The unfortunate reason Michelle Buteau's Survival of the Thickest missed Emmy eligibility

When you peruse the long list of Primetime Emmy Award nominations for 2024, you won't be seeing any cast or crew members from Netflix's original comedy series Survival of the Thickest recognized. While the series was eligible for nominations thanks to its July 2023 release date on the streamer, an unfortunate mistake caused the show to miss the deadline for submission.

Survival of the Thickest season 2 recently started filming, which was announced in a fun video from Michelle Buteau and two of her costars. The show's star and creator spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the upcoming second season and the reasons why the show missing the Emmy nomination eligibility window stings a little bit more than you might think.

Due to what The Hollywood Reporter reports was a "glitch" in Netflix's Emmy submission process, Survival of the Thickest was ultimately excluded from consideration for nominations. Netflix also commented on the "clerical mistake" for the THR report and insisted that they attempted to do all they could to reverse the error, but the Television Academy has strict policies in place and just couldn't allow one show to be entered into consideration outside of the deadline.

On the Emmy error surrounding her show, Buteau said the following:

"I’m so proud of myself, the cast, the crew, and I’m gutted that nobody will receive the proper shine they should. It’s not even about winning the Emmy. It’s about everybody recognizing how hard we’ve worked and how special this community is that we managed to put together in this crazy industry in a very inopportune time. I’m not in this business to feel relaxed. I know it’s crazy, but it’s about being recognized and respected. People on the show, we are all minorities, and we all have felt forgotten. Don’t forget us. We matter."

- Michelle Buteau

She's right to feel a certain way about missing the nomination window over a mistake that could have been avoided and, when it comes down to it, doesn't even make a ton of sense to begin with. Regardless of if you take home the trophy, a rising performer landing a nomination can open doors. A writer or director, who's a woman of color, getting a nod has ripple effects. A crew member in the hair and makeup, wardrobe, any creative department scoring recognition is a life changer.

If you're reading this and thinking, "Well, what are the chances the show would have been nominated anyway?," that's so far from the point. Yes, Survival of the Thickest is a smaller show in the comedy space compared to the likes of Emmy favorites Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the Building, Hacks, and The Bear. But it's not about the Emmy or the potential nomination or even the potential win. It's about the fairness in those who worked hard on bringing the show to life having a chance for any of those things to happen.

Netflix's vice president of comedy series Tracey Pakosta was also quoted in The Hollywood Reporter and praised Buteau and Survival of the Thickest. According to Netflix's comedy VP, she and the streamer "believe in this series, we absolutely believe in Michelle" and are going to continue giving a platform to stories and series centered on women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community, all of which fans can clearly see in most of Netflix's content.

Hopefully, Netflix won't make the same mistake twice for Survival of the Thickest season 2 or any of its other excellent and deserving series when it comes to the Emmy nomination process next year. Depending on the release date in 2025, season 2 could miss the eligibility window anyway, but the show needs to be submitted for the amazing creatives to earn recognition.

And we'll leave you with a powerful quote from Buteau, which perhaps sums up this whole debacle in the best possibly way and underscores why it's an important conversation to have right now:

"I always dreamed of working on a show that was a Black show, that was a queer show, where all the directors were female. Women are amazing — period, point blank, end of discussion — and it’s so important to give people opportunities that they deserve and are very hard for them to get."

- Michelle Buteau

What Michelle said!