Dorian TV Awards 2020 Announced, ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Watchmen’ Big Winners, Full List
Dorian TV Awards have been announced by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Critics, and the tally is in: Hugh Jackman, Killing Eve and Watchmen cleaned up as actor Dan Levy and TV comedy Schitt’s Creek also nabbed six trophies.
The awards were a virtual affair as stars Hugh Jackman, Janelle Monáe, Billy Porter, John Oliver and Schitt’s Creek creator-star Dan Levy, plus stars and producers of BBC America’s Killing Eve and HBO’s Watchmen offered heartfelt thanks as they virtually accepted awards—and were treated to a symbolic raise of the glass—from GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics during the group’s first TV special last night.
The Dorians TV Toast 2020—a recorded two-hour program hosted by Karel and airing on the LGBTQ+ streaming platform Revry—followed the lead of the group’s trademark live Toast honors, a mix of awards and chat/variety shows.
Starting under the original banner Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, GALECA’s Dorian Awards have gone to the best of all of film and TV — not only LGBTQ-themed — since 2010.
The latest Dorians Toast intermingled music, comedy and special segments boast presenters Josh Thomas (Freeform’s Everything’s Gonna Be Okay), Alex Newell (of NBC’s hit Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist), Margaret Cho and Lea DeLaria, Bruce Vilanch and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars champ Chad Michaels.
Season three of BBC America’s Killing Eve, starring best actress nominee Jodie Comer and 2018’s category winner Sandra Oh, earned Best TV Drama. Accepting were show costar Fiona Shaw (secret agent Carolyn Martens), writer Suzanne Heathcote and executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle, who after thanking GALECA for Eve’s award, praised Creek for “filling my heart with joy” amid today’s challenging times.
HBO drama Watchmen took two awards: Best TV Movie or Limited Series and Most Visually Striking Show. Star Regina King, a nominee for the miniseries and a previous Dorian film award winner for If Beale Street Could Talk, was upbeat in thanking the Society for “not one but two Dorian Awards. Love it, Love it!”
Revealed in their award press release, showrunner Lindelof said: “I know the Dorians celebrate all kinds of film and TV shows that don’t necessarily need to be LGBTQ-themed, but we take particular pride in the fact that there is a queer character at the very center of Watchmen: Will Reeves. We started this story by asking a simple question: Why would a superhero need to hide their face? If they were truly fighting for justice, the answer seemed obvious: Because the world wasn’t ready to see who they really were. And so Watchman became this story about unmasking, about understanding the pain and trauma caused by ignorance and hate.”
Monáe, accepting her joint-win with singer-actor Billy Porter for Best TV Musical Performance for their dazzling duet at the start of last February’s Academy Awards, said the experience of performing that night “was a dream” and that, when it came to asking Porter to join her, “There was no other person I could think about sharing that stage with.” She added: “I’m just so grateful that we got an opportunity to be ourselves. Our performance was rooted in community and making sure to amplify all of the marginalized voices, specifically our black and queer community. It wasn’t just about us. It was about all of us. I’m so honored to be honored by GALECA.”
Jackman took Best TV Performance—Actor for his portrayal of a true-life public school embezzler in HBO’s Bad Education.
Piping in himself, Jackman, in thanking GALECA, said his Dorian award “really, really means a lot . . . (making Education) was just one of those incredible experiences. This is just icing on the cake.”
HBO’s Last Week Tonight, starring crusader John Oliver, triumphed as Best Current Affairs Show, not an easy feat considering the category’s “tight competition,” said presenter Thomas Roberts.
Oliver said, “Thank you so much, GALECA, for this Dorian Award.” He added he hoped members “were safe at home and not at a mask-less Jacksonville pool party.”
The final season of Schitt’s Creek scored five Dorians.
The comedy about a “once-rich and la-de-da family whose suddenly meager finances make them face reality,” won Best TV Comedy and Best LGBTQ TV Show (just as the show did for season four).
Creek matriarch Catherine O’Hara earned Best TV Performance—Actress, with cast mates Annie Murphy and Levy honored in the supporting categories (Levy’s father Eugene Levy was nominated here for best actor). Levy was also bestowed the group’s special Wilde Wit accolade, named in honor of Oscar Wilde (the Dorian Award itself counts as an homage to Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray).
GALECA’s Campiest TV Show honor went to Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, with director/producer Rebecca Chaiklin accepting with humor (she said the controversial docuseries’ now imprisoned star, Joe Exotic—who recently sent a letter to Donald Trump asking to be pardoned for charges of murder for hire and animal abuse—sent his gratitude).
The Award Presenters speak
“The presenters and winners really outdid themselves with their virtual appearances,” said GALECA Executive Director John Griffiths. “I’m still laughing over Josh Thomas’ hilarious, must-be-heard insight about life during the pandemic. And our host Karel did an amazing job, especially considering he was flying virtually. He’s such genuine, enthusiastic fan, and that makes an awards show much more fun. He also gets how much power TV has in transforming and uplifting lives. That makes the viewing experience more meaningful.”
Griffiths added he was “truly giddy” over GALECA’s revamped trophy, individual art pieces of the winners inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. “Everyone gets a colorful portrait of themselves on a little easel with a velvet drape over it!”
Moreover, the Dorians TV Toast 2020 introduced not one but two theme songs, the Cheers-evocative “Raise a Glass!” and the more rocking “Toast,” rockingly performed by The Black Donnellys.
While this year marks the inaugural Dorian TV Awards, this is actually the 12h go-around for members voting on their best-loved TV programs and stars. Come first-quarter 2021, the Society will add to its choices for the finest in theatrical releases for its first separate Dorian Film Awards.
2019-20 DORIAN TV AWARDS—WINNERS IN BOLD
BEST TV DRAMA
Better Call Saul (AMC)
Killing Eve (BBC America/AMC)
Ozark (Netflix)
The Crown (Netflix)
The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
BEST TV COMEDY
Better Things (FX)
Dead to Me (Netflix)
Insecure (HBO)
Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
The Good Place (NBC)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
BEST TV MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES
Bad Education (HBO)
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
Mrs. America (FX/Hulu)
Normal People (Hulu)
Watchmen (HBO)
BEST LGBTQ TV SHOW
Bad Education (HBO)
Hollywood (Netflix)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Vida (Starz)
We’re Here (HBO)
Work in Progress (Showtime)
BEST TV PERFORMANCE – ACTRESS
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me (Netflix)
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America (FX/Hulu)
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me (Netflix)
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve (BBC America/AMC)
Regina King, Watchmen (HBO)
Laura Linney, Ozark (Netflix)
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
BEST TV PERFORMANCE – ACTOR
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education (HBO)
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Paul Mescal, Normal People (Hulu)
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood (Netflix)
Ramy Youssef, Ramy (Hulu)
BEST SUPPORTING TV PERFORMANCE – ACTRESS
Uzo Aduba, Mrs. America (FX/Hulu)
Julia Garner, Ozark (Netflix)
Allison Janney, Bad Education (HBO)
Patti LuPone, Hollywood (Netflix)
Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Jean Smart, Watchmen (HBO)
BEST SUPPORTING TV PERFORMANCE – ACTOR
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Harvey Guillén, What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Joe Mantello, Hollywood (Netflix)
Josh O’Connor, The Crown (Netflix)
Jim Parsons, Hollywood (Netflix)
BEST TV MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Cynthia Erivo, “Stand Up,” 92nd Academy Awards (ABC)
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Music, Music Everywhere!,” John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch (Netflix)
Jennifer Lopez & Shakira, Halftime Show, Super Bowl LIV (Fox)
Janelle Monáe & Billy Porter, Opening Number, 92nd Academy Awards (ABC)
Noah Reid, “Always Be My Baby,” Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM
Cheer (Netflix)
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
Visible: Out on Television (Apple TV+)
BEST UNSUNG TV SHOW
Everything’s Gonna Be Okay (Freeform)
Gentefied (Netflix)
The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Mrs. Fletcher (HBO)
One Day at a Time (Pop)
Vida (Starz)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Work in Progress (Showtime)
MOST VISUALLY STRIKING SHOW
Hollywood (Netflix)
The Crown (Netflix)
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Watchmen (HBO)
Westworld (HBO)
CAMPIEST TV SHOW
AJ and the Queen (Netflix)
Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings (Netflix)
The Great (Hulu)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (Netflix)
WILDE WIT AWARD
(Honoring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)
Cate Blanchett
Hannah Gadsby
Dan Levy
Trevor Noah
Randy Rainbow
