “Supporting Actor” for Denis O’Hare. It also recieved recognition in technical categories for “Art Direction” (x2), “Casting”, “Costumes”, “Editing”, “Hairstyling”, “Main Title Design”,” Makeup”, “Prosthetic Makeup”, “Sound Editing” “Sound Mixing” and “Stunt Coordination.” That’s a mouthful, and very impressive! Especially considering the horror genre doesn’t often receive many Emmy nominations.
Despite these promising nominations, some criticisms along the way to the Emmy’s may have harmed American Horror Story‘s chances of sealing the deal in September Many critics disagreed with the producers’ decision to shy away from the drama category in favor of the mini-series category. The producers countered that they knew AHS would be a miniseries all along despite critics being unaware of the fact. Come time for the Emmy’s, AHS were only selected to win 2 Emmys: one for Jessica Lange as “Supporting Actress in a Miniseries” and one for “Hairstyling for a Miniseries”. Whether this happened because of some tainted opinions of the show, or because Game Change was a genuine front runner movie in the category, we can only hope American Horror Story‘s next season can hold it’s own in the Emmys, whether in the mini-series or drama category. Better believe I’ll be rooting for it.
American Horror Story 