Emmys: "The Office" Comes Up Short

Wed., May. 19, 2004 11:00 AM PDT by Lia Haberman

The British aren't coming?to the Emmys, that is.

BBC America's breakthrough hit The Office, arguably the funniest thing on television, is officially ineligible to compete in the Primetime Emmy Awards because the show comes up short of qualified episodes.

(Mmwhaha. That's the sound of deliriously happy Tinseltown producers rejoicing at the lack of competition.)

The sleeper hit made show-biz types sit up and take notice in January when it swept the Golden Globes comedy category, taking home Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy, versus the likes of Sex and the City and Will & Grace, and Best Actor in a Leading Role, Musical or Comedy Series for star and creator Ricky Gervais, who beat out Matt LeBlanc, Bernie Mac, Eric McCormack and Tony Shalhoub.

The show, about a megalomaniac middle manager of a paper company and his tormented office underlings, has also won a Peabody Award, numerous BAFTAs and sweeping critical acclaim. But it won't win an Emmy, at least not this year.

But banish the thought of a nefarious plot undertaken by Hollywood's funny guys to muscle Gervais out of the running. BBC America chalks the matter up to an "unfortunate issue of timing." The first episode of the second season was entered for International Emmy Awards consideration last year, making the segment ineligible for this year's primetime honors and lowering the show's total number of available episodes from six to five.

At the time, "it didn't seem to matter," said BBC America spokesman Matt Marshall because "the show as a whole did not seem to have a chance to qualify," since at the time eight episodes were required to be eligible for Emmy consideration. (It actually took three episodes to qualify, but eight episodes were sent out to Emmy voters.)

In fact, the Academy of Television of Arts and Sciences recently adjusted its policy from eight episodes to six because of worthy cable series like The Office, says Emmy spokesman John Leverence.

But that still left The Office one episode shy of meeting the criteria.

According to Marshall, the show's producers were unaware last year that the qualification requirements would be altered. But the Brit net isn't bitter at the Academy for not alerting them ahead of time. "They've been incredible helpful," he said, "but it's just impossible to resolve."

The cable net even considered airing a two-part Office finale special, scheduled to run this fall, in time to meet the the Emmys' May 21 deadline but ultimately decided against the move.

In related 9-5 news, NBC confirmed this week that it has ordered a U.S. version of The Office for the network's 2004-05 midseason schedule starring Steve Carell (Bruce Almighty) as the obnoxious boss with Gervais as an executive producer on the project.