Big Magilla wrote:
You're probably thinking of Ely Landau's American Film Theatre which were newly acted and filmed versions of stage plays that were given subscription based theatrical showings from 1973-1975. They were ineligible for Oscars because they did not play in Los Angeles for the requisite one-week run.
I have nothing beyond my memory to prove this, but my recollection is that Landau initially had failed to qualify the films in late 1973, but then rush-exhibited them to make the eligible. (I recall a sheepish trade ad that went something like "We spent all our time making these quality films but, oops, we almist forgot to qualify them for Oscars, so here we're doing it and please come see them.") I also recall a terse "None of the America Film Theatre entries received any nominations" in the nominations reporting -- meaning not that they'd been ineligible but that they'd been ignored. I think there was some expectation that Ryan would get a posthumous nod for Iceman.
The real oddity was that the AFT was a cultural cause celebre in that 73/74 season, but never got any Oscar attention -- and then, in 1975, when everyone had moved on, Maximilian Schell got a surprise best actor nod for The Man in the Glass Booth.
James Whitmore had been doing live performances of Give 'Em Hell Harry around the country, much the way Hal Holbrook had done Mark Twain Tonight, before filming it. It was one of the first nominations I saw on HBO prior to its Oscar run.
None of this analogizes to Hamilton, which is strictly a TV event -- though who knows what rules will be in effect this year. Pressed to make a call, I'd bet on there being no Oscars this year -- I think 2020 will be a lost year on almost all fronts, partly because of the inability/unwillingness to reopen theatres, and partly a corresponding lack of production. We may have to think of this as freezing in place, picking up next year and starting anew (with any films that did/do make it out this year included in the 2021 Oscar, a la the 1932/33 situation when the Academy moved to a calendar year).
Anne Thompson is moaning If there are no Oscars this year, there never will be again, This is the parochial concern of someone whose income depends largely on the Oscars. Baseball went without a World Series in 1994 and everyone thought it would change things forever...but everyone came back the next year and just started back up.