SyFriday: Why Not An Emmy For 'Battlestar Galactica'?

I tried to find that story because it had some amazing data that took me hours to put together. But I couldn't find it. And that's sad because I simply don't have the energy after my 90-minute SyFy Radio marathon Wednesday night to look it up again ... but it would so support this column.

I think that 2008 is the year that "Battlestar Galactica" will go beyond acting and directing nominations and actually get at least one high-profile Emmy nod. And all of it stems from my belief that as long as you're showing new episodes in May, it's almost impossible for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to ignore you.

In my example, where it might be hiding in cyberspace, I took the nominees of like five previous years and showed that in every single case, the show broadcast episodes into May, which is right before the nominating period begins for the Emmy. I'm not sure if it's simply short-term memory by the Academy, or if it's just a coincidence. But if you're a series that didn't show any episodes in May, you're not going to get nominated for Outstanding Dramatic Series. That doesn't mean if you do show episodes in May, like "Battlestar Galactica" is doing for the first time next month, that you're automatically in. But it does seem like your chances go up.

It's not a science more than it is a happy coincidence. Even "The Sopranos" was showing episodes into May despite not being on a broadcast cable channel, and "Battlestar Galactica" came closest to broadcasting May episodes last year when its third season went into the late weeks of March. And what happened then? Ronald D. Moore and Felix Alcala were nominated for their writing and directing work.

So to be honest, I don't know if scheduling "Battlestar Galactica" later in the spring will help that much. But the SciFi Channel show did receive some buzz for it being the last season, and that usually gets the attention of the Academy before.

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