FYC: For Your Consideration

Emmy Award Promotional Materials from the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture

March 1 - 31, 2026

Prestigious awards such as the Emmys, Grammys and the Oscars honor the best of the best -- media efforts worthy of high praise. But sometimes a TV show or film needs a little extra push, a way to demonstrate to potential voters that a franchise deserves the award it is (hopefully) destined to win.

For Your Consideration (FYC) promotional materials are sent to advertising and trade publications, actors, directors, screening attendees and tradespeople. Voting takes place during both nomination and final voting periods. Only dues-paying members of the Television Academy are eligible to vote, though they can be influenced by others in the industry. Ethical rules govern the type and value of FYC materials. Gifts such as cars and Rolex watches are not allowed, but elaborate packages of the type shown in this exhibit are acceptable.

FYC materials take many forms, from basic physical media, including DVDs, to far more elaborate objects. Felt-covered full-color books, dioramas, booklets made of metal, wood, and plastic, USB drives encased in boxes, and objects such as bobbleheads are among the formats these items can take. As promotional materials, they are only intended to last as long as they are needed - at most a year - so nearly a decade later many are falling to pieces, their batteries long dead and glue seams failing. Preservation can be a challenge.

Curated from the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture Collection, this exhibit includes objects on loan from Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor of Television, Radio, and Film at Syracuse University. The Bleier Center holds hundreds of uncatalogued promotional materials; those appearing in this exhibit are but a sample.

This exhibit has two locations. Visit the Miron case near the first-floor elevators and the display outside PGSC.

Curated by Stephen Singer and Abigail Traska, with consultation from Robert Thompson.