• Variety, Wednesday, August 12, 2009 10:57 PM

It's time for the folks behind the Emmys to mend some fences. In response to pressure from the creative community and a lack of public support from other Big Four networks, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and CBS did an about-face on their plan to "time-shift" the presentation of eight kudos during the Emmy Awards telecast.

The Academy voted to pre-tape eight award presentations in the hour leading up to the live three-hour telecast Sept. 20. Clips of those presentations would run throughout the ceremony. Two weeks of complaining ensued, and yesterday the Academy said the telecast will include the usual roster of 28 awards presented live.

"This decision was made to mend relationships within the television community," says TV Academy CEO John Shaffner. The fight that erupted over the time-shifting decision boiled down to two issues: critical darlings vs. mainstream hits and respect for various disciplines -- the plan was to drop two awards each from the writing, directing, acting and producing fields.

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