“Squid Game” Is Eligible To Be Nominated For The Emmy’s But It’s Complicated — Here’s Why
Netflix‘s Squid Game is really proving itself as one of the most popular productions on the streaming platform, as it continues to dominate rankings worldwide. The dystopian series premiered a few weeks ago, but it still remains on the top of the charts in more than 80 countries. And with such global success, the talk of awards ceremonies naturally followed — and Squid Game‘s eligibility in one particular awards ceremony has started to make headlines.
The prestigious American television awards ceremony, the Emmy Awards has become widely discussed following the incredible success of the South Korean series. As this topic becomes the talk of the town amongst the show’s fans, however, things are proving to be a little more complicated than expected.
According to American entertainment media website Variety, Squid Game is more than eligible to be nominated for an Emmy Award this year. Following its worldwide success, that comes as a no brainer. Due to the series’ release on Netflix, which is an American streaming platform, there is no hesitation that the K-Drama would be qualified to nominated for the primetime awards program.
Primetime Emmy Awards’ rule states that “foreign television production is ineligible unless it is the result of a co-production (both financially and creatively) between US and foreign partners, which precedes the start of production, and with a purpose to be shown on US television.”
However, the tricky part comes down to whether Netflix will nominate Squid Game for the Primetime Emmy Award or the International Emmy Award because according to the Emmy’s rules — no production can be nominated for both.
The reason behind the dilemma ultimately boils down to whether Squid Game will actually have a chance to win an award, if they choose to go ahead with the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony. This specific ceremony is one of the United States’ most prestigious awards ceremonies in the broadcasting industry and it is strictly catered to American television programs.
If Netflix were to nominate Squid Game for the Primetime Emmy Awards, it may be difficult for the show to win due to it being a South Korean program. While the series went on to see worldwide success, given the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, it is virtually impossible for non-English programs — especially those that have been produced outside of the United States — to win an award.
In addition to that, Netflix has always submitted its non-English programs to the International Emmy Awards. For 2020, Netflix submitted Delhi Crime, Elizabeth Is Missing and Nobody’s Looking to the International Emmy Award’s, rather than to the Primetime version.
If Netflix nominates Squid Game for the International Emmy Awards, their success is almost guaranteed, but the exposure and recognition just wouldn’t be the same versus if the series were to have won a Primetime Emmy Award.
If Squid Game were to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, it would be South Korea’s first ever nomination for the primetime awards ceremony. With the global success and the phenomenon that occurred with the premiere of the show, there is a chance that the Netflix series could take home a trophy.
However, with all of that said, there is still some lingering hesitation. Industry insiders believe that despite the global popularity, it may still be too early for a non-English television program to win an award at the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony.
So ultimately, it’s a battle between international Emmy success, but less exposure for the series — or potential primetime Emmy failure, but more exposure.
With all of the factors and complications, Netflix’s production team has quite the decision to make regarding Squid Game‘s nomination for the 2022 Emmy Awards.
