The University of Georgia just released its list of the 2007 Peabody Award winners for excellence in broadcasting... and what an amazing, discerning, inspiring list it is. These folks sure know excellence when they see it.
Planet Earth, the jaw-dropping nature series from Discovery Channel, got a Peabody. So did Bob Woodruff's series of touching, insightful "Wounds of War" reports for ABC News. So did Scott Pelley's 60 Minutes report for CBS about "The Killings in Haditha," a superbly reported and edited piece.
Stephen Colbert is a winner for Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, and the list of entertainment TV shows honored by the 67th Annual Peabody Awards list looks like a printout of my personal TiVo Season Pass list of series favorites: 30 Rock. Mad Men. Dexter. Even Project Runway. That's fierce!
There are 35 winners in all, ranging from local TV reports to national radio shows. The range and breadth are impressive, but so is the depth. The fact that the Peabody judges "get" such shows as Dexter and The Colbert Report means they really are infinitely more tasteful and daring than Emmy voters, and earn, every year, more of the unparalleled regard in which their awards are held.