The Emmy Awards may get real-er ... and gayer?

Ted Allen and Padma Lakshmi of Top Chef

This year's Emmy Awards added a category for Outstanding Reality TV Host, and now the LA Times is reporting that next year's awards might add another reality TV prize, this one for reality TV judges.

My first reaction was surprise. After watching the five nominees for Outstanding Reality Host share hosting duties, I started questioning what qualified any one of them for an award. How could someone be up for an Outstanding Reality Show Host award at an event where there were doing such a bad job of hosting the industry's biggest reality show? It's kinda like if the 2002 Oscars ceremony (when Chicago took Best Picture) opened with Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta-Jones unironically recreating that infamous Snow White/Rob Lowe musical number.

And then came my second reaction: "Tim Gunn still wouldn't be eligible for an Emmy!" While there would be plenty of gays eligible for the award (such as Dancing with the Stars' Bruno Tonioli, Project Runway's Michael Kors or Top Design's Jonathan Adler) I keep thinking it'd make more sense to dedicate the category to any supporting cast member. While hosting a reality show does have its unique demands, I don't see a Nigel Barker bringing a dynamic to America's Next Top Model that a Jay Manuel couldn't.

What do you think? Will a Best Reality Show Judge Emmy debut as badly as the hosting award did? Which gay reality show regulars do you think deserve some recognition?

Let's discuss it in the comments!