Emmys: Drama Is Glamorous, But Reality Is Where The Action Is

Judge for yourself: Can Top Chef's taste-arbiters take home an Emmy at last?

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Love it or hate it, this is the category that's home to the two highest-rated shows on television. You'll hear more about the actors and the directors, and they'll hand out this award before the drum roll that leads up to Outstanding Drama Series, but this is where the most popular shows go to have it out.

Since this category was introduced in 2003, only one show has won: CBS's highly regarded The Amazing Race. It's not quite as highly regarded as it once was -- and it's not as reliable about not casting people with personality disorders as it once was, either.

But it's still a good show, and it faces an interesting combination of very successful shows -- those two highest-rated of all (ABC's Dancing With The Stars and Fox's American Idol) -- and smaller but critically successful shows (Bravo's Top Chef and Project Runway).

Why food might beat clothes, after the jump ...

Interestingly, Project Runway sort of missed its moment here by not winning during its first couple of seasons, when it probably should have beaten Race. It's lost some critical steam lately, and it doesn't have the underdog gleam that might have helped it get the victory.

Now, it seems more likely that Race might be dethroned by Top Chef -- which, in one sense, is the new Project Runway -- a slightly lesser known but well-produced show, with a lot of fans whose other tastes run to drama and comedy rather than to other reality-competition shows.

Top Chef also grabbed the editing Emmy at last weekend's Creative Arts Emmys over much of the same competition. And given the importance of editing in the production of unscripted shows, that may be a sign of things to come.

Meanwhile it seems unlikely, if American Idol hasn't won yet, that it's going to start now. As we've discussed, the show's ratings aren't what they once were. And it's still -- fairly or unfairly -- shorthand for "dumb television" for a lot of people.

Also: Awards often reflect less on the nominees and more on the image the bestowing body wants to project. And the Academy doesn't seem to want to present itself as an admirer of Idol at the expense of shows that are a bit more respectable -- or at least respected.

The same can be said of Dancing With The Stars, which is actually a pretty diverting and satisfying fluffball, if a fluffball is what you're looking for. It's not a bad show, but it's a very silly show (let's do the tango to the theme from Star Wars!). And so far, silliness has not ruled the day in this particular category.

It feels like Race's time may be up -- witness the fact that the show's host, Phil Keoghan, was not nominated in the hosting category, as we've mentioned. Then again, it's seemed for a couple of years like it was time for it to pass the crown, and that hasn't happened yet.

The most logical show to dethrone it this year seemed to be Survivor, which ran two well-received seasons in the eligibility period (most of these shows run 13-week "seasons," so some manage two rounds per cycle). But Survivor didn't even get a nomination, surprisingly enough.

So it's probably up to one of the Bravo shows to unseat the five-time winner if it's going to happen. But don't be surprised if travel continues to beat cooking and fashion.

--Linda Holmes