The TV IV talk:IVy Awards/2008/Best Drama Series

Rescue Me

Rescue Me did indeed air "minisodes" this year. So in theory, it's eligible for IVy Awards. However, this is simply one of those cases the IVy Awards were never meant to address. On the one hand, the rules don't say anything about minisodes making a series ineligible. On the other, they do say that dramedies are categorized according to runtime, and in that case, the minisodes (if eligible) would be in the Comedy categories, while regular episodes would be in the Drama categories. But this seems like a silly distinction we wouldn't otherwise make, and since these awards are supposed to be fun and open to suggestion and not meant to get bogged down in technicality rules, I'm leaving this open for discussion now. Are the minisodes eligible? If so, should they stay in the Drama category as episodes of a typically one-hour drama? Your thoughts welcome. -- JCaesar^talk 02:17, 11 March 2009 (EDT)

I actually contemplated making a Best Web/Mini/Mobi-sodes category as they're getting very common and some are very good but I forgot about it when I actually set up the pages. I don't think they're really comparable to full series as they're not made on the same level. Does a "Minisode" count as an episode per the rules? The whole set of minisodes for Rescue Me barely adds up to one regular episode in length and doesn't have a cohesive story. Also the Rescue Me ones are basically pure comedy so I don't think they fit this category at all. --The-jam 23:26, 11 March 2009 (EDT)

To be honest, again, this is just one of those cases the IVy Awards were never designed to address. Technically, the show is a 60-minute show, it's just that the episodes this year all happened to be significantly shorter. But when NBC was doing its "supersized Thursdays" with Friends and the other shows, or when they were running two episodes of The Office back-to-back as two parters for a while, we wouldn't have suddenly called those dramas. (Technically, I know, under the rules we never would have, but you get my point.) I really think Rescue Me should be eligible, given that we didn't foresee this, in the Drama category - and I suspect the point is moot because I sincerely doubt it will garner enough votes to receive a nomination this year. Then for future years, we can absolutely make a "Best Minisode" category, which I think would've been a great idea this year and I wholeheartedly endorse for next year. -- JCaesar^talk 01:00, 12 March 2009 (EDT)

It appears there's an upper limit of 20 answers in a single poll on the blog and there are 21 proposed series so I'm cutting Rescue Me as the most obvious cut. --The-jam 10:44, 12 March 2009 (EDT)

Riiiiight. Because of the 11th hour addition of the series (which was not grandfathered in) and the lack of time really for anybody to discuss its addition, that's fine. Again, I think it's moot, and it wouldn't have taken too many votes, anyway. However, just so you know, the plan for categories with 20 or more candidates proposed (which we came close to having last year), should that occur, was to split the candidates in half and have two (or three or four or however many necessary) categories. So the way this would have been handled would have been to have a group of 11 and a group of 10, split by alphabetical order. Yes, this would technically mean people could cast two votes, but if the blog's software had allowed it, people would have gotten three votes per category anyway the way editors do on the editors' choice awards, anyway. And besides, I don't think a 50-50 split would significantly alter the voting results. The top five (or more in event of ties for fifth place) vote getters from both categories together (not each) would then be nominees with no run-off voting. But it's a moot point now and as the person who slipped in a questionable proposal for Rescue Me, I withdraw its nomination this year. -- JCaesar^talk 22:45, 13 March 2009 (EDT)