74th Annual Peabody Award entertainment winners

The entertainment winners of the 74th Annual Peabody Awards, which recognize excellence in broadcasting, were announced today, and include some of the most popular and critically acclaimed programs on television. These and other winners (news and radio/podcast winners will be announced on April 20, and documentary, public service, education and children’s programming will be announced on April 23) will be presented with their statuettes on May 31 in the first-ever nighttime, red-carpet Peabody ceremony, hosted by Fred Armisen.

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74th Annual Peabody Award Entertainment Winners (including Peabody rationale behind each winner)

The Americans
“In this ingenious, addictive cliffhanger, Reagan-era Soviet spies – married with children and a seemingly endless supply of wigs – operate out of a lovely 3BR home in a suburb of Washington, D.C. Between their nail-biter missions (and sometimes in the midst of them), the series contemplates duty, honor, parental responsibility, fidelity, both nationalistic and marital, and what it means to be an American.”

Black Mirror
“This cinematically arresting, brilliantly written series from England is an anthology of dark-side tales – dark as a black hole. If its narrative shocks don’t wreck your sleep pattern, its moral conundrums will.”

Fargo
Fargo, the series, boasts the same snow-swept backdrop and dark, deadpan ambience as the Oscar-winning movie but tells a different, more complicated story. Its villain, Billy Bob Thornton’s mischievous, murderous, charismatic Lorne Malvo, is a character worthy of Norse mythology.”

The Honorable Woman
“A visually rich, densely-plotted thriller set against the backdrop of the Israeli-Palestine conflict, it suggests complexities and age-old vendettas that often escape even the best documentaries, to say nothing of the evening news.”

Inside Amy Schumer
“Schumer’s wholesome, disarming ‘Brady Bunch’ looks belie and enhance a comic intelligence that’s smart, distinctively female and amiably profane, whether she’s applying it to sketch comedy, stand-up, or person-on-the-street interviews.”

Jane the Virgin
“Immaculately conceived, it’s a smart, self-aware telenovela that knows when and how to wink at itself. Its Latina lead, Gina Rodriguez, is incandescent.”

The Knick
“Graphic, gripping, unapologetically grisly when it has to be, this lavish historical drama masterfully dissects surgical experimentation, doctors’ egos, race relations and social mores in the New York City of 100 years ago. It gives new meaning to the term ‘operating theater.'”

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
“A most worthy addition to the news-as-comedy genre, Last Week Tonight doesn’t just satirize the previous week’s news, it engages in fresh, feisty investigative reports that “real” news programs would do well to emulate.”

Rectify
“A powerful, subtle dramatic series about a death-row inmate released after nearly two decades thanks to new DNA evidence, it ponders whether what’s been lost can ever be repaid, not just to him but to everyone he and his alleged crimes touched.”

Personal Award: Sir David Attenborough
“No other living creature has shown us more about life on Earth than David Attenborough. He’s a credit to his species.”

Institutional Award: Afropop Worldwide
“Afropop Worldwide revels in and reveals the music Africa has inspired at home and around the globe. It’s cultural anthropology with beats you can dance to.”

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Last Week Tonight With John Oliver: Emily Shur/HBO