SyFy Genre Awards

The SyFy Genre Awards, considered one of the first major virtual entertainment awards, is a product of the science fiction and fantasy Web site SyFy Portal. The SyFy Genre Awards provide an opportunity for fans to honor the best of science fiction television, movies, books, comic books, and web productions for the year.

History

The SyFy Genre Awards were started in 1999 [cite web|url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syfyportal/message/79|title=SyFy World Genre Award Nominees Announced|publisher=SyFy World|date=1999-04-08|accessdate=2007-02-28] and have continued every year since 2002 in the months following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Originally part of the Web site SyFy World, founded by Michael Hinman, the awards carried over and continued after its merger with Star Trek Portal in 2001.

Technical glitches have plagued the awards over the years, many times causing late starts or delaying the reporting of winners. [cite web|url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syfyportal/message/1569|title=What the Hell Is Going On With SyFy|publisher=SyFy Portal|date=2006-09-22|accessdate=2007-02-28] Many times, these glitches were caused by larger than anticipated numbers in voting, or attempts to try and circumvent the awards' voting rules of once per day per e-mail address. Once the delays were caused by a site hack. [cite web|url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syfyportal/message/1551|title=Genre Awards delayed, site to return to update status soon|publisher=SyFy Portal|date=2006-06-25|accessdate=2007-02-28]

In 2006, two television series: "Firefly" and "Wonderfalls", both of which had been off the air for at least two years, suddenly became eligible for nomination in the Genre Awards because rules specifically stated eligibility was based on first-run episodes. [cite web|url=http://www.whedonsworld.com/news.html|title=Firefly SyFy Genre Awards Win|publisher=Whedon's World|date=2006-10-10|accessdate=2007-02-28] SciFi Channel and Logo both aired previously unaired episodes of both series during the 2005-06 nominating period, allowing them to be eligible. "Firefly" ended up winning five awards. [cite web|url=http://www.syfyportal.com/news.php?id=2895|title=Firefly, Harry Potter Sweep Genre Awards|publisher=SyFy Portal|date=2006-10-01|accessdate=2007-02-28]

While past ballots required users to register to help prevent ballot-stuffing, site officials said in 2006 they're tracking ballots through IP addresses. This has generated some complaints from users, who are being locked out of voting because someone else in their IP family is voting. In 2007 the awards returned to tracking based on email address, simply ignoring multiple votes from a single email address in a single day.

Nomination/Voting methods

Each year, the parent Web site chooses up to 25 people from around the world to choose their favorite actors, television series, episodes and movies in more than a dozen categories.

All of the nominations from each committee member is ranked, which helps generate the list of five nominees for each category.

To be eligible, nominees must have appeared on American television between June 1 and May 31 each year, which covers standard television production seasons.

For one month, between June 25 and July 25 each year, visitors to the site can vote for their favorites in each category once per day. Over the years, SyFy Genre Awards votes have cast more than 3 million votes.

Categories

The SyFy Genre Awards honor winners in the following categories:

* Best Actor/Television
* Best Actress/Television
* Best Supporting Actor/Television
* Best Supporting Actress/Television
* Best Episode/Television
* Best Guest Star/Television
* Best Young Actor
* Best Actor/Movie
* Best Actress/Movie
* Best Theme Song/Television (1999-2004)
* Best Comic Book (2005)
* Best Novel (2005)
* Best Web Site (2006-Present)
* Best Web Production (2007-Present) [cite web|url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syfyportal/message/1652|title=SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: SyFy Genre Awards|publisher=SyFy Portal|date=2007-02-22|accessdate=2007-02-28]
* Best Series/Television
* Best Movie
* Gene Roddenberry Lifetime Achievement Award

Variations

* Between 1999 and 2005, the nomination period was between March 1 and the end of February. This was changed in 2006 so that television seasons would no longer be split between award seasons.
* Between 1999 and 2005, voting took place between April 25 and May 25. In 2006, voting was moved to June 25 to July 25 to account for the new nomination period.
* Because nominations were based on American airings and not international, the nominating committee between 1999 and 2005 were made of almost entirely North American residents only. In 2006, this policy was changed to produce more international variety.

Previous winners

* BEST ACTOR/Television
** 2008 - Jensen Ackles, "Supernatural"
** 2007 - Joe Flanigan, "Stargate: Atlantis"
** 2006 - Nathan Fillion, "Firefly"
** 2005 - Ben Browder, "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars"
** 2004 - David Boreanaz, "Angel"
** 2003 - Ben Browder, "Farscape"
** 2001 - Ben Browder, "Farscape"
** 2000 - Avery Brooks, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"
** 1999 - Avery Brooks, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"

* BEST ACTRESS/Television
** 2008 - Mary McDonnell, Battlestar Galactica
** 2007 - Amanda Tapping, "Stargate SG-1"
** 2006 - Evangeline Lilly, "Lost"
** 2005 - Claudia Black, "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars"
** 2004 - Sarah Michelle Gellar, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
** 2003 - Claudia Black, "Farscape"
** 2001 - Kate Mulgrew, "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 2000 - Kate Mulgrew, "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 1999 - Kate Mulgrew, "Star Trek: Voyager"

* BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR/Television
** 2008 - Michael Emerson, "Lost"
** 2007 - Masi Oka, "Heroes"
** 2006 - Adam Baldwin, "Firefly"
** 2005 - Michael Shanks, "Stargate SG-1"
** 2004 - James Marsters, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
** 2003 - James Marsters, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
** 2001 - Robert Picardo, "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 2000 - Robert Picardo, "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 1999 - David Hemblen, "Earth: Final Conflict"

* BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS/Television
** 2008 - Allison Mack, "Smallville"
** 2007 - Ali Larter, "Heroes"
** 2006 - Amy Acker, "Alias"
** 2005 - Amy Acker, "Angel"
** 2004 - Amy Acker, "Angel"
** 2003 - Gigi Edgley, "Farscape"
** 2001 - Jeri Ryan, "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 2000 - Jeri Ryan, "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 1999 - Jeri Ryan, "Star Trek: Voyager"

* BEST ACTOR/Movie
** 2008 - Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd"
** 2007 - Gerard Butler, "300"
** 2006 - Daniel Radcliffe, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
** 2005 - Will Smith, "I Robot"
** 2004 - Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl"
** 2003 - Viggo Mortensen, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
** 2001 - Patrick Stewart, "X-Men"
** 2000 - Tom Hanks, "The Green Mile"
** 1999 - Patrick Stewart, "Star Trek: Insurrection"

* BEST ACTRESS/Movie
** 2008 - Emma Watson, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
** 2007 - Lena Headey, "300"
** 2006 - Emma Watson, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
** 2005 - Kate Winslet, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
** 2004 - Liv Tyler, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
** 2003 - Liv Tyler, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
** 2001 - Anna Paquin, "X-Men"
** 2000 - Sigourney Weaver, "Galaxy Quest"
** 1999 - Donna Murphy, "Star Trek: Insurrection"

* BEST YOUNG ACTOR
** 2008 - Hayden Panettiere, "Heroes"
** 2007 - Hayden Panettiere, "Heroes"
** 2006 - Emma Watson, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
** 2005 - Daniel Radcliffe, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
** 2004 - Elijah Wood, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
** 2003 - Daniel Radcliffe, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
** 2001 - Manu Intiraymi, "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 2000 - Scarlett Pomers, "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 1999 - Scarlett Pomers, "Star Trek: Voyager"

* BEST SPECIAL GUEST/Television
** 2008 - James Marsters, "Exit Wounds", "Torchwood"
** 2007 - Richard Dean Anderson, "200", "Stargate SG-1"
** 2006 - Christina Hendricks, "Trash", "Firefly"
** 2005 - Claudia Black, "Prometheus Unbound", "Stargate SG-1"
** 2004 - Charisma Carpenter, "You're Welcome", "Angel"
** 2003 - Juliet Landau, "Lies My Parents Told Me", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
** 2001 - Susanna Thompson, "Unimatrix Zero", "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 2000 - Marina Sirtis, "Pathfinder", Star Trek: Voyager
** 1999 - Bill Mumy, "The Siege of AR-558", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"

* BEST EPISODE/Television
** 2008 - "Blink" "Doctor Who"
** 2007 - "The Parting of the Ways" "Doctor Who"
** 2006 - "Trash", "Firefly"
** 2005 - "Prometheus Unbound", "Stargate SG-1"
** 2004 - "A Hole in the World", "Angel"
** 2003 - "Conversations With Dead People", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
** 2001 - "The Body", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
** 2000 - "What You Leave Behind", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"
** 1999 - "Dark Frontier", "Star Trek: Voyager"

* BEST WEB SITE (2006) [cite web|url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syfyportal/message/1475|title=SyFy Portal announces major changes to Genre Awards|publisher=SyFy Portal|date=2005-11-28|accessdate=2007-02-28]
** 2008 - Supernatural.tv
** 2007 - GateWorld
** 2006 - Whedonesque

* BEST THEME SONG/Television (1999-2004)
** 2004 - "Angel"
** 2003 - "Farscape"
** 2001 - "Earth: Final Conflict"
** 2000 - "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 1999 - "Star Trek: Voyager"

* BEST COMIC BOOK (2005)
** 2005 - "Astonishing X-Men" (Vol. 1), Joss Whedon

* BEST NOVEL (2005)
** 2005 - "Star Trek: Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Trill and Bajor, Vol. 2", Andy Mangels, Michael A. Martin, J. Noah Kym

* BEST SERIES/Television
** 2008 - "Supernatural"
** 2007 - "Battlestar Galactica"
** 2006 - "Firefly"
** 2005 - "Stargate SG-1"
** 2004 - "Angel"
** 2003 - "Farscape"
** 2001 - "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 2000 - "Star Trek: Voyager"
** 1999 - "The X-Files"

* BEST MOVIE
** 2008 - "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
** 2007 - "300"
** 2006 - "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
** 2005 - "The Incredibles"
** 2004 - "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
** 2003 - "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
** 2001 - "X-Men"
** 2000 - "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace"
** 1999 - "The Matrix"

* GENE RODDENBERRY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
** 2008 - J.K. Rowling
** 2007 - James Doohan (posthumously)
** 2006 - Stan Lee
** 2005 - Steven Spielberg
** 2004 - Joss Whedon
** 2003 - J.R.R. Tolkien (posthumously)
** 2001 - Leonard Nimoy
** 2000 - George Lucas
** 1999 - Gene Roddenberry (posthumously)

* BEST WEB PRODUCTION (2007)
** 2008 - Star Trek: Of Gods and Men
** 2007 - Sanctuary (web series)

External links

* [http://syfyportal.com SyFy Portal]

References