EMMYS Eligibility changes leave 'The Office' unable to compete this time around

The show fell one episode short.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
The British comedy series "The Office," the surprise winner of two Golden Globes earlier this year, is ineligible to compete in the prime-time Emmy Awards, according to a spokesman for BBC America.
The co-producer and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences blamed the situation on a mix of decisions by the creators and eligibility rule changes for the awards, which are given out each fall.
Because creators of the cult favorite entered Episode One of its second season in last year's International Emmy Awards, the show fell one episode short of the six required to qualify for a prime-time Emmy.
The academy does not allow programs to "double dip" by entering more than one competition, said John Leverence, vice president of awards.
"We would have loved to have entered it," said BBC America spokesman Matt Marshall. "We can't enter."
Shorter seasons
Complicating the situation, the academy recently dropped its requirements to six from eight required episodes, partly in light of a trend toward shorter comedy and drama seasons, Leverence said.
The critically acclaimed show, starring Ricky Gervais as a clueless middle manager, aired two six-episode seasons before closing shop last year. Two specials were also shot and might be folded into a single finale expected to air later this year but outside the eligibility period for this year's awards.
Leverence suggested that the show's identity as a foreign program gave it "a certain lift under its wings" with the Golden Globes' organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, that it would not have with Emmy voters.
However, Marshall denied that the decision was based on strategy. Gervais decided against splitting up the finale to add an extra episode to qualify the show for the Emmys, he said.