Netflix is pioneering a new era of must-watch live television, proving that streaming platforms can deliver genuine collective viewing experiences. Skyscraper Live showcases adrenaline-fueled spectacle that brings audiences together in real time β exactly the kind of boundary-pushing content the Emmy variety categories should celebrate.
Industry insiders note the Oscars and Super Bowl halftime show have essentially locked up the live variety special category for years, making it nearly impossible for anything truly original to break through. Sources say nomination committees tend toward familiar prestige brands over experimental programming β no matter how technically impressive.
Alex Honnold scaled the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 in just 1 hour and 35 minutes during Netflix's Skyscraper Live broadcast. The TV Academy created separate live and prerecorded variety categories in 2018; since then, the Oscars have been nominated every single year and won in 2024, while the Super Bowl halftime show has earned annual nominations since 2020.
The Emmys risk becoming predictable if only established institutions get love. Skyscraper Live proved that live television can still make us hold our breath β now let's see if the Academy is brave enough to reward it.
Netflix's "Skyscraper Live" may have just changed the game for Emmy consideration in the best variety special (live) category. The broadcast, which featured free solo climber Alex Honnold ascending the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan, delivered the kind of white-knuckle television that streaming platforms rarely attempt β a genuine live event with real stakes and zero room for error. The climb itself took just 1 hour and 35 minutes to complete, but viewers at home experienced something rare: authentic tension.
"You can't help smiling β with a slightly arched brow β at the streamers' recent obsession with live events," Variety's review noted, adding that watching Honnold scale one of the world's tallest buildings while following social media discourse created the kind of shared cultural moment that television used to deliver routinely. The timing is interesting because the outstanding variety special (live) category has become increasingly predictable. Last year, "SNL50: The Anniversary Special" took home the Emmy against stiff competition from the Oscars, "BeyoncΓ© Bowl," and the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar.
But look closer at recent nominees and winners: comedy specials, music performances, and awards shows dominate the landscape. The TV Academy created separate live and prerecorded categories back in 2018 specifically to bring clarity, yet the live category has essentially become a battleground for the same handful of prestige events year after year. The Oscars have been nominated every single year since the category launched and won in 2024.
The Super Bowl halftime show earned annual nominations starting in 2020, taking home the trophy in 2022 when Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige performed.
These are undeniably impressive productions, but they're also predictable ones β events that would happen regardless of Emmy consideration. What makes "Skyscraper Live" potentially revolutionary is its ambition to bring something genuinely new to the category. It's not a comedy set or a concert or an awards ceremony β it's pure human endurance captured in real time. Whether Honnold should be nominated alongside the Academy Awards and Super Bowl commercials reimagined as performance art remains debatable, but one thing is clear: if Emmy voters want variety in their Variety categories, they need to start rewarding programming that actually provides it.
