That was quick. Just a month after announcing that hour-longs would have to screened by a panel before being allowed to submit as comedies in the Emmy race, the TV Academy announced the first batch of series that have been deemed eligible.
Read More Emmy Comedy Clarification: TV Academy Says Rule Changes "Just a Start"
Shameless, Jane the Virgin and Glee all met the two-thirds vote of the nine-member panel required to be lumped in with comedies, and not dramas, now that the TV Academy has deemed hour-longs as dramas by default. For Shameless, it means that the Showtime series won't have to shift back after last year's move from drama.
More series will likely be announced in the coming weeks, including a decision on where Orange Is the New Black will compete after making its Emmy debut as a comedy in 2014 — despite its hour-long status.
"These are not hard-and-fast rules," academy chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum told The Hollywood Reporter in February. "This has been a gray area in our rules for quite a while."
