Who doesn't love a lovefest? And that's what the annual TCA Awards are. Members of the Television Critics Association invite folks from the shows we've named outstanding, and every year, those folks accept their awards by turning the tables and giving us praise.
Good thing we don't invite the worst-show folks, eh?
But it is nice to get a little love back, since we mostly hear TV types saying things like "I don't read reviews" or, worse, "I don't watch television." ("I'm too busy to watch TV" is the usual excuse, which explains why so much TV is so bad. If they watched, they'd know what not to do.)
TV critics really do love the medium, so we love finding great stuff and spreading the word, even campaigning on behalf of under-appreciated shows like this year's Program of the Year winner Friday Night Lights. "You have helped to keep this show on the air," showrunner Jason Katims said from the stage at Saturday night's Television Critics Association Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, standing alongside a huge cast turnout that included stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, in the same hotel ballroom that hosts the Golden Globes. [Photo above]
(Don't worry that you missed the broadcast. The TCA Awards aren't televised, by design, to keep it a warmly intimate gathering.)
Also on hand at Saturday's TCAs: much of the cast from Mad Men, named last season's top drama, with creator Matthew Weiner recalling early TCA enthusiasm for his no-name period piece. "I look back to that embrace," Weiner said, "when nobody knew who anybody in the show was and nobody knew who I was." He didn't "expect to be back here, or to be making the show four years later," but critical acclaim helped bring viewers to a show on a cable channel (AMC) previously not known for original series. It shows "how important critics are," said star Jon Hamm, accepting his award for individual achievement in drama, "to a show that doesn't necessarily have outsized audiences."
Which isn't to say the TCAs are all serious and significant. Modern Family Ty Burrell accepted his award for individual achievement in comedy with hilarity about his 1 1/2-year-old son at home: "At this age, they're just essentially a very tiny drunk person." And Parks and Recreation mustache man Nick Offerman, who tied Burrell for the comedy nod, also opened the Saturday night ceremony with a tongue-in-cheek routine about "this crazy business we call show," employing a guitar, satirical songs, video sequences shot on the set, and the reading of online comments telling him how much "you suck."
Oprah Winfrey won TCA's prestigious Career Achievement award, but we didn't even get This Lousy T-Shirt, only a videotape saying she was sorry she couldn't be here because she was on vacation and didn't learn about the award soon enough to end her vacation early. (Except, oops, she actually was here a week ago, introducing Rosie O'Donnell for her OWN cable channel presentation.)
Comedy creator Carl Reiner did come, to accept the Heritage Award for The Dick Van Dyke Show, bringing along his classic sitcom's co-star Rose Marie (in a wheelchair, but still feisty and wearing a bow in her hair) and Larry Matthews (grown-up Ritchie). Reiner remembered one particularly bad review when that now iconic show debuted in 1961, then glowing praise as the show left the air five years later: "'We will never see it's like again.' And that was the same guy who trashed us."
So we're not always right. But critics do try. Sometimes, we even correct ourselves.
(Occasionally, TV shows do, too.)
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In other categories at Saturday's 2011 TCA Awards:
Game of Thrones was voted best new show by the group of more than 200 U.S. and Canadian critics, bestowing our 27th annual honors in 12 categories.
PBS' Masterpiece entry Sherlock won for movies/miniseries/specials.
Reality got TCA recognition this year with its own category, which went to The Amazing Race. Tops in news/information was the documentary Restrepo, an on-the-ground look at an Afghanistan war platoon from National Geographic Channel.
One of TV's longest-running series found itself back in the winners' circle, too. In its 41st season, the preschool hour Sesame Street was named outstanding achievement in youth programming.
No network won more than two awards, with a pair each going to ABC, NBC, PBS and AMC. Satellite service DirecTV earned its first nod for its partnership with NBC in producing Friday Night Lights.
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Complete list of 2011 TCA Awards:
-- Individual Achievement in Drama: Jon Hamm (Mad Men, AMC)
-- Individual Achievement in Comedy: tie, Ty Burrell (Modern Family, ABC) and Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation, NBC)
-- Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: Sesame Street (PBS)
-- Outstanding New Program: Game of Thrones (HBO)
-- Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: Masterpiece: Sherlock (PBS)
-- Outstanding Achievement in Drama: Mad Men (AMC)
-- Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: Modern Family (ABC)
-- Program of the Year: Friday Night Lights (DirecTV/NBC)
-- Career Achievement Award: Oprah Winfrey
-- Heritage Award: The Dick Van Dyke Show
[Photos by Frederick M. Brown/Getty]