‘Orange is the New Black’ will Compete as a Drama at the 2015 Emmys

"Orange is the New Black" will compete for Emmy awards in the drama category, a panel for the Academy rules.

The Netflix original series filed a petition to be categorized as a comedy. However, due to the new rule announced by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the hit-prison show will compete with other dramas. The new rule states that all one-hour shows will be classified as a drama, while half-hour shows will be grouped in the comedy section.

 "ATAS has notified us that the Industry Panel has advised that Season Two of Orange Is the New Black is eligible for the 2015 Primetime Emmy competition as a Drama Series," Netflix said.

"'Orange Is the New Black' is a truly pioneering series and an iconoclast which has always defied genre or easy categorization," said Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer said in a statement. "While we're disappointed in the committee's decision, we believe that 'Orange' represents the best of television in either category."

In the 2014 Emmys, "Orange is the New Black" earned 12 nominations when it competed as a comedy and critics were not too happy with the Academy. The show ended up winning three awards.

In this year's award show, "Orange is the New Black" will compete against PBS' "Downton Abbey," Showtime's "The Affair," Netflix's "House of Cards," HBO's "Game of Thrones," ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder," Fox's "Empire," and two of AMC's shows, "Mad Men" and "Better Call Saul."

The 2015 Emmy Awards will air on Sept. 20 on Fox.