The chairman and CEO of the Television Academy has addressed industry reactions to recently announced rule changes involving the Primetime Emmys, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

The changes, including defining comedy series as a half-hour and drama as anything longer, “left many executives scratching their heads,” THR reports.

But TV Academy head Bruce Rosenblum indicated that the changes have been misinterpreted, adding that the new rules are “just a starting point.”

Said Rosenblum: “I think the reaction is a bit misguided. This has been a gray area in our rules for quite a while.”

Michael O’Connell writes in the THR piece: “That Emmy gray area, which goes back to hourlong ‘Ally McBeal’ taking the top comedy honor in 1999, was recently occupied by Netflix’s similarly lengthy ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ which scored a comedy series nomination in 2014. As such dramedies as Showtime’s ‘Shameless’ and Fox’s ‘Glee’ have blurred the genre lines, more hourlongs have entered the comedy race.”

According to Rosenblum, the door remains open for that to continue to happen.

Said Rosenblum: “These are not hard-and-fast rules. We received a call from Mark Pedowitz at The CW, and they’ll be submitting ‘Jane the Virgin’ as a comedy.”

Determining whether half-hours can compete in the drama categories or hours can contend as comedies will be the task of a nine-person panel made up of industry insiders picked by Rosenblum and the Academy’s board of governors, the report notes.

O’Connell adds: “After last year, the TV Academy considered ditching comedy and drama labels altogether, shifting to half-hour and hour-long races. That still remains a possibility down the line. Other changes this year include upping the number of series noms from six to seven.”

Please click on the link at the top of this story to read O’Connell’s full report.

The CW’s “Jane the Virgin,” though hour-long, will be considered a comedy for the Emmys