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Game of Thrones, Mad Men and Nick Effing Offerman Top TV Critics' Awards

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Sunday night, the TCAs—the Teen Choice Awards—will be handed out on Fox, with millions watching. Saturday night, a less-lauded TCAs—the Television Critics Association awards—were handed out at the Beverly Hilton, away from the cameras but with (I have to assume) much better winners.

Among the winners (full list appears after the jump) were Friday Night Lights as Program of the Year, Game of Thrones as Outstanding New Program, Mad Men as Outstanding Drama and Modern Family as Outstanding Comedy. And Parks and Recreation’s Ron Effing Swanson, Nick Offerman—who also hosted the awards ceremony—finished in a tie with Modern Family’s Ty Burrell for Individual Achievement in Comedy. (The TCAs don’t have separate acting awards for men and women.)

Did my first choices win? I’ll be honest: I don’t entirely remember. The voting is a two-stage process–first open nominations, then a final ballot from the nominees–and I do not remember, or have a record of, precisely who I voted for. I know I had some votes in there for Louie and Louis CK, and while I enjoy Modern Family plenty, it was not the best (or second or third…) best comedy on the air last year. (If I recall correctly, I may have split my ballot between Parks and Recreation for comedy and Louis CK for achievement in comedy. Or vice-versa, with Offerman. It was a close thing. And before you ask, I believe Breaking Bad did not fall within the period of eligibility.) I’d have picked Downton Abbey as miniseries, but Sherlock was completely deserving.

On the other hand, I cast my ballot for Game of Thrones as new program, Mad Men as drama and FNL as program of the year. At least I think I did. It’s what I believe now anyway, so I’m sticking with that story. Here’s the full release, and let me know what you think:

THE TELEVISION CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES
2011 TCA AWARDS WINNERS

DirecTV/NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” Named Program of The Year
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” Wins Outstanding New Program

“Mad Men,” “Modern Family,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Restrepo,”
“Sherlock,”
“Sesame Street” and “Amazing Race” are honored along with
Oprah Winfrey and “The Dick Van Dyke Show”

BEVERLY HILLS, CA (Embargoed until 9 PM PDT/Saturday, August 6, 2011)
– The Television Critics Association (TCA) tonight recognized the top
programs and actors of the 2010-2011 television season at its 27th
Annual TCA Awards presentation. Nick Offerman, star of NBC’s “Parks
and Recreation,” hosted the annual invitation-only event, held at The
Beverly Hilton hotel in conjunction with the TCA’s summer press tour.
The non-televised ceremony bestowed awards in 12 categories to
recipients in comedy, drama, reality, miniseries, news and youth
programming.

Members of the TCA, a media organization of more than 200 professional
TV critics and journalists from the United States and Canada, voted
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” this season’s “Outstanding New Program” and
honored the final season of DirecTV/NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” with
its award for “Program of The Year.”
Winning its second consecutive TCA Award, ABC’s “Modern Family” took
home the award for “Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.” AMC’s “Mad
Men” received the award for “Outstanding Achievement in Drama,” its
third in this category, having previously won the distinction in 2008
and 2009.
The award for “Individual Achievement in Drama” went to actor Jon Hamm
(Don Draper, of AMC’s “Mad Men”) while actor/host Nick Offerman (Ron
Swanson, of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation”) shared the honor of
“Individual Achievement in Comedy” with fellow actor Ty Burrell (Phil
Dunphy, of ABC’s “Modern Family”).
While PBS Masterpiece’s “Sherlock” emerged victorious in the category
of “Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials,” CBS’s
“Amazing Race” received the organization’s first award for
“Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming.”
The TCA also recognized PBS’s “Sesame Street” with an award for
“Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming,” and the National
Geographic Channel documentary “Restrepo” received top honors for
“Outstanding Achievement in News & Information.”
In addition to recognizing the year’s finest programming, the TCA
bestowed a Heritage Award on CBS’s former series “The Dick Van Dyke
Show” (1961-66) for the cultural and social impact the program has had
on society. Carl Reiner, the show’s creator and the recipient of the
2003 TCA Career Achievement Award, was on hand to receive the honor
alongside series actors Rose Marie and Larry Mathews.
The non-profit organization also presented Oprah Winfrey with a Career
Achievement Award for her influence through 25 seasons of “The Oprah
Winfrey Show.”
2011 TCA Award recipients are as follows:
• Individual Achievement in Drama: Jon Hamm (“Mad Men,” AMC)
• Individual Achievement in Comedy: Ty Burrell (“Modern Family,” ABC)
and Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation,” NBC)
• Outstanding Achievement in News and Information:
“Restrepo” (National Geographic Channel)
• Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: “Amazing Race” (CBS)
• Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: “Sesame Street” (PBS)
• Outstanding New Program: “Game of Thrones” (HBO)
• Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials:
“Masterpiece: Sherlock” (PBS)
• Outstanding Achievement in Drama: “Mad Men” (AMC)
• Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: “Modern Family” (ABC)
• Career Achievement Award: Oprah Winfrey
• Heritage Award: “The Dick Van Dyke Show”
• Program of the Year: “Friday Night Lights” (DirecTV/NBC)