COVID isn't gone yet, no thanks to the rise of the Delta variant. With this spike, especially in California, the Television Academy has added a vaccination requirement to all attendees of this year’s Emmy ceremonies. This year, the Emmys will be split into three ceremonies over the weekend of Sept. 11 and Sept. 12, starting with a Saturday evening event focused on categories such as cinematography, costumes, hairstyling, production design, editing, and sound mixing.
On Sunday afternoon, the ceremony will focus on animated programming, as well as non-scripted fields like reality/competition host, narrator, documentary filmmaking, structured reality program, and unstructured reality program. The remaining categories will be presented on Sunday evening and will include guest actor and actress, music, and lyrics, short-form series, TV movies, variety sketch series, variety special, and writing for a variety special.
The Creative Arts Emmys will be held at the Microsoft Theatre at L.A, but it'll have a limited audience. Audiences can't show their proof of vaccination only once, they will have to show proof for each show. The lineup of the 25 categories for September 19th's ceremony has been revealed by the Television Academy. Though, not all of the categories are presented here as the lists for each show are huge. So you can see the lists in their entirety on Variety. With that said, here are some of the categories that will be presented.
Outstanding Comedy Series
Outstanding Competition Program
Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series
Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series
Outstanding Directing For A Limited or Anthology Series Or Movie
Outstanding Drama Series
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series Or Movie
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series Or Movie
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
As you can see, the categories look fairly organized. After this year's Oscar blunder with putting the Best Actor category last rather than Beat Picture as it always had been, it made things really awkward, especially considering that the late Chadwick Boseman didn't win. The Oscars clearly thought he would as a special tribute, but Anthony Hopkins won instead. Hopefully, the Emmys don't do the same thing, but judging by the lists, which marks the most important categories first and the least last while sticking in alphabetical order, it's safe to say that there probably won't be another blunder.
The 2021 Emmys will premiere on September 11th, 12th 18th, and 19th.