JULY 19, 2008, LOS ANGELES – Members of the Television Critics Association bestowed three TCA Awards on AMC’s freshman series “Mad Men” tonight, including Program of the Year, Outstanding New Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Drama, marking the first-ever wins for the network.
In a ceremony introduced by the legendary Smothers Brothers, AMC, HBO and NBC earned three trophies apiece and PBS came away with two awards.
NBC’s series “30 Rock” won Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and its star, Tina Fey, was honored for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Comedy. The HBO mini-series “John Adams” was honored for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Mini-Series and Specials while its star, Paul Giamatti, received a trophy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Drama.
PBS received two awards in the categories of Outstanding Achievement in News & Information and Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming for “The War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick” and “WordGirl,” respectively.
HBO’s “The Wire” received the Heritage Award, which recognizes a long-standing program that has had a lasting cultural or social impact. Lorne Michaels received TCA’s 2008 coveted award for Career Achievement.
Among those on hand at the Beverly Hilton to accept were Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels, Paul Giamatti, David Simon, Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks.
2008 TCA Award recipients are as follows:
PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: “Mad Men” (AMC)
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: “Mad Men” (AMC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: “30 Rock” (NBC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: “Mad Men” (AMC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: “The War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick” (PBS)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING: “WordGirl” (PBS)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES & SPECIALS: “John Adams” (HBO)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Tina Fey, “30 Rock” (NBC)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Paul Giamatti, “John Adams” (HBO)
HERITAGE AWARD: “The Wire” (HBO)
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Lorne Michaels
The 24th annual TCA Awards were held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Founded in 1978, the Television Critics Association is composed of more than 200 reporters and columnists in print media from the United States and Canada.
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