Amazon’s ‘Fleabag’ Named Program of the Year by the Television Critics Association

The Television Critics Association celebrated the top programs and performances of the 2018-2019 television season at the 35th annual TCA Awards, hosted by Desus & Mero, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The winners were determined based on votes cast by the TCA’s broad network of more than 200 professional TV critics and journalists from the United States and Canada.

Amazon’s sophomore “Fleabag” led all series with three award wins, including Program Of The Year and Outstanding Achievement In Comedy. Tying Amazon with three victories of its own, HBO claimed accolades in Outstanding Achievement In Movie Or Miniseries for its biopic “Chernobyl,” Outstanding Achievement In News and Information for the Michael Jackson exposé “Leaving Neverland,” and Outstanding Achievement In Sketch/Variety Show for “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (which received the award for the second consecutive year).

Other notable winners included Netflix’s mind-bending freshman “Russian Doll,” which ruled the multiverse as 2019’s Outstanding New Program, and Michelle Williams, who won the award for Individual Achievement In Drama for her turn as Broadway star Gwen Verdon in FX’s “Fosse/Verdon;” Netflix’s makeover series “Queer Eye,” won Outstanding Achievement In Reality Programming for the second year in a row; AMC’s legal drama “Better Call Saul,” took honors for Outstanding Achievement In Drama; and PBS Kids’ long-running family program “Arthur,” snagged the award for Outstanding
Achievement In Youth Programming.

Additionally, the TCA honored HBO’s historical Western drama “Deadwood” with the Heritage Award, and David Milch with the Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring the Emmy-winning writer, producer, and creator of “Hill Street Blues,” “NYPD Blue” and “Deadwood.”

“A self-lacerating examination of the intersection of love and faith, explorations of private trauma both scripted and unscripted, tales of personal transformation both uplifting and tragic, period explorations of creativity and avoidable tragedy, this year’s TCA Awards winners are united in how different and how ambitious they are,” said Daniel Fienberg, TCA President and The Hollywood Reporter Chief TV Critic. “This is an exciting time for television and there’s no single formula for excellence, as our honorees include reputation restoring biopics, female-driven half-hours, the rare spinoff to equal its illustrious predecessor and a piece of difficult-to-watch history that couldn’t feel more vital and relevant, making for a special TCA Awards night.”

The 2019 TCA Award recipients are as follows:

-Individual Achievement in Drama: Michelle Williams (FOSSE/VERDON, FX)
-Individual Achievement in Comedy: Phoebe Waller-Bridge (FLEABAG, Amazon)
-Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: LEAVING NEVERLAND (HBO)
-Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: QUEER EYE (Netflix)
-Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: ARTHUR (PBS Kids)
-Outstanding Achievement in Sketch/Variety Shows: LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER (HBO)
-Outstanding New Program: RUSSIAN DOLL (Netflix)
-Outstanding Achievement in Movie Or Miniseries: CHERNOBYL (HBO)
-Outstanding Achievement in Drama: BETTER CALL SAUL (AMC)
-Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: FLEABAG (Amazon)
-Program of the Year: FLEABAG (Amazon)
-Lifetime Achievement Honoree: David Milch
-Heritage Award: DEADWOOD (HBO)