Dorian Awards: ‘Yellowjackets,’ ‘Abbott Elementary,’ ‘Heartstopper’ named TV’s best from Society of LGBTQ Critics

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GALECA, the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, have announced the winners of the 14th Dorian TV Awards, again honoring the best in both mainstream and LGBTQIA+ programs where Showtime’s Yellowjackets, ABC’s Abbott Elementary, and Netflix’s Heartstopper took home the top series awards. 

Comprised of 360 film, TV and pop culture critics and journalists in the U.S., Canada, Australia and U.K., GALECA chose Showtime’s very fine young cannibals drama Yellowjackets for Best TV Drama. Melanie Lynskey, star of the searing, decades-spanning mystery-drama, scored Best TV Performance, one of the group’s two non-gendered acting categories. ABC’s mock-doc comedy Abbott Elementary, from star-creator Quinta Brunson, about a devoted teacher navigating an underfunded public grade school in Philadelphia, earned Best TV Comedy. Another school-set hit, Netflix’s Heartstopper, scored Best LGBTQ TV Show for its tender and exhilarating tale of friendship, love and romance among a variety of Brit teens.

Actor-comedian Jerrod Carmichael was named LGBTQIA+ TV Trailblazer “for creating art that inspires empathy, truth and equity.” Michaela Jaé Rodriguez was last year’s recipient.

“Rothaniel Jerrod Carmichael, raised in a low-income household in North Carolina, was just 26 when he helped convince NBC to put his own sitcom on the air back in 2015,” said GALECA Executive Director John Griffiths. “The Carmichael Show proved then he was not only an entertainment wunderkind, but one who mixed his determination with rare heart and purpose, shedding light on hot-button societal issues from racism to police brutality with the sort of frankness fictional TV rarely does.” In coming out in his HBO comedy special Rothaniel this year, Griffiths added, “He did so with the sort of self-effacing wit, vulnerability and observational humor that would make his heroes Richard Pryor and George Carlin proud. Carmichael has no doubt helped a lot of people turn a page.”

Beyoncé’s show-opening and show-stopping performance of “Be Alive” (her Oscar-nominated song from King Richard) won her the Best TV Musical Performance Award.

Jennifer Coolidge was a double winner, earning Best Supporting TV Performance for her funny and heartfelt turn in the HBO limited series The White Lotus and also the group’s Wilde Wit Award, given to a “a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse.”

The group’s inaugural TV Icon honor (streamlined from its original name, The “You Deserve An Award!” Award), came out with a tie. The Emmy-winning Christine Baranski, beloved for her aloof and deceptively imperious roles in shows like Cybill, The Good Wife, The Good Fight and HBO’s current period drama The Gilded Age, shares the title with comic actress Cassandra Peterson, adored for her decades of vamping, alter ego-style, as horror movie show host Elvira. 

The group’s Campiest TV Show went to Peacock’s girl group satire Girls5Eva, starring Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell and Busy Phillips. For Most Visually Striking TV Show, GALECA went with HBO’s Euphoria and Ziwe bested the competition for Best Current Affairs Program for her self-titled show while the Best Non-English Language TV Show award went to the dystopian thriller Squid Game.

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, formed in 2009, sponsors the Dorian Awards, which honor the best in film and TV mainstream to queer+. The Dorians exist in part to remind bullies, bigots and LGBTQIA+ communities’ at-risk youth that the world loves the Q+ eye on entertainment. A nonprofit 501 c 6 professional organization, GALECA currently consists of over 360 active critics and journalists working or freelancing in online, print, TV and radio/podcasting for a variety of noteworthy outlets in the United States, Canada, Australia, the U.K. and beyond. GALECA is a member of CGEM: Critics Groups for Equality in Media, an alliance of journalists groups that also includes the African American Film Critics Association, Latino Entertainment Journalists Association, Online Female Film Critics Association, and the Asian American Journalists Association’s Features Forum. 

GALECA’s 14th Dorian Film Awards nominees will be revealed in January. Here is the complete list of nominees and winners of the 14th Dorian TV Awards from The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.

BEST TV DRAMA
Better Call Saul (AMC)
Heartstopper (Netflix)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Severance (Apple TV+)
Succession (HBO)

BEST TV COMEDY
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Barry (HBO)
Hacks (HBO Max)
The Other Two (HBO Max)
Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max)

BEST LGBTQ TV SHOW
Hacks (HBO Max)
Heartstopper (Netflix)
The Other Two (HBO Max)
Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max)
Somebody Somewhere (HBO)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)

BEST TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Dopesick (Hulu)
The Dropout (Hulu)
Midnight Mass (Netflix)
Station Eleven (HBO Max)
The White Lotus (HBO)

BEST NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE TV SHOW
Elite (Netflix)
Lupin (Netflix)
My Brilliant Friend (HBO)
Pachinko (Apple TV+)
Squid Game (Netflix)

BEST UNSUNG TV SHOW
– to an exceptional program worthy of greater attention
Better Things (FX)
The Other Two (HBO Max)
Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max)
Russian Doll (Netflix)
Somebody Somewhere (HBO)
We Are Lady Parts (Peacock)

BEST LEAD TV PERFORMANCE
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Kit Connor, Heartstopper (Netflix)
Bridget Everett, Somebody Somewhere (HBO)
Bill Hader, Barry (HBO)
Lily James, Pam & Tommy (Hulu)
Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll (Netflix)
Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout (HBO)
Jean Smart, Hacks (HBO Max)
Zendaya, Euphoria (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING TV PERFORMANCE
Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus (HBO)
Anthony Carrigan, Barry (HBO)
Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus (HBO)
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks (HBO Max)
Jeff Hiller, Somebody Somewhere (HBO)
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Matthew Macfadyen Succession (HBO)
Christina Ricci, Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Sydney Sweeney, Euphoria (HBO)

BEST TV MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Beyoncé, “Be Alive,” 94th Academy Awards (ABC)
Kristin Chenoweth and cast, “Tribulation,” Schmigadoon! (Apple TV+)
Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller, “Don’t Give Up,” Somebody Somewhere(HBO)
Jean Smart, “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,” Hacks (HBO Max)
Cecily Strong and cast, “Corn Puddin’,” Schmigadoon! (Apple TV+)
Hannah Waddingham and cast, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)

BEST TV DOCUMENTARY OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
The Andy Warhol Diaries (Netflix)
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
How To with John Wilson (HBO)
Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known (HBO)
We Need to Talk About Cosby (Showtime)

BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM
The Amber Ruffin Show (Peacock)
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
ZIWE (Showtime)

BEST ANIMATED SHOW
Arcane (Netflix)
Big Mouth (Netflix)
Bob’s Burgers (Fox)
Q Force (Netflix)
Tuca & Bertie (Adult Swim)
What If … ? (Disney+)

BEST REALITY SHOW
Legendary (HBO Max)
The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans (Paramount+)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Survivor (CBS)
Top Chef: Houston (Bravo)
We’re Here (HBO)

MOST VISUALLY STRIKING TV SHOW
Euphoria (HBO)
The Gilded Age (HBO)
Loki (Disney+)
Severance (Apple TV+)
Squid Game (Netflix)

CAMPIEST TV SHOW
Diana: The Musical (Netflix)
Euphoria (HBO)
Girls5Eva (Peacock)
Nine Perfect Strangers (Hulu)
Schmigadoon! (Apple TV+)

WILDE WIT AWARD
– To a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse
Joel Kim Booster
Quinta Brunson
Jerrod Carmichael
Jennifer Coolidge
Bowen Yang

GALECA TV ICON AWARD (TIE)
Note: This in an inaugural honor and its name has been truncated from the one previously announced
Gillian Anderson
Christine Baranski
Lynda Carter
Kim Cattrall
Cassandra Peterson

GALECA LGBTQIA+ TV TRAILBLAZER
– For creating art that inspires empathy, truth and equity
Jerrod Carmichael
Margaret Cho
Russell T Davies
Kate McKinnon
Bowen Yang