Numerous times, the Emmy folks nominated UM for Outstanding Informational Series, but they never gave the show a single Emmy award! :mad:

What gives? Are they so clueless about the show's impact? Are the Emmy Awards rigged to the point where such a TV series could never win? Is the series not "popular," "trendy," or "critically-acclaimed" enough to win an Emmy?

I suspect that it is a combination of those things. Maybe I'm wrong about the awards system being rigged, but there is no doubt in my mind that it is so slanted in favor of certain shows that certain others are not given a fair shot at winning.

The fact that UM never won an Emmy award is a big letdown. However, I take some comfort in knowing that at least one awards group did a better job at honoring UM; the show won some ASCAP awards. In 1992 and 1993, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) gave the show an award for Top TV Series. :)

Interesting topic, Kane. I never watch awards shows anymore. Especially the Emmy's and the Grammies. They just seem really silly most of the time. Just take a look at the lineup of Informational Series nominees from 1990:
AMERICA'S MOST WANTED
COPS
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
SMITHSONIAN WORLD
UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

Entertainment Tonight? Seriously? Of course, if you throw a PBS show in with a bunch of popular cops & robbers-type shows (I'm not saying that's what UM is, just how it might be perceived by people who don't watch it), the PBS show will be taken more seriously. I think UM was probably lumped in with the "fluff" shows in this category.

In 1991, UM was up against Ken Burns' Civil War series, which was not only insanely popular, but also considered the gold standard in documentary series.

That's just two examples. I guess my point is that the Emmy's aren't really about lasting impact. They're just a big commercial for the television industry, with popular shows nominated so that everyone will watch. The critically acclaimed shows usually win so that people think the awards have some gravitas. Whether a show wins an Emmy rarely influences my chances of watching it, and the fact that UM never won doesn't change the way I feel about it:)