HBO Leads Critics’ Choice Noms Pack

HBO leads the way with 22 Critics’ Choice Awards nominations, followed by ABC and Netflix at 14. FX scored 12, NBC 9, AMC 9, CBS 7 and Fox 6. Among series, FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson had six nominations; Game of Thrones (HBO), The Night Manager (AMC) and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) had five—while All the Way (HBO), House of Cards (Netflix), Roots (History) and Veep (HBO) earned four nominations. 

The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) hosts the awards, which honor the best in TV and film; winners will be revealed live at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica Dec. 11, 5 p.m. PT (8 ET), airing on A&E. Actor and comedian T.J. Miller (Silicon Valley) will be the show’s host.

Best comedy is between FX’s Atlanta, ABC’s Black-ish and Modern Family, Amazon’s Fleabag, HBO’s Silicon Valley and Veep, and Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.   

Best comedy actress features Ellie Kemper from Kimmy Schmidt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Veep, Kate McKinnon from NBC’s Saturday Night Live, Tracee Ellis Ross of Black-ish, Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag and Constance Wu from Fresh Off the Boat.

Best comedy actor pits Black-ish’s Anthony Anderson, Will Forte from Fox’s The Last Man on Earth, Donald Glover from FX’s Atlanta, Bill Hader from IFC’s Documentary Now!, Patrick Stewart from Starz’s Blunt Talk and Jeffrey Tambor from Amazon’s Transparent.  

Up for best drama are AMC’s Better Call Saul, HBO’s Game of Thrones and Westworld, USA’s Mr. Robot, Netflix’s Stranger Things and The Crown, and NBC’s This Is Us.

Best actor in a drama features Sam Heughan of Starz’s Outlander, Rami Malek of Mr. Robot, Bob Odenkirk of AMC’s Better Call Saul, Matthew Rhys of FX’s The Americans, Liev Schreiber of Showtime’s Ray Donovan and Kevin Spacey of Netflix’s House of Cards.

Best actress in a drama is between Caitriona Balfe of Outlander, Viola Davis of ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder, Tatiana Maslany of BBC America’s Orphan Black, Keri Russell of The Americans, Evan Rachel Wood in Westworld and Robin Wright from House of Cards.

"In this golden age of peak TV, viewers have an embarrassment of riches to choose from every day and night," said BTJA president Joey Berlin. "The Critics' Choice Awards are chosen to help people find the best of the best. We can't wait until December 11 to celebrate with all these incredibly deserving nominees."

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.