Andy DehnartThe people who cast reality shows, competition series, and all other kinds of unscripted television will now be eligible for an Emmy, a recognition of their incredibly important work.
The Television Academy announced the new category, officially called Outstanding Casting in a Reality Series, late Friday, saying that it “has been added to recognize casting directors responsible for identifying and assembling ensemble casts for structured, unstructured or competition programs within the Reality genre.”
The Television Academy has also added a category for “Outstanding Music Supervision,” for which reality shows will compete against every other kind of show, and added a category for “Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Within An Unscripted Program.”
There are already three categories for casting scripted series—comedies; dramas; and limited series, movies, or specials—that have been around since the 1990s.
This is a welcome change. After all, without a great cast, nothing else matters in a reality television show. Of course, a wonderful series with a great cast can still be wrecked by bad network notes, but let’s focus on the positive.