Blame for its Emmy loss had to be placed somewhere. Frazzled TV Academy leaders quickly caved in to demands for voting reform and decided to try something new. Calling the decision a one-time test, they agreed to permit voters to watch the tapes at home, hoping that even some of the hipsters would finally participate. Alternate, obvious solutions include increasing the number of panels and making them more convenient to voters. Traditionally, they've been held in hotel rooms over two weekends in August.
Most showbiz companies have conference rooms equipped with TVs and VCRs.
Academy members could even hold home-viewing parties on weekends. ATAS's chief job then would be to round up a volunteer army of monitors, which it could probably recruit easily from the aged crowd that once sat in those hotel rooms eager to be back in the thick of things and to network among other TV pros. All eyes are fixed on the outcome of the September Emmys. If no underdogs win and ATAS still declares the experiment successful and scraps the panels, Hollywood might have to dig up Serling to bring them back.