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Has the Emmy process improved?

Over the years, the Daytime Emmys have made significant tweaks to the voting process, from how judges vote (nowadays, they can watch reels online from the comfort of their own homes) to what they are voting on; whereas Emmy hopefuls were once required to submit every scene in which they appeared in the episode of their choice, performers can now curate a reel to reflect only their strongest material from up to four different shows, up to 20 minutes per performer.

The nomination process that precedes the Blue Ribbon judging panel from which the winners are ultimately determined has also gotten a makeover. “Back in the day, you’d just get a list of names and you’d check off the ones you thought should get nominated. You never had to actually watch their work,” marvels one veteran. “It’s sort of crazy to look back on that. The way it was done, if you recognized their name, it could just be an automatic check next to their name, with no [knowledge] of whether they’d actually done Emmy-worthy work that year or had Emmy-worthy story. I also think it was harder for new people to break in that way. If someone was giving the best performance ever but had no name recognition, they didn’t stand a chance!”