I called your comments and the discussion to the attention of the Hugo Awards Marketing Committee, which maintains the official Hugo Awards web site. We've added a new FAQ to the web site in response to your concerns. It reads:
I saw a two-part television episode with a combined running time greater than 90 minutes nominated in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category. Why was that?
The rules assign dramatic presentations to categories according to running times based on four ranges:
Works up to 72 minutes in length *must* be placed in Short Form.
Works between 72 and 90 minutes in length should ordinarily be placed in Short Form, but can be moved to Long Form by the Administrator for a good reason. Discovering that a very substantial majority of the voters nominated the work in Long Form is a good reason.
Works between 90 and 108 minutes in length should ordinarily be placed in Long Form, but can be moved the Short Form by the Administrator for a good reason. Discovering that a very substantial majority of the voters nominated the work in Short Form is a good reason.
Works above 108 minutes in length *must* be placed in long Form.
These are not the actual words in the WSFS Constitution, but the above list is the effect of those rules. Administrators tend to stick with what the voters say unless there is no way for them to do so. In the case cited, most of the people nominating the work in question nominated it as a Short Form work even though it was more than 90 minutes long, and since it was less than 108 minutes long, the administrator left it where the voters nominated it.
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timeasmymeasure
BDP: Short vs Long
Date: 2011-09-03 01:30 am (UTC)