The first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting - Miniseries, Movie, or a Special was given in 1991. Through the early 1950s, the Television Academy’s stature rose significantly with the emergence of the one event that would give it unparalleled visibility—the Emmys. Influenced by the New York-based American Television Society, which he had joined in 1945, Cassyd initially rejected the idea of television awards.