The acclaimed Netflix limited series The Beast in Me received nominations for nine Primetime Emmys on July 8, including best limited or anthology series, as well as best actress (Claire Danes) and actor (Matthew Rhys) in a limited or anthology series or movie. Another of its noms came in the category of best original main title theme music, recognizing Sean Callery, a distinguished four-time Emmy-winning composer and one of the two representatives of the music peer group on the TV Academy’s board of governors — and that one has raised some questions.
Indeed, it was brought to the attention of The Hollywood Reporter that although Emmys rules state that main title theme music must be “at least 15 seconds in length” to be eligible for an Emmy, the longest the theme music is heard in any episode of The Beast in Me — namely, episode four — is 13 seconds.
The rules also state: “A Main Title Theme must appear in 50 percent or more of eligible episodes. The Main Title Theme has been further defined as a musical fingerprint and calling card that is identifiable and unique to a show, thereby drawing an audience in by setting the show’s tone and what is to come.” While main title theme music does appear in a majority of the eligible episodes of The Beast in Me — five of eight — each of those five episodes features different theme music.
(Click here to view a video comprising the theme music at the start of every episode of The Beast in Me.)
Asked to respond to these assertions, a spokesperson for the TV Academy insisted: “The theme song does appear in 5 of 8 episodes, so it meets the 50 percent rule, and in 3 of those 5 episodes the theme song does meet the 15 second rule. In discussions with the peer group, the decision was made to accept the submission because there is no language stating which rule takes precedence when the two conflict. We do state that the submission needs to be a minimum of 15 seconds and the episode that was submitted does that, but we don’t state that the theme needs to be a minimum of 15 seconds in each episode it appears in. The Peer Group Executive Committee realizes that they need to tighten up the language before next year’s competition and they will do that in October.”
The disputant says the TV Academy needs to check its math, emphasizing that the theme music is not heard for 15 seconds in any episode, let alone in three of them, and presenting the following specific counts:
Episode 1 — titles start at 1:26, theme music heard for 11 seconds
Episode 2 — no theme music; instead, “Wave of Mutilation” by Pixies
Episode 3 — titles start at 5:12, theme music heard for 8 seconds
Episode 4 — titles start at 2:54, theme music heard for 13 seconds
Episode 5 — no theme music; instead, “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads
Episode 6 — titles start at 1:29, theme music heard for 11 seconds
Episode 7 — no theme music; instead, “The Little Drummer Boy” by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Episode 8 — titles start at 5:22, theme music heard for 11 seconds
The TV Academy spokesperson countered, “Emmy eligibility is solely based on the cue sheets submitted that have been documented for each production after the episodes are completed. Based on the cue sheets, the main title theme for The Beast in Me is eligible in the category, as we originally stated. Note, the perceived timing of a viewer of the episode will not always correspond with that of the confirmed cue sheets, where sound beds and accompanying music are included if surrounding the main title. As stated, eligibility is solely based on the cue sheets.”
But the disputant says the TV Academy is contradicting its own rules by asserting “sound beds and accompanying music are included if surrounding the main title,” given that the rules state “score bookending the title sequence are not eligible.”
Regardless of which side of this argument one falls on, nobody is suggesting any impropriety on the part of Callery, a highly respected composer who is also Emmy-nominated this year on behalf of The Beast in Me in the category of best music composition for a limited or anthology series, movie or special (original dramatic score). Underscores the TV Academy spokesperson, “In no way, shape or form was Sean part of the submission process or the judging process.”
