"It's a feminization of 'Immy,' which is short for the image orthicon tube," explains John Leverence, senior vice president of awards for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The image orthicon, which revolutionized TV, was originally built to guide flying
explosive weapons in World War II. "The objective was the guided torpedo, but it ended up being used in television," said RCA engineer Paul Wymer. The 4,000 "Emmys," as engineers fondly called the devices, didn't win the war, because the weapons they were used in weren't quite reliable, but the orthicon later made TV feasible. It was called "the atomic bomb of television." 
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