Awards season is kicking off on a controversial note with the Critics’ Choice Awards making their nominations last week.
What made the nominations controversial was where the Critics’ Choice Awards decided to reveal them. For the first time, they announced that they would reveal them exclusively to Entertainment Weekly and People.
13 journalists total resigned from the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, the association who make the nominations, in response to the decision. As a result, the nominees for the award were selected from a smaller pool of people than in previous years.
“What I loved about the organization, and the awards themselves, was they were never about one media entity,” Michael Ausiello, a TVLine journalist who resigned from the association, said in a statement to Variety. “It was about the entire industry coming together to recognize the best in TV. Unfortunately, it’s now becoming a marketing event built around a single brand, and that’s not a shift I’m comfortable with — even if it’s a brand I happen to love.”
However, the show will continue on as usual and the nominations were announced on November 14.
HBO led the pack with 22 nominations while ABC and Netflix tied for second with 14. Among the shows nominated is The People v. O.J. Simpson (FX) which has 6 nominations total while Game of Thrones (HBO), The Night Manager (AMC) and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) follow closely behind with five each.
Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon both received nominations for their roles as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in Saturday Night Live (NBC). Larry David was also nominated for his role as Bernie Sanders on the show.
RuPaul’s Drag Race (Logo) and Skin Wars (GSN) are both nominated for Best Reality Competition Series. RuPaul is also nominated for Best Reality Show Host.
For its beginning debut in awards, critically acclaimed This is Us (NBC) received a nomination for Best Drama Series as did The Crown (Netflix) and Stranger Things, also from Netflix.
Killing Reagan (National Geographic) received a nomination for Best Movie Made For Television or Limited Series as did Roots (History) which is noted for its portrayal of American slavery.
With several shows debuting for this season and a tense political climate, this awards season is bound to be exciting and entertaining.
The Critics’ Choice Award will air on Monday, December 11 at 8:00 P.M. and it will be hosted by T.J Miller
Laina Yost
Managing Editor