2021 Primetime Emmy Awards Show

The biggest television event has finally happened. Once again the red carpet saw the elegant and chic celebrities wearing gowns, tuxedos, and the most expensive accessories. It’s sort of a vanity fair where people celebrate achievements based on talent and merit. However, we enjoy watching our favorite TV stars more than we sometimes care to admit. Will they or won’t they win? The show is usually live, so it’s like watching basketball betting lines – you never know what will happen. Every year you get nervous with the nominated person, waiting for them to hear: “and the Emmy goes to…”.

This year the Emmys celebrated its 73rd show. It’s sort of like an Oscar, but for TV shows. Lately, television has been becoming bigger and bigger. You can see the quality changing for the better, you can see how much budget is put into production, and how lots of  A-list stars are becoming more active in the world of TV. It wasn’t always like this and the Emmys weren’t always this big. The award show has a lot of history. So grab your popcorn and soda, we will dig into the history of this beautiful award show.

How it All Started

The first statuette was presented on January 25, 1949, at the Hollywood Sports Club, but it only recognized Los Angeles programs. The term “Emmy” is derived from the French word “immy,” which was the name of the cathode tube used in the first television cameras (short for image orthicon). The atom in the woman’s hands represents television as a science, and the wings behind her back represent television as an art form. In 1950, the Emmy became a national award, covering projects across the country.

Originally, there was only one Emmy, which was given out each year before the start of a new television season. Everything changed in 1974 when the Daytime Emmy Awards were established to recognize the best daytime programs. Following that, the “Emmy” became the name of the awards series, and the recognition of the best prime-time series and personalities became known as the “Primetime Emmy Award.” Furthermore, in the early 1970s, the “International Emmy Award” was established to encourage the best TV programs according to academics.

The Emmy Statuette

Louis McManus, a television engineer, designed the Emmy statuette, which depicts a winged woman holding an atom, and used his wife as a model. Before settling on McManus’ design in 1948, the Television Academy rejected a total of forty-seven proposals. According to the authors, it was this statuette, made in the shape of an angel with wings, symbolizing the muse of art, who holds an atom in her hands surrounded by electrons as a symbol of science and technology, that inspired them to claim that television is a synthesis of art, science, and technology.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay 

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