‘State of the Union’ Wasn’t Even Nominated at First, But Wins Short-Form Series Emmy
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“State of the Union” was initially snubbed for an Emmy nomination as outstanding short-form comedy or drama series — but it wound up winning the award itself on Sunday night.
The SundanceTV short, which starred Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd as a couple meeting in a pub before couples counseling — and discussing their troubled marriage — ran for ten, 10-minute episodes in May. The short aired both on SundanceTV as a week-long 10 p.m. strip, and also on SundanceTV.com and the SundanceTV app.
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Not only did “State of the Union” win in the key short-form series category, but Pike won for actress in a short-form comedy or drama and O’Dowd won for actor in a short-form comedy or drama.
“Seems dodgy,” O’Dowd joked backstage of the unusual path of “State of the Union” from snub to win. “But I’m delighted. It’s a really strong show and I hope people get a chance to see it on Sundance.”
“State of the Union” is a bit of a precursor to the oncoming expected onslaught of short-form programming coming in the next year, thanks in part to the new Quibi programming service. But the show wasn’t nominated at first — it was a rules fluke that allowed it to squeeze in at the last minute.
Two Emmy nods for the AMC’s short-form series “Better Call Saul Employee Training: Madrigal Electromotive Security” were pulled a few days after the nominations were annouced after it was deemed ineligible for competition.
The Television Academy recently discovered that the series didn’t meet the minimum required runtime of two minutes for at least six episodes — a new stipulation that was added to the Emmy rules this year.
As a result, the show’s nomination for outstanding short form comedy or drama series, as well as star Jonathan Banks’ nomination for outstanding actor in a short form comedy or drama series, were revoked.
In 2016, “Veep’s” Peter MacNicol was disqualified in the outstanding actor in a comedy category after it was determined he appeared in more than half of the season, violating the rules.
Like this year, it was the replacement nominee — in that case, “Girls” guest star Peter Scolari, went on to win the Emmy that year.
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