May brings the beginning of the end for the 2017-2018 television season, and it’s the time of year where studios and networks around the television spectrum are kicking off their awareness campaigns for their shows — along with series actors, writers, producers, directors, and members of every other part of the production team — for the annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
The annual awards ceremony doesn’t occur until mid-September, but the industry takes this time each year to launch huge marketing efforts to get their people and properties in front of Emmy voters, to score the coveted nominations in acting and production categories — and this year, Star Trek: Discovery is part of the mix thanks to CBS’s efforts to get the freshman series a shot at this year’s ceremony.
Promotional screener DVD sets of Discovery’s first season have begun to beam down to members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Emmy Awards’ honorary organization, as part of the studio’s push to bring the newest Star Trek series into critical conversation during the annual nominating process.
A common publicity move for most Hollywood television productions, these screeners are mailed out to give potential Emmy voters a look at the series and advertise the various categories in which the show has been submitted for Emmy consideration by CBS — and of course, includes plenty of positive pull-quotes from different publications.
This year, CBS Television Studios has submitted Discovery for consideration in the following categories (as identified by the screener packaging):
- Outstanding Drama Series
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama
Sonequa Martin-Green (Burnham) - Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama
Doug Jones (Saru), Jason Isaacs (Lorca), Anthony Rapp (Stamets)
Shazad Latif (Voq / Tyler), Wilson Cruz (Culber) - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama
Michelle Yeoh (Georgiou), Mary Wiseman (Tilly), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell) - Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
They have also submitted the series for additional categories, which will be part of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards which will be held prior to the Primetime ceremony this Fall:
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
James Frain (Sarek), Rainn Wilson (Mudd), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol) - Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell) - Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special
- Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes
- Outstanding Visual Effects
- Outstanding Production Design For a Narrative Period or Fantasy Program
- Outstanding Main Title Design
- Outstanding Music Composition For a Series (Original Dramatic Score)
- Outstanding Cinematography For a Single-Camera Series (One Hour)
Of course, submitting for consideration is by no means a guarantee that the series will be officially nominated for the Emmys, but it’s promising to see CBS put their weight behind the show as the industry nears awards season.
We’ll find out Star Trek: Discovery gets an official nod from the Television Academy in one or more of these categories when the official nominee list is revealed June 12.