LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 04: Actors Sarah Paulson and Sterling K. Brown attend the FX's For Your Consideration Event for "The People v. O.J. Simpson - American Crime Story" at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on April 4, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
FX’s miniseries “The People v. O.J. Simpson” was the big winner at the Television Critics Association Awards Saturday in Beverly Hills, taking home three prizes for the docudrama that became a critics’ favorite earlier this year.
USA’s hacker drama “Mr. Robot” won as best new program, while Rachel Bloom of The CW’s quirky musical comedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” won for her lead role, capping a year in which women dominated the performance categories.
The 32nd annual TCA Awards show is, as of this writing, being held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The same room that’s packed with A-listers in January for the Golden Globes is housing more than a hundred critics and guests on Saturday night, with a sprinkling of celebrities including Cuba Gooding Jr., Sarah Paulson, Lily Tomlin and Valerie Harper. An embargoed list of the winners was supplied shortly before the program started at 8 p.m. Los Angeles time.
The awards, arriving in the middle of the bi-annual TCA TV press tour, was set to feature critics presenting a dozen trophies in pairs. “Jane the Virgin” star Jaime Camil also served as the night’s host, performing an intricate monologue that involved both himself and his on-screen alter-ego, Rogelio de la Vega, as they poked fun at the #PeakTV phenomenon.
“Jane the Virgin” narrator Anthony Mendez also pre-recorded some introductory bits as a surprise to guests.
“The People v. O.J. Simpson” walked away as the evening’s big winner, securing both Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials. Sarah Paulson, also walked away with a trophy for Individual Achievement in Drama for her performance as Marcia Clark.
The award for Individual Achievement in Comedy went to Rachel Bloom for her role on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” which meant both of those categories effectively shut out men in the race for individual performances (the TCA does not split the performance categories along gender lines).
The female-empowerment theme continued with the freshman season of “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” taking home the award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information, and with Lily Tomlin accepting an award for Career Achievement. In another surprise move, Jane Fonda came out to present the award to her “Grace and Frankie” co-star, marking the first time a celebrity has doled out that award rather than a critic.
“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” was also honored with a Heritage Award, with co-creator Alan Burns and series star Valerie Harper showing up to accept. Moore was unable to attend, but she did write a few notes, which Burns was expected to read to the crowd. Meanwhile the women behind Netflix’s water-cooler series “Making a Murderer” – Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi – showed up to accept the award of Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming.
Rounding out the night’s big winners were ABC’s “black-ish” for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and FX’s “The Americans” for Outstanding Achievement in Drama. Creator Joe Weisberg was due to accept on the latter show’s behalf.
Last but not least, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” also won for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming, while USA’s “Mr. Robot” took home the prize for Outstanding New Program. The whole cast, including Rami Malek and Christian Slater, were expected to be on hand to accept alongside series creator Sam Esmail.
The complete list of winners:
Individual Achievement in Drama:Sarah Paulson (“THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY”, FX) Individual Achievement in Comedy: Rachel Bloom (“CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND,” The CW) Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: “FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE” (TBS) Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: “MAKING A MURDERER” (Netflix) Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: “DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD” (PBS) Outstanding New Program: “MR. ROBOT” (USA) Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: “THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY” (FX) Outstanding Achievement in Drama: “THE AMERICANS” (FX) – second consecutive year Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: “BLACK-ISH” (ABC) Career Achievement Award:Lily Tomlin Heritage Award: “THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW” (CBS) Program of the Year: “THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY” (FX)
Editor’s Note: Dowling is the current TCA President and helped organize the awards.
Scene at TCA 2016 Winter Press Tour (Updating Photos)
Getty Images
EPs Brad Simpson, Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, co-EP Anthony M. Hemingway, Consultant Jeffrey Toobin, and actors Sarah Paulson, John Travolta and Cuba Gooding Jr. on stage for FX's "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story" panel on Jan. 16
Getty Images
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys on stage for FX's "The Americans" panel on Jan. 16
Getty Images
Jay Baruchel and Eric Andre on stage for FX's "Man Seeking Woman" panel on Jan. 16
Getty Images
Creator/star Donald Glover on stage for FX's "Atlanta" panel on Jan. 16
Getty Images
Co-creators/EPs Zach Galifianakis and Louis C.K. for FX's "Baskets" panel on Jan. 16
Getty Images
FX CEO John Landgraf on stage during his executive session on Jan. 16
Getty Images
Actors Rebecca Liddiard, Micahel Weston, Stephen Mangan, Co-Creator/EP David Hoselton, EP David Shore and Co-Creator/EP David Titcher on stage for Fox's "Houdini & Doyle" panel on Jan. 15
Amber Grimes and Nick Cannon on stage for Oxygen's "Like a Boss" panel on Jan. 14
Getty Images
EPs Philip D. Segal, Kevin Williams and investors Lauren Maillian, Randi Zuckerberg, Ido Leffler and Sarah Prevette on Oxygen's "Quit Your Day Job" panel on Jan. 14
Getty Images
Actor Kieran Bew on stage for Esquire's "Beowulf" panel on Jan. 14
Getty Images
Candis Cayne, Caitlyn Jenner and Ella Giselle on stage for E!'s "I Am Cait" panel on Jan. 14
Getty Images
Nathan Phillips, Britne Oldford and Julian McMahon on stage for Syfy's "Hunters" panel on Jan. 14
Getty Images
Stars Olivia Taylor Dudley, Hale Appleman, Arjun Gupta, Summer Bishil, Jason Ralph, Stella Maeve and EPs Michael London, Sera Gamble and John McNamara for Syfy's "The Magicians" panel on Jan. 14
EPs Ryan Condal and Carlton Cuse for USA's "Colony" on Jan. 14
Getty Images
Jamie Kennedy, Maya Erskine and Joshua Leonard, Melissa George, Dave Annable and Co-EP Dr. Kathy Magliato on stage for NBC's "Heartbeat" panel on Jan. 13
Getty Images
Executive producer and star Eva Longoria and actor Jencarlos Canela on stage for NBC's "Telenovela" panel on Jan. 13
Getty Images
NBC's "Game of Silence" panel on stage on Jan. 13
Getty Images
Executive producer Dick Wolf on stage for NBC's panel about "Chicago Med," "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago PD" on Jan. 13
Getty Images
Actress Miranda Cosgrove on stage for NBC's "Crowded" panel on Jan. 13
Getty Images
Jennifer Lopez on stage for NBC's "Shades of Blue" panel on Jan. 13
Mark McKinnon on stage for Showtime's "The Circus" panel on Jan. 12
Getty Images
Luke Wilson, Carla Gugino and Imogene Poots on stage for Showtime's "Roadies" panel on Jan. 12
Getty Images
EP Bill Lawrence, EP Blake McCormick, EP Steve Franks, and actors Wendie Malick, Page Kennedy, Justin Hires, Jon Foo, and Aimee Garcia for CBS's "Rush Hour" panel on Jan. 12
Getty Images
Daniel Henney on stage for CBS's "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders" panel on Jan. 12
Getty Images
CBS News panel on Jan. 12
Getty Images
Chairman CBS Sports Sean McManus, "The Super Bowl Today" host James Brown, analyst Phil Simms, announcer Jack Whitaker and announcer Jim Nantz on stage for CBS Sports panel on Jan. 12
Getty Images
Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney for Amazon's "Catastrophe" panel on Jan. 11
Getty Images
Director Alex Gibney and producer Kahane Cooperman for Amazon's "The New Yorker Presents" panel on Jan. 11
Getty Images
Titus Welliver for Amazon's "Bosch" panel on Jan. 11
Getty Images
Ben Chaplin for Amazon's "Mad Dogs" panel on Jan. 11
Getty Images
Alycia Debnam-Carey on stage for CW's "The 100" panel on Jan. 10
Getty Images
Actor David Gyasi on stage for CW's "Containment" panel on Jan. 10
Series creator Tom Rob Smith on stage for BBC America's "London Spy" panel on Jan. 8
Getty Images
Creator Peter Moffat on BBC America's "Undercover" panel on Jan. 8
Getty Images
Producer Huw Cordey on BBC America's "The Hunt" panel on Jan. 8
Getty Images
Host Chris Evans for BBC America's "Top Gear" panel on Jan. 8
Getty Images
Executive producer John Legend on stage for WGN America's "Underground" panel on Jan. 8
Getty Images
Series creator Peter Mattei, EP Peter Tolan and stars Ryan Hurst, Gillian Alexy, David Morse, Kyle Gallner and Christina Jackson for WGN America's "Outsiders" panel on Jan. 8
Host Craig Ferguson and EP Brian Vok-Weiss speak on stage during History's "Join or Die" panel on Jan. 6
Getty Images
Viceland creative director Spike Jonze introduces new network's panel on Jan. 6
Getty Images
Viceland creative director Spike Jonze and the network's hosts speak on stage on Jan. 6
Getty Images
John Rhys-Davies speaks on stage for MTV's "The Shannara Chronicles" on Jan. 6
Getty Images
Nikki Glaser on stage for Comedy Central's "Not Safe With Nikki Glaser" on Jan. 6
Getty Images
Stars Sutton Foster and Hilary Duff speak on stage during TV Land's "Younger" panel on Jan. 6
Getty Images
Improv group The Katydids (Caitlin Barlow, Katy Colloton, Cate Freedman, Kate Lambert, Katie O'Brien, Kathryn Renee Thomas) and EPs Alison Brie and Jay Martel speak on stage during TV Land's "Teachers" panel on Jan. 6
Getty Images
"Chasing Destiny" EP Jason Sands, host Kelly Rowland, creative director/choreographer Frank Gatson and EP Danny Rose speak on stage on Jan. 6
Getty Images
Brandy Norwood speaks onstage during the BET "Zoe Ever After" panel on Jan. 6
Getty Images
Connor Schell (left), senior vice president and executive producer for ESPN Films, and Ezra Edelman, director of "OJ: Made In America" on Jan. 5
Getty Images
Vince Vaughn, executive producer of "The '85 Bears," speaks during the ESPN Films "30 for 30" panel on Jan. 5
Getty Images
"Rough Draft" host Reza Aslan speaks alongside writer Norman Lear on Jan. 5
Getty Images
1 of 88
TV stars and executives promote new and returning shows at the annual Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour