The Television Academy (that’s its name now) just released the rules for the 2014-15 Emmy Awards, and there are some significant changes.
Probably the biggest is, “Unless you can talk 2/3 of a nine-member panel into believing otherwise, all half-hour scripted shows are considered comedies, and all hour-long scripted shows are considered dramas.” There have been a few successful appeals so far - for example, Glee, Jane the Virgin, and Shameless are all considered comedies - but Orange is the New Black is considered a drama.
There are no more “blue ribbon panels” that choose the winners in categories that have nominees (with one exception - choreography); instead, pretty much anybody who was eligible to submit a nominating ballot in a category is also allowed to vote for the winner in that category, provided the person swears that he/she saw all of the nominees in question.
There will be between 7 and 9 nominees in the Comedy Series and Drama Series categories - seven, plus the possibility of one or two more if they get at least 98% of the votes that the #7 nominee got in the nominating ballot process.
There can be 7 nominees in the Lead or Supporting Actor/Actress in a Comedy/Drama Series categories if the #7 “nominee” got at least 98% of the votes that the #6 nominee got.
To be eligible in the Guest Actor or Guest Actress categories (the ones where they quickly read the nominees and have the winners present awards on the telecast), an actor must have been in fewer than half of the episodes of that series in that season. (Someone eligible for Guest can also choose to enter in Lead or Supporting instead.) How you are credited is no longer relevant.
The term “miniseries” has been changed to “Limited Series” and the difference between a Comedy/Drama Series and a Limited Series has been clarified.
The Variety Series Emmy is now two categories; Variety Talk Show (e.g. The Tonight Show), and Variety Sketch Show (e.g. Saturday Night Live). The Talk Show category will be part of the main ceremony, and the Sketch Show category as part of the Creative Arts ceremony (to air, heavily edited, on FXX, probably the night before the main ceremony).
SNL and other sketch comedy regulars can enter in either the Lead Actor/Actress or Supporting Actor/Actress in a Comedy Series category. (Until now, they had to enter as Supporting.) Hosts still enter as Guest Actor/Actress.
The other changes are relatively minor, although there was one clarification: judges and “mentors” are not eligible for the Reality Show Host category unless the judge/mentor is also the sole host, and reality show contestants are not eligible in any performer categories.