The Television Critics Association held its yearly TCA Awards ceremony Saturday night in Beverly Hills, hosted by Jane the Virgin’s Jaime Camil. The big winner was FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, which won three awards: Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries, and Specials; Program of the Year; and Individual Achievement in Drama for Sarah Paulson’s portrayal of prosecutor Marcia Clark. Unlike most awards shows, the TCA Awards doesn’t split acting categories by gender, and both acting awards went to women this year, with Rachel Bloom winning Individual Achievement in Comedy for her work on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. In addition, Lily Tomlin was honored with a Career Achievement Award, making the individual awards an all-women sweep. Amber Dowling, the president of the TCA, commented on the gender balance:
We had an unprecedented amount of female winners this year, which is a testament to both the talented actresses who were honored tonight, as well as to the growing number of high-quality roles being created for and by women. It’s extremely encouraging to see this growing trend being embraced, accepted, and expanded upon, and I look forward to seeing even more of it in the future.
Like The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, many of the other winners were in their first season. Full Frontal With Samantha Bee won Outstanding Achievement in News and Information, Making of a Murderer won Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming, and Mr. Robot won Outstanding New Program. Outstanding Achievement in Drama went to The Americans for the second year running, while Black-ish took home Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming went to Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Finally, the Heritage Award went to The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The TCA Awards are voted on by members of the Television Critics Association, which consists of more than 200 U.S. and Canadian television critics.
