The Hollywood Reporter’s ‘The Feed’ has an interview with Family Guy creator/writer/voice actor Seth MacFarlane discussing what it’s like to have the first-ever animated series nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award as “Outstanding Comedy Series”:
I think it is extremely encouraging for everyone who is busting their ass on these animated shows to have this happen. I have friends on “King of the Hill,” I have friends on “The Simpsons.” I feel like it is validation for all of these shows that they are now viewed as on the same playing field as the other comedies, because we are all really doing the same job. It took a long time to recognize single-camera comedies, and I think that it’s frustrating for a lot of the animated shows that we haven’t gotten the same treatment (as other comedies). It is nice that they stopped ignoring the fact that the animated shows are major players in the comedy landscape of television. This is a huge step forward for open-mindedness in the voting process.
The only thing that should be relevant is if you are doing a quality show or not. I think “The Simpsons” should have been nominated in the ’90s, when they were up against “Friends” and “Seinfeld.” “The Simpsons” were making a show that was on par with a lot of the shows nominated and better than a lot of them.
It is enough just to be nominated. I just think (winning) would be asking for too much change all at once. I doubt we would win. Although, I thought we were further away from Obama (winning) than we are, and that was a nice surprise. So, who knows?
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