Dorian TV Awards - Winners, including Yellowjackets (Best TV Drama) and Heartstopper (Best LGBTQ TV Show)

Yellowjackets and Heartstopper, winners of Best TV Drama and Best LGBTQ TV Show

I continue to be a proud member of Galeca: The Society of Entertainment Critics and even more so today! I was thrilled when we nominated Heartstopper for not only Best LGBTQ TV Show but also Best TV Drama and Best TV Performance for Kit Conner.

That being said, when it came time to vote, neither I, nor our democratic body could resist awarding the amazing Yellowjackets and Melanie Lynskey.

Below are all our winners, including Heartstopper for Best LGBTQ TV Show!

AUGUST 17, 2022 - Los Angeles - Proving once more that the "gay agenda” is out to force its will on God-fearing freedom lovers, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics today announced the winners of its 14th Dorian TV Awards for both mainstream and LGBTQIA+ programs. 

GALECA, comprised of 360 film, TV and pop culture critics and journalists in the U.S., Canada, Australia and U.K., chose Showtime’s very fine young cannibals drama Yellowjackets for Best TV Drama. Melanie Lynskey, star of that searing, decades-spanning mystery-drama, scored Best TV Performance. ABC’s pointedly funny Abbott Elementary, star-creator Quinta Brunson’s sitcom 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.

The group deemed HBO’s Euphoria Most Visually Striking TV Show, while the group winked along with the cast and writers of Peacock’s Girls5eva in hailing the hilariously over-the-top girl group comedy as Campiest TV Show (over more low-hanging fruit picks like the Lady Di stage tribute Diana: The Musical). Best Non-English Language TV Show went to the dystopian thriller Squid Game, which, it should be noted, included a controversial set of mincing, limp-wristed VIP villains.

GALECA’s inaugural TV Icon honor (streamlined from its original name, The “You Deserve An Award!” Award), came out a tie. The New York theatre-trained Christine Baranski, beloved for her aloof and deceptively imperious roles in such series as 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.

And 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.” 

GALECA’s Dorian film and TV award nominees and winners are chosen in purely democratic fashion, with the entire membership able to vote. The group does not allow for committees to select a category’s nominees, though the Board may decide to present its own honor on occasion. 

GALECA’s 14th Dorian Film Awards nominees will be revealed in January. 

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 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

ABOUT GALECA

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. 

Run completely by volunteers, GALECA also helps advocate for better pay, access and respect for its members and all undervalued pop culture journalists. Advisory Board members include such esteemed journalists and media experts as Judy Wieder, Jane Velez-Mitchell, Bobby Rivers, David Ansen, Kevin Thomas, Koa Beck, Monica Trasandes and Michael Musto. 

Past televised or in-person Dorian Awards events have featured appearances by such winners or presenters as Janelle Monáe, Regina King, Antonio Banderas, Bowen Yang, Olivia Wilde, Hugh Jackman, Dan Levy, Jean Smart, Josh Thomas, Andrew Ahn, Laverne Cox, Billy Porter, Carey Mulligan, Rachel McAdams, Cynthia Nixon, Margaret Cho, Daniel Kaluuya, John Oliver, Olivia Newton-John, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Cheyenne Jackson and Charo. GALECA’s Dorian “Toast” special can be streamed on Tubi, Planet Out, Revry TV and GALECA’s YouTube channel.

Say “LGBTQ Critics" and show your solidarity with underrepresented entertainment journalists by following @DorianAwards on Twitter  Facebook and Instagram. Visit GALECA.org for more information.