It’s hard not to frown and smile slightly at streamers’ recent obsession with live events. After all, television began as a live medium. In the early golden age of the small screen, before film, virtually all programming was live, and then videotape became more flexible.
Of course, live music never went away, and major sporting events and award ceremonies continue to be some of the most-watched television shows on broadcast television. Streaming, on the other hand, was created specifically around the idea of on-demand. That means you can watch what you want, when you want. No time zone required. Still, there’s something about watching a spectacle at the same time as millions of others, and eventually even streamers caught on to the concept.
And I don’t hate them. In fact, that’s one of the nice things about seeing it return to the zeitgeist. Even though we’re moving away from monoculture, it’s still great fun to get together and watch something thrilling at the same time. For example, Netflix’s Skyscraper Live, in which independent climber Alex Honnold scales the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 (the world’s 11th tallest building) in just 1 hour and 35 minutes, was a blast to watch while participating in social media discussions (well, when I wasn’t looking away in complete anxiety).
When I spoke to Honnold later, I got the feeling that it was a piece of cake for him. After all, this is what he does for a living. But for those of us watching at home, fear and curiosity about what would happen gripped our television sets. (Even if, let’s be honest, things got very quiet at times during Honnold’s very clinical rise to the top.)
If it were to be nominated in the Outstanding Variety Program (Live) category, “Skyscraper Live” would be a bit of an anomaly. All recent nominees and winners have been either comedy shows, musical performances, or awards ceremonies.
Last year, “SNL 50: The Anniversary Special” competed with the Oscars, “Beyoncé Bowl,” “Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar” and “SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert” to win the category. Although there will be no live “SNL” specials this year, the 2024 Oscars have been nominated every year since the category’s inception. The Super Bowl halftime show has also been nominated every year since 2020, and won in 2022 for the episode featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Mary J. Blige.
Not to discount the Oscars or Super Bowl halftime shows, but their predictability makes the Variety Specials (Live) category somewhat of a yawn. That’s why we’re intrigued by the possibility of more original live events entering this category, like “Skyscraper Live.”
In 2018, the TV Academy divided variety specials into live and pre-recorded categories, eliminating the confusion that “variety specials” and “outstanding special class programs” existed interchangeably. At least now it’s clear where the show is going, depending on whether it’s recorded or live.
But that brings us to Variety’s special (pre-recorded) conundrum. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or if there just aren’t enough variety specials anymore, but this category is starting to be dominated by stand-up special nominations. Last year, Conan O’Brien won the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Award for American Humor, beating out comedy stand-up shows by Adam Sandler, Ali Wong, Bill Barr, Sarah Silverman and Nate Bargatze. In 2024, three of the five nominated films were stand-up specials (the winner was “Dick Van Dyke 1998”).
There’s a reason these categories are called “diversity.” We hope our love for big television events, both live and taped, extends to the Emmy Awards.
