Critics’ Choice Awards Makes Dramatic Move to December, TJ Miller to Return as Host

A new airdate for the show may give film and TV critics larger influence in Oscar race

TJ Miller Critics Choice Awards

The Critics’ Choice Awards has moved this year’s telecast to Sunday, December 11 — more than a month earlier than its regular January airdate, A&E and the critics announced Thursday.

That’s a dramatic date change for an annual telecast that has typically been tied to the mid-January Golden Globes weekend, one conceivably designed to give its voting bodies of broadcast TV and film critics more influence in the annual Academy Awards race.

“Silicon Valley” star T.J. Miller will return to host the affair, which moves up significantly the screening and voting schedule for the awards — perhaps to the detriment of the critics, who may miss several year-end releases that vie for Oscars in their own voting pool and may not be ready to screen for an early December telecast.

“This is the logical time for the Critics’ Choice Awards to be presented in the vanguard of the awards season. The role of critics is to assess new films and television shows and advise the public when they are initially released,” theBroadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association said in a joint statement.

“This new date is actually the most appropriate time for our annual year-end assessment of the finest achievements in both media. December 11th will be the first time all of the year’s major award contenders will be gathered together to celebrate the best of the best,” the statement concluded.

The other notable challenge may be recruiting talent for the earlier broadcast. The flurry of award shows and campaign functions held in January make actors and filmmakers readily available in Los Angeles.

The show will air live on A&E from Barker Hanger in Santa Monica.

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