ABC’s freshman comedy series “Abbott Elementary” dominated the 2022 TCA Awards, which recognized the best television offerings from the 2021-2022 season as voted on by members of the Television Critics Association.
“Abbott Elementary” won four awards in total: Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, Outstanding New Program, Individual Achievement in Comedy for series creator/producer/writer/star Quinta Brunson and the TCA’s Program of the Year award.
Additionally, Mandy Moore earned the Individual Achievement in Drama award for her work in the final season of “This Is Us,” HBO’s “Succession” took Outstanding Achievement in Drama, and Hulu’s “Dopesick” won Outstanding Movie, Miniseries or Special.
Netflix’s now-canceled “The Baby-Sitter’s Club” won Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming for the second consecutive year, while the cult favorite, “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson” scored Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch, beating out the likes of “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “The Amber Ruffin Show.”
The TCA – which represents more than 200 professional journalists who cover television for publications across the United States and Canada – also recognized “I Love Lucy” with the Heritage Award, as the iconic sitcom joins past winners of the special award like “The Golden Girls,” “Seinfeld,” “The Wire” and “ER.” And in the TCA’s first tie for Career Achievement Award, Steve Martin and Ted Danson were both honored “for their unparalleled respective compositions of lifelong work.”
“Tonight was supposed to be our first time celebrating the TCA Awards in-person since 2019—unfortunately, it was not meant to be,” said Melanie McFarland, TCA President and TV Critic for Salon. “Despite this development, we are proud to announce this year’s roster of talented TCA Award winners. Each of them played a vital role in making the 2021-2022 television season one of the best in recent memory. We sincerely congratulate all of our honorees, and we look forward to gathering in person once again in 2023.”
Check out the full list of winners below, and you can watch a video of winners offering acceptance speeches (including Brunson, Moore and Peter Jackson) in the player above.
Individual Achievement in Drama: Mandy Moore (“This Is Us,” NBC)
Individual Achievement in Comedy: Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary,” ABC)
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: “The Beatles: Get Back” (Disney+)
Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: TIE: “The Amazing Race” (CBS), “Legendary” (HBO Max)
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: “The Baby-Sitters Club” (Netflix)
Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk Or Sketch: “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson” (Netflix)
Outstanding New Program: “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries, or Specials: “Dopesick” (Hulu)
Outstanding Achievement in Drama: “Succession” (HBO)
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
Program of the Year: “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
Career Achievement Honoree: TIE: Ted Danson and Steve Martin
Heritage Award: “I Love Lucy” (CBS)
Past TCA Award winners are listed on the organization’s official website, tvcritics.org/tca-awards.
The author of this article is a voting member of the TCAs.
