41st Annual TCA Award Nominations Announced...and Why the TCA is Still Relevant
Did your favorite TV show or star get a nomination? Full list here!
The 41st annual Television Critics Association (TCA) Awards for the 2024-25 season have been announced and it’s a truly great mix of shows you’d expect to see (Hacks, The Pitt, Abbott Elementary and Shrinking) but also with some nice surprises like nominations for The Boyfriend, Japan’s first same sex reality dating show from Netflix, the gut-wrenching limited series Adolescence (also Netflix) and first season scripted shows like CBS’s Matlock and Netflix’s Nobody Wants This.
Before we get to the nominations, I want to write something about the TCA organization, which, if you aren’t familiar, is non-profit and has 235 professional journalists, one of them being yours truly. Since the pandemic, so much of life in general has changed but after having to cancel several tours during those times when it wasn’t safe to get a few hundred people in a room to talk TV, the following years have continued to be rough primarily due to lack of networks signing up to participate.
Budgets everywhere are tighter than ever and I get that it’s costly to book a hotel (typically, press tour has been held at the Langham hotel in Pasadena or, previously, also at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills) for anywhere from 10-day to two weeks or more as well as the cost to bring talent and producers to the sessions. That said, I’ll always believe that this in-person press gathering is worth all the blood, sweat, tears and money it costs to bring it together. Zoom junkets where you get maybe 8 minutes (if you’re lucky) to talk to an actor or a producer, which may be enough time to get the quotes you need for a story but what you’re missing is that true face-to-face interaction that can only happen when you’re truly in the same room and have those few moments of chit-chat or even have a handshake before diving into an interview. It means something, period.
For someone who came into the TV journalism game a little later in my career, I know that I wouldn’t have the public relations, network, talent and producer relationships (and friendships in many cases) that I have today if it wasn’t for those in-person press tours. And when my job at TV Guide Magazine ended unexpectedly in December 2023, I knew I was still going to travel from Bangkok to Los Angeles to attend the winter press tour to not only lock down some interviews for my then-new Substack venture but to also network with other journalists and editors so I could get back to the freelance life and actually line up some work, which did happen. So when someone asks me if we still need the Television Critics Association, I always give them a quick YES.
Now, I am not on the TCA board and never have been so am not part of the inner workings, which I know is a tough job and I commend everyone who has sat on that board in the past, present and future. But what I will say that none of this means that changes have been necessary given the vastly different climate of our world and what the industry is all about in 2025. I still have faith in the TCA and hope the recently voted-in board can give the organization the future it deserves.
Okay, that’s my short diatribe in support of the organization. Let’s get back to the nominations with a quote from new TCA President Andy Dehnart, who says, “With these nominations, we honor the art of television and the artists who create it. Our members independently selected these nominees, having championed these shows and in their writing, reporting, and criticism throughout the past year.”
The nominations for this year’s TCA Awards, which will be presented later this summer across TCA’s social media, are as follows:
Program of the Year
“Adolescence” — Netflix
“Andor” — Disney+
‘Hacks” — HBO Max
“The Pitt” — HBO Max
“The Rehearsal” — HBO
“Severance” — Apple TV+
“The Studio” — Apple TV+
“The White Lotus” — HBO
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
“Abbott Elementary” — ABC (2022 Winner)
“English Teacher” — FX
“Hacks” — HBO Max (2024 Winner)
“Nobody Wants This” — Netflix
“The Rehearsal” — HBO
“Shrinking” — Apple TV+
“Somebody Somewhere” — HBO
“The Studio” — Apple TV+
“What We Do in the Shadows” — FX
Outstanding Achievement in Drama
“Andor” — Disney+
“Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire” — AMC
“Industry” — HBO
“The Last of Us” — HBO
“Matlock” — CBS
“The Pitt” — HBO Max
“Severance” — Apple TV+
“The White Lotus” — HBO
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials
“Adolescence” — Netflix
“Agatha All Along” — Disney+
“Disclaimer” — Apple TV+
“Dying for Sex”— FX
“The Penguin” — HBO
“Rebel Ridge” — Netflix
“Say Nothing” — FX
“Sirens” — Netflix
Outstanding New Program
“Common Side Effects” — Adult Swim
“English Teacher” — FX
“Matlock” — CBS
“Nobody Wants This” — Netflix
“North of North” — Netflix
“Paradise” — Hulu
“The Pitt” — HBO Max
“The Studio” — Apple TV+
Individual Achievement in Drama
Jacob Anderson, “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire” — AMC
Kathy Bates, “Matlock” — CBS
Owen Cooper, “Adolescence” — Netflix
Stephen Graham, “Adolescence” — Netflix
Britt Lower, “Severance” — Apple TV+
Diego Luna, “Andor” — Disney+
Adam Scott, “Severance” — Apple TV+
Tramell Tillman, “Severance” — Apple TV+
Noah Wyle, “The Pitt” — HBO Max
Individual Achievement in Comedy
Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear” — FX
Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks” — HBO Max
Bridget Everett, “Somebody Somewhere” — HBO
Nathan Fielder, “The Rehearsal” — HBO
Harrison Ford, “Shrinking” — Apple TV+
Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary” — ABC
Seth Rogen, “The Studio” — Apple TV+
Jean Smart, “Hacks” — HBO Max (2021 & 2024 Winner)
Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex” — FX
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
“60 Minutes” — CBS (2012 Winner)
“The Americas” — NBC
“Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing” — Netflix
“Frontline” — PBS (Eight-time Winner in Category)
“Leonardo da Vinci” — PBS
“PBS NewsHour” — PBS
“Pee-wee as Himself” — HBO
“We Will Dance Again” — Paramount+
Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch
“The Daily Show” — Comedy Central
“Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney” – Netflix
“Hot Ones” — YouTube
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — ABC
“Late Night with Seth Meyers” — NBC
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — CBS
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” — HBO (2018, 2019, & 2021 Winner)
“Saturday Night Live” — NBC
“SNL50: The Anniversary Special” — NBC
Outstanding Achievement in Reality
“The Amazing Race” — CBS (2011 & 2022 Winner)
“The Boyfriend” — Netflix
“Conan O'Brien Must Go” — HBO Max
“Couples Therapy” — Showtime (2021 Winner)
“Culinary Class Wars” — Netflix
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” — MTV (2014 Winner)
“Survivor” — CBS
“Top Chef” — Bravo
“The Traitors” — Peacock (2024 Winner)
Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming
“Doctor Who” — Disney+ (2024 Winner)
“Forever” — Netflix
“Heartstopper” — Netflix
“Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld” — Netflix
“Star Trek: Prodigy” — Netflix
“Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” — Disney Channel
“WondLa” — Apple TV+
“XO, Kitty” — Netflix
“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” — Disney+
Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming
“Bluey Minisodes” — Disney+
“Carl the Collector” — PBS
“Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood” — PBS (2016 Winner in Youth Category)
“Donkey Hodie” — PBS
“Odd Squad” — PBS
“Sesame Street” — HBO (2001, 2011, & 2018 Winner in Youth Category)
“Win or Lose” — Disney+
“Wonder Pets in the City” — Apple TV+