The Emmys announced this year that the ‘Variety Talk’ and ‘Variety Sketch’ would be merged into one category. But following that announcement, they received so much backlash that they had to reverse the decision. While the ‘Variety Sketch’ is slowly losing more and more nominations, ‘Variety Talk’ is thriving. In 2016, both categories each had 6 nominees but in 2020 if they had kept the two merged would have a combined total of 5-6 nominees. Previously, both categories separately were getting as many nominations as eligible options.

The Academy addressed the controversy putting out this statement, “While the Academy remains concerned about the number of series produced and the relatively small pool of entries in the variety sketch genre, it acknowledges that the differences between variety sketch and talk programs merit separate consideration,” reads the Academy’s statement in part. “As the Academy continues to engage with industry leaders and constituents, it will always endeavor to uphold the integrity of the competition and be as fair as possible.”