Emmys: ‘Homeland’ Set to Kick Off FYC Season

TV Academy members, get ready to start considering!

The 2017 Emmy Awards ceremony is roughly six months away (Sept. 17), but with the quantity and quality of great TV better than ever, it’s no wonder that TV networks’ “For Your Consideration” events are already about to begin. This season, the first of these almost nightly screening-panel-party promotional gatherings, which are scheduled through the TV Academy, will take place on Monday, April 3, and center around Showtime’s Homeland, the sixth season of which debuted Jan. 15 and the finale of which will air on April 9.

Emmys voters will gather at NeueHouse in Hollywood for a 7 p.m. screening of the season’s penultimate episode, which will have aired the night before, and scenes from the finale, which will not have been seen anywhere else before; an 8 p.m. panel discussion with stars Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, Rupert Friend and Elizabeth Marvel, executive producer/showrunner Alex Gansa and executive producer/director Lesli Linka Glatter; and a 9 p.m. rooftop soiree featuring the Ryan Cross Jazz Eclectic band playing off the feel of the show’s opening title sequence score.

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The FYC “pole position” always is highly coveted, since it marks the end of a long drought of events for the 20,000 members of the TV Academy, making it more appealing than one that follows weeks or months of similar gatherings. FYC dates are secured through a lottery system overseen by the TV Academy. A different network initially secured this first available date, but Showtime “challenged” their date, meaning that the pay cabler would be eligible to claim it if the original studio/network needed to cancel or find another date, which it did.

The previous five seasons of Homeland were broadcast in the fall, which is thought to make for a steeper climb to major Emmy nominations than a spring broadcast, since voters’ memories fade and interests are piqued by newer offerings. Homeland still managed series noms for every season but its third, but its backers didn’t want to dare the odds this year, hence its spring broadcast. A spokesperson for the show tells The Hollywood Reporter, “Fox 21 Television Studios and Showtime felt this was the ideal year to get out first due to beautifully-timed alignment of our season finale with the first week of Emmy season.”