Awards HQ August 8: John Landgraf on FX Branding; ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Producer on Working with Legends; More!

Is FX still a network? Yes and no. And that continues to be the sticky question facing awards shows as they determine whether to credit FX for its shows that run exclusively on Hulu.

Under chairman John Landgraf, FX now sees itself as a brand in the vein of Marvel and Lucasfilm, but under Disney General Entertainment oversight, developing/producing/marketing its own content that is then seen mostly on Hulu. (FX the channel, run by Debra O’Connell and Chuck Saftler, falls under Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution.) As I’ve mentioned before, Nat Geo shows on Disney+ are credited to Disney+. So are Marvel and Lucasfilm shows. But because FX was historically a channel, and it still is (even though the linear network is no longer under Landgraf’s domain), it’s a definite gray area.

Last week, following FX’s day at the virtual TV Critics Assn. press tour, I asked Landgraf about this. And even he admits it’s not an easy answer:

AWARDS HQ: As you’re changing what we’ve known to be FX in order to think of FX as a brand as opposed to a linear destination, what’s your take from the awards perspective? Should FX be credited if it’s not a destination? In many ways, Hulu is the network.

LANDGRAF: This year all of our nominations were credited to FX. The world of television used to be pretty binary. In film there was Marvel, there was DC, there was Pixar. There were brands that were distributed in theaters that they didn’t own or control, where the distribution system was essentially rented. But in TV, there was really no such thing as a branded maker of programming that wasn’t also a destination.

What I come back to is what benefits the consumer. And I think the consumer would want to know, ‘if I subscribe to this product, what am I getting for my subscription?’ So I think it makes sense to credit awards nominations to the product, to the to the platform. But I think it equally makes sense to credit the nominations to the brand. Because if there’s a brand that is superb and making highly acclaimed and highly award-winning shows, that’s also a value to the consumer. The various places that we count in and report are struggling a little bit with taking something that was binary and trying to make it non-binary. I think it shouldn’t be binary.

Let me put it to you differently. Say you’re in a situation where you go to the notion that only one [network or outlet] can be associated with a nomination. Well, you have just unilaterally decided that brands don’t matter to consumers. That only subscriber services’ products matter to consumers and brands don’t. Because what you’ve done is you’ve thrown a massive advantage toward services like Amazon or Netflix or Apple — where the brand and the platform are one thing and there’s no differentiation between the two of them — and against any services that might choose to have brand differentiation inside those services.

So you have essentially decided for the consumer that the best possible way of organizing something is in a unitary brand with no brand differentiation inside a platform. And I would respectfully say that I think that the only constituency that really gets to make that decision or ought to be able to make that decision is the consumer. And the only way to do that is to credit both.

AWARDS HQ: You started to build up this “FX on Hulu” sub-brand but then reversed course. Why move away from FX on Hulu after having just established it?

LANDGRAF: What you’re talking about really is a brand on a location. That’s why FX on Hulu was was invented, to call it a brand on location. But a lot of people took it as a location on a location. It takes time to re educate people to the notion that FX is not only a linear cable television channel. So, for people for whom FX is a location, then it sounded like we were saying, ‘Hey, here’s a hat on a hat,’ as opposed to a brand on a platform. I think it was helpful on an interim basis. Because we were moving the whole of a thing called FX, well over 2000 episodes of television.

In the long run what we what we decided is we redesigned our logo. This gold logo, that’s new. We changed the aspect ratio to make it more horizontal so that it sits above show titles better than what we used to have. We changed the design and the aspect ratio to something that’s a little bit more like a Disney or Lucasfilm or a Marvel. This at least conveys to the consumer what we want, which is that, ‘we made this, we developed it, we commissioned it, we publicized it, we marketed it, and are presenting it to you.’

So the decision was taken to let FX be above the titles, as the presenting/branding sponsor, and then yield the end card, which is the positional location [to Hulu]. To make it clear, we’re not the thing you have to subscribe to if you want to watch this. We’re not a streaming service. That’s Hulu, we’re a brand that makes good stuff, all of which is available on Hulu, and some of which is available on the FX channel.

AWARDS HQ: Does getting rid of “FX on Hulu” also make it easier to if, say, for whatever reason, Disney shifts its focus to Disney+ and perhaps sells Hulu? Does this allow FX then to easily move its content over to another platform like Disney+?

LANDGRAF: To be clear, I’m not aware of any plans to do that. But it’s not my decision and all we can tell you is what I’m trying to do is what we really wanted to do to begin with. Which is not just be a location, but really be a distinctive and specific brand. FX is not competing with Amazon. It is not competing with Netflix. Disney is competing with Amazon and Netflix. I just felt, let’s embrace this as a good bit of metamorphosis.

Meanwhile, Landgraf also admits that he was wrong before about Peak TV — but he’s sticking his neck out again.

“I’m going to foolishly make another prediction, which is that 2022 will be the high watermark” of scripted TV output, Landgraf told reporters. “In other words, that it will mark the peak of the peak TV era. It will take a year and a half to find out if I’m right this time, or we’ll have to eat crow yet again.”

That’s because, according to FX Research, there have been 357 scripted series across broadcast cable and streaming that have launched through the month of June. That’s up 16% from this time last year, he said.

That means this year will be another new record, and Landgraf said he believes that 2022 is still a bit inflated because of delayed productions finally premiering this year, and “the difficulty of initiating and maintaining and completing production during the COVID pandemic. I think that 16% surge you’ve seen in the first half of the years is pretty extraordinary given how many episodes and television series premiered last year.”

Beyond that, Landgraf says he doesn’t see any further expansion via new streamers. “I think all the major streaming services have now launched,” he said. “We’ve seen a notable set of additions of new streaming services join the party in the last couple of years. And I think that process is complete. In other words, I don’t I don’t see new major purveyors of programming entering the scene as they have been continuously over the past decade or more. And in fact, there are some prior purveyors of of television programming that are kind of exiting the scenes.

Read more about Landgraf’s take on Peak TV here.

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Sadly, this year’s TCA Awards — which had been scheduled to take place last Saturday, with ‘Abbott Elementary’ stars Sheryl Lee Ralph, Janelle James and Lisa Ann Walter set to host — wound up being a press release. That’s because the Television Critics Assn. press tour went virtual at the last minute, canceling plans for an in-person awards show as well. Selome Hailu writes:

With five nods, “Abbott Elementary” was the most-nominated series at this year’s Television Critics Awards. The hit comedy is going home with four wins, including the top prize: program of the year.

This makes “Abbott” not only the TCA’s biggest winner this year, but the only series to receive more than one award. (The only nomination the show didn’t win for was Janelle James in the individual achievement in comedy category — because she lost to “Abbott Elementary” creator and star Quinta Brunson.)

The TCA consists of more than 200 professional journalists covering television. The organization announced the winners of the 38th annual TCA Awards on Saturday.

Mandy Moore won in the drama individual achievement category for her work in the fifth and final season of NBC’s “This Is Us,” which was shut out of this year’s Emmy nominations. Another highlight was the award for talk, variety and sketch shows, which went to Netflix’s sleeper hit ““I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.” Although there were only 13 categories, 15 awards were doled out this year, thanks to ties in two categories: reality series, won by “The Amazing Race” and “Legendary,” and the career achievement award, won by Ted Danson and Steve Martin.

See the full list of winners below.

Individual Achievement in Drama

WINNER: Mandy Moore, “This Is Us” – NBC

Individual Achievement in Comedy

WINNER: Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary” – ABC

Outstanding Achievement In News and Information

WINNER: “The Beatles: Get Back” – Disney+

Outstanding Achievement in Reality

WINNER (TIE): “The Amazing Race” – CBS; “Legendary” – HBO Max

Oustanding Achievement in Youth Programming

WINNER: “The Baby-Sitters Club” – Netflix

Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch

WINNER: “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” – Netflix

Outstanding New Program

WINNER: “Abbott Elementary” – ABC

Oustanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials

WINNER: “Dopesick” – Hulu

Outstanding Achievement in Drama

WINNER: “Succession” — HBO

Outstanding Achievement in Comedy

WINNER: “Abbott Elementary” – ABC

Program of the Year

WINNER: “Abbott Elementary” – ABC

Career Achievement Honoree

WINNER (TIE): Ted Danson; Steve Martin

Heritage Award

WINNER: “I Love Lucy”

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The Issa Rae interview from the actress issue, as seen above, also doubled as the interview for last week’s Awards Circuit podcast.

Emmy-nominated Rae, who just completed her run as star and executive producer of “Insecure,” talks about the end of her show and what’s next. That includes the new HBO series “Rap Sh!t,” and a growing empire. But first, our Awards Circuit Roundtable discusses the supporting actor Emmy categories. Listen below!

Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, is your one-stop listen for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each week “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much, much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts. New episodes post every Thursday and Friday.

Read more here.

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Hulu warned us… er, let us know that “a quintet of bassoonists will be popping up around Los Angeles, making stops in Hollywood, Santa Monica, Larchmont, and more on Aug 10-11 for surprise performances inspired from ‘Only Murders in the Building.’”

Actually, this sounds weirdly inspired: The performers will be decked in T-shirts that say “The Bassoonist Did It” and performing the Emmy-nominated main title theme from the series, Sting’s “Every Breath You Take” (in honor of his guest appearance as a resident of the Arconia in season 1) and Selena Gomez’s “Hands to Myself.”

If you watched Season 1, you know exactly why the tribute to bassoonists, given the role of Jan, played by Amy Ryan, to the show’s mystery.

Meanwhile, as events pick up this week, a few more highlights:

Tuesday, Aug. 9, 7 p.m.: SAG-AFTRA Foundation Career Retrospective Conversation with Seth Meyers, moderated by Variety’s Jenelle Riley (SAG-AFTRA Foundation LA Screening Room, 5757 Wilshire Blvd.)

Tuesday, August 9, 7:30 p.m.: “Dopesick” screening [Ep 108] followed by a Q&A with actor/EP Michael Keaton, EP/writer/director Danny Strong, actor Kaitlyn Dever, actor Will Poulter, EP Beth Macy (Aero Theatre)

Thursday, August 11, 7 p.m.: Live table read of the “Hacks” Season 2 finale “The One, The Only” (Avalon Hollywood)

Thursday, August 11, 7 p.m.: “The Dropout” screening [Ep 108] followed by a Q&A with star Amanda Seyfried (DGA Theatre)

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