Since the Emmy Awards came into existence in 1949, they had never been postponed or canceled until 2001. In that year it happened twice.
I was elected chairman/CEO of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in August 2001, almost a month to the day before 9/11. The Emmy broadcast was scheduled for Sept. 16 of that year.
This meant that the first big decision on my watch was whether it was possible -- five days after the worst act of terrorism in history -- to imagine a walk down the red carpet with Hollywood celebs.
Clearly, it wasn't.
When my running partner and I saw my wife, Jackie, driving up to find me on the morning of Sept. 11, I knew that something bad had to have happened. She told us to get in the car, that planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. America was at war … with somebody.
At home my family huddled in front of the TV while we all watched, like everyone else in the nation. I remember feeling physically sick and knowing that life had just gotten so much more dangerous and complicated.
At the same time, I was also on the phone with the team from the TV Academy and our network sponsors at CBS. During the phone tag interaction, the idea that the Emmys might not happen at all was on the table immediately.
I asked if there had ever been a year when they had not taken place. The answer was no. But that Tuesday afternoon, after more phone calls and meetings, there was a unanimous consensus to cancel the show on Sunday.
This would have an incredible financial impact on both CBS and the Academy, but no one at this point even cared. We confirmed that decision to the media with the caveat that there was yet no clarity as to when they would be rescheduled. After all, the death toll was mounting in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Nothing seemed to matter but that.
Things were complicated at the Academy by the fact that, although I had just been elected a month earlier, I was not scheduled to officially take office until Oct. 1. So my predecessor Meryl Marshall-Daniels, the Academy president Jim Chabin and I went to CBS as a team the next day to talk it out with Les Moonves and his people.
Two dates were on the table -- the only times that the Shrine Auditorium could be rented again -- Sept. 24 and Oct. 7. The network side tended to favor September because the Emmys have always been like a starting gun for the fall season. The Academy side tended to favor October because the passions of the moment made it seem inconceivable that anyone would be ready for a red carpet in less than two weeks.
