Press Release

2010 APA Awards Host Dropped; Nomination Process to be Revamped

Posted: September 20, 2010

After careful deliberation, the nomination process for the 2010 APA Awards will be revamped.  While Forever & A Day, Independence Day, Mysteries of Our Lives and West Lake will remain candidates for this year's ballot; One Day at a Time (ODaaT) –– recipient of the 2009 APA Award for Outstanding Series –– will not.  Following his decision to dissolve his contract with the network, Head Writer Dallas Walsh (ODaaT) requested that his series be removed from the 2010 Nomination Ballot.  With the removal of One Day at a Time, this leaves several award categories with very little opposition.  Rather than continue on with judging process, and undermine the excellence of the remaining nominees, the AP Network has opted to restructure the nomination process so that every candidate is given a fair, competitive race in his/her vie for an APA.

The network's first move was re–opening the pre–nomination process and extending an invite to its returning series, South Beach (written by Jay Edwards), as well as soon–to–be–sponsored series, Aztec Springs (written by Chris Coleman).  According to inside sources, Coleman was really touched and honored to be given the opportunity to participate in the awards, and is already actively working on his list of nominees.  Edwards, on the other hand, was unavailable to formally accept/deny the offer.  Three weeks following the initial pitch, the offer was rescinded by 2010 APA Awards Coordinator, Bex Spencer Aaron.  Therefore, our ballot will consist of candidates from just five potential series:  Aztec Springs (AZ), Forever & A Day (F&AD), Independence Day (ID), Mysteries of Our Lives (MOOL), and West Lake (WL).  All producers are expected to have their pre–nominations in by October 1st.

Having also lost two of our original judges, the 2010 APA Judging Panel will now consist of representatives from each of the five pre–nominated series, plus newly added community affiliate, Scott Andrews (Head Writer and Producer, Liberty City).  A decision has not yet been made on who will resume the role of host/hostess now that the original host, Patrick Walsh, has been removed from the role following his decision to leave the network in mid–August.  In addition, the actual awards gala has also been postponed and will now take place sometime between November 2010 and January 2011. 

According to Ty Junior, "The good news is that the postponement will allow us to make the necessary arrangements for the event to be hosted via Skype, where guests can not only chat/talk, but listen to one another in real–time.  The only drawback is that guests will need a registered Skype account to take advantage of this advanced feature."  Junior further adds, "The AP Chatroom, however, will remain open for those who wish to attend, but without the aggravation of registering an additional account."  The network expects to have more details on the venue for the event as they pinpoint the final date.

In other news, fans and readers inquiring about the Reader's Choice Awards will soon be able to vote for their favorite series when the poll launches on the APA Awards homepage next month.  The poll is expected to run through the entire month of October, giving fans ample opportunity to voice their opinion.

For more news and updates regarding the 2010 APA Awards, you may contact a network representative via the AP Network's main website.