The Critics Choice Association (CCA) and nonfiction producers’ organization NPACT have unveiled the winners for the third annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards, which recognize excellence in nonfiction, unscripted and reality programming across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.
BEST COMPETITION SERIES – TIE
The Amazing Race (CBS)
**The Great British Baking Show (Netflix)
Top Chef (Bravo)
Tough as Nails (CBS)
BEST COMPETITION SERIES: TALENT/VARIETY – TIE
American Idol (ABC)
Legendary (HBO Max)
World of Dance (NBC)
BEST UNSTRUCTURED SERIES
Crikey! It’s the Irwins (discovery+)
Lenox Hill (Netflix)
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked (VH1)
The Real World Homecoming: New York (Paramount+)
BEST STRUCTURED SERIES – TIE
A World of Calm (HBO Max)
**Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Food Network)
History of Swear Words (Netflix)
Queer Eye (Netflix)
**The Oprah Conversation (Apple TV+)
BEST BUSINESS SHOW
Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network)
Streets of Dreams with Marcus Lemonis (CNBC)
Undercover Billionaire (Discovery Channel and discovery+)
Wahl Street (HBO Max)
BEST SPORTS SHOW
Defying Gravity (YouTube Originals)
Last Chance U: Basketball (Netflix)
Peyton’s Places (ESPN+)
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)
BEST CRIME/JUSTICE SHOW
**I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (HBO)
Murder Among the Mormons (Netflix)
Murder on Middle Beach (HBO)
The Ripper (Netflix)
The Vow (HBO)
Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller (National Geographic)
BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
American Masters (PBS)
Dear … (Apple TV+)
POV (PBS)
The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth (Showtime)
The Vow (HBO)
BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
**1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything (Apple TV+)
Amend: The Fight for America (Netflix)
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (HBO)
Love Fraud (Showtime)
Murder on Middle Beach (HBO)
Secrets of the Whales (Disney+ / National Geographic)
BEST SHORT FORM SERIES
First Person (Snapchat)
**Issa Rae Teaches Creating Outside the Lines (MasterClass)
Lady Parts (ellentube)
OWN Your Vote (NowThis and OWN social channels)
Ready Jet Cook (Food Network Kitchen)
BEST LIVE SHOW
**Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
BEST CULINARY SHOW
Amy Schumer Learns to Cook (Food Network)
Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines (discovery+)
Nailed It! (Netflix)
**Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi (Hulu)
Top Chef (Bravo)
BEST GAME SHOW
25 Words or Less (Fox/Syndicated)
**Jeopardy! (CBS Television/Syndicated)
Supermarket Sweep (ABC)
Weakest Link (NBC)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (ABC)
BEST TRAVEL/ADVENTURE SHOW
Men in Kilts (Starz)
Running Wild with Bear Grylls (National Geographic)
Somebody Feed Phil (Netflix)
**Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (CNN)
The Great Food Truck Race (Food Network)
BEST ANIMAL/NATURE SHOW
**Life in Color with David Attenborough (Netflix)
Secrets of the Whales (Disney+ / National Geographic)
That Animal Rescue Show (Paramount+)
The Incredible Dr. Pol (Nat Geo WILD)
Wizard of Paws (BYUtv)
BEST LIFESTYLE: FASHION/BEAUTY SHOW
Haute Dog (HBO Max)
**Queer Eye (Netflix)
Shine True (Fuse)
Skin Decision: Before and After (Netflix)
Stylish with Jenna Lyons (HBO Max)
BEST RELATIONSHIP SHOW
90 Day Fiancé (TLC)
Couples Therapy (Showtime)
Indian Matchmaking (Netflix)
**Love on the Spectrum (Netflix)
My Love: Six Stories of True Love (Netflix)
LIFESTYLE: HOME/GARDEN SHOW
**House Hunters International (HGTV)
Martha Knows Best (HGTV)
Property Brothers: Forever Home (HGTV)
Rock the Block (HGTV)
Selling Sunset (Netflix)
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN AN UNSCRIPTED SERIES
Top Chef (Bravo)
Queer Eye (Netflix)
Crikey! It’s The Irwins (discovery+)
The Real World Homecoming: New York (Paramount+)
BEST SHOW HOST
RuPaul – RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Oprah Winfrey – The Oprah Conversation (Apple TV+)
Stanley Tucci – Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (CNN)
Padma Lakshmi – Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi (Hulu)
**John Oliver – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
FEMALE STAR OF THE YEAR
Nicole Byer – Nailed It! (Netflix)
**Sandra Lee – Dr. Pimple Popper (TLC)
Michelle Visage – RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Padma Lakshmi – Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi (Hulu)
Samantha Bee – Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
MALE STAR OF THE YEAR
Trevor Noah – The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
RuPaul – RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Stanley Tucci – Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (CNN)
Guy Fieri – Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Food Network)
**Phil Rosenthal – Somebody Feed Phil (Netflix)
IMPACT AWARD
Alex Trebek
Alex Trebek was honored posthumously with this year’s Impact Award, which recognizes an outstanding individual for career excellence and the positive impact they have made on the world of nonfiction content. Mr. Trebek and his legacy epitomize what the Impact Award was created to honor. His longstanding commitment to the pursuit of excellence, his continual encouragement of curiosity, and his unfailing charm made Mr. Trebek one of television’s most respected and beloved figures. He was an inspiration to the nonfiction community that selected him for this award, and to the vast audience that welcomed him into their daily lives. Alex’s children Matthew and Emily Trebek accepted the award on his behalf, with a heartfelt speech that can be viewed HERE.
CRITICS CHOICE REAL TV PEER-VOTED AWARDS
The honorees for the two peer-voted awards (Outstanding Achievement In Nonfiction Programming By A Network Or Streaming Platform and Outstanding Achievement In Nonfiction Production) are selected by the members of NPACT, the US association for nonfiction production companies. While the shows themselves are recognized by critics and the public in the other Real TV Awards categories, these awards celebrate the excellence and innovation that happens behind the scenes to create, develop, produce, and deliver every show to the viewing public. Each show begins as a creative spark that is fueled by a collaboration between producer and programmer to ultimately become the finished program that’s enjoyed by viewers. The nonfiction production community has come together, through NPACT, to acknowledge and celebrate the best of their colleagues and collaborators with these two awards.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
BY A NETWORK OR STREAMING PLATFORM
Discovery+
Disney+
Hulu
National Geographic
Netflix
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION PRODUCTION
The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC)
Jigsaw Productions
Renegade 83
About the Critics Choice Association (CCA)
The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing close to 500 television, radio and online critics. It was organized in 2019 with the formal merger of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, recognizing the blurring of the distinctions between film, television, and streaming content. For more information, visit CriticsChoice.com.
About NPACT
NPACT is the trade association for nonfiction production companies doing business in the U.S. Serving as the voice for the unscripted creative community, NPACT advocates for the advancement of nonfiction production across all genres of unscripted, and provides resources and information to help improve business conditions for its member companies whose programming airs across all linear TV and streaming platforms. For more information visit npact.org.