Angela Nelson chosen to serve on AFI committee

Angela Nelson, popular culture, got a surprise call in early November last year from the chief executive officer of the American Film Institute (AFI), asking her to serve as a nominating committee member for a new awards presentation.

AFI is committed to protecting and preserving the legacy of the moving images art form, including movies and television, and was initiating its own yearly awards program to mark the evolution of the moving image arts in the 21st century. “These almanacs will be a significant addition to the record,” Nelson predicted.

“The new AFI awards are not concerned solely with what the popular TV shows are. AFI has a more scholarly and intellectual focus,” Nelson said. “It will be interesting to see how they differ from the other awards.”

The criteria for the awards were those television programs or movies that “best enhanced the art of the moving image; enhanced the rich cultural heritage of America’s art form; inspired audiences and artists alike, and/or made a mark on American society.”

Nelson was one of a carefully chosen nominating committee that would determine the four finalists in each of seven categories for AFI television awards. Their identities were secret until their nominations were announced on Dec. 17, 2001.

“I had to sign a promise of confidentiality in order to participate,” Nelson said.

The awards categories were drama series; comedy series; movie or mini-series; male actor in a series, female actor in a series; male actor in a movie or mini-series, and female actor in a movie or mini-series.

Nelson and the other committee members convened at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles on Dec. 7, 2001. They could request videotapes of any of the submitted works they wished to review.

When they got down to the business of discussing the submitted productions, Nelson found herself among a “who’s who” in television. Her fellow committee members had long histories in the industry and included multiple Emmy Award winners, famous producers, directors, writers, critics and scholars.

“It was a great experience to talk seriously about TV shows and not be ashamed of it. These people are practitioners who have had critical input in the industry for years,” Nelson said.

By the end of the day, they had come up with four finalists in each of the categories. AFI then sent those names out to another group of 100 people from over 20 different areas of the moving image art form, who then voted on the winner in each category.

The first AFI Awards was broadcast live on CBS on Jan. 5.

Nelson served as director of BGSU’s Center for Popular Culture Studies from 1997-2000. She has taught classes and presented research on television situation comedies, particularly black comedies. In September 1997, she co-organized the conference "Situating the Comedy: Celebrating 50 Years of American Television Situation Comedy, 1947-1997," that commemorated the role and meaning of the television situation comedy in American society. She has also contributed several book chapters on blacks in American television situation comedies.