The Critics Choice Association has announced the nominees for its delayed 2020 Critics’ Choice Real TV Awards, including contenders in two documentary categories. As the president of the CCA Documentary Branch, I’ll refrain from commenting on any favorites or snubs or anything like that. I’ll just point out that Netflix was very successful in receiving nominations for a number of true-crime programs, both in the Best Limited Documentary Series and Best Crime/Justice Series categories.
Other docs that show up in other categories include ESPN’s Michael Jordan series The Last Dance, which is nominated for Best Limited Documentary Series and Best Sports Series. And Cheer, which is also competing for Best Limited Documentary Series and Best Sports Series, is also nominated for Best Unstructured Reality Series. Additionally, Cheer characters Monica Aldama and Jerry Harris are nominated for Female Star of the Year and Male Star of the Year, respectively. Winners of those two categories are voted on by viewers, here and here.
The Netflix documentary series Ugly Delicious was not nominated in the doc categories but was named a contender for Best Culinary Series against such long-running shows as Top Chef and Chopped. Among those nominated in the doc categories, in addition to true-crime stories dominating, are series about Hillary Clinton, college football, design, and the 2020 US presidential election. Two long-running PBS anthology documentary programs, POV and Frontline, round out the nominees in the Best Ongoing Documentary Series.
While there is no awards ceremony planned this year due to the coronavirus, the CCA will announce the winners of this second-annual Real TV Awards on June 29th. Find all the nominees below.
Competition Series
LEGO Masters (Fox)
Making It (NBC)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Survivor (CBS)
Top Chef (Bravo)
Competition Series: Talent/Variety
American Idol (ABC)
Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
La Voz (Telemundo)
Songland (NBC)
The Voice (NBC)
Unstructured Series
Cheer (Netflix)
Couples Therapy (Showtime)
Intervention (A&E)
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked! (VH1)
We’re Here (HBO)
Structured Series
Encore! (Disney+)
Prop Culture (Disney+)
Queer Eye (Netflix)
Shark Tank (ABC)
The World According to Jeff Goldblum (Disney+)
Business Show
Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back (Fox)
The Profit (CNBC)
Shark Tank (ABC)
T-Pain’s School of Business (Fuse)
Undercover Boss (CBS)
Sports Show
Blackballed (Quibi)
Cheer (Netflix)
Last Chance U (Netflix)
The Last Dance (ESPN)
Peyton’s Places (ESPN+)
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)
Crime/Justice Series
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (HBO)
The Innocence Files (Netflix)
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (Netflix)
The Pharmacist (Netflix)
Trial by Media (Netflix)
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez (Netflix)
Ongoing Documentary Series
Abstract: The Art of Design (Netflix)
The Circus: Inside the Craziest Political Campaign on Earth (Showtime)
Frontline (PBS)
Last Chance U (Netflix)
POV (PBS)
Limited Documentary Series
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (HBO)
Cheer (Netflix)
Hillary (Hulu)
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (Netflix)
The Last Dance (ESPN)
Trial by Media (Netflix)
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez (Netflix)
Short Form Series
Carpool Karaoke: The Series (Apple)
Comeback Kids (The Dodo)
Creating Saturday Night Live (NBC)
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah: Between the Scenes (Comedy Central)
The Impossible Row (Discovery)
While Black with MK Asante (Snap)
Live Show
Chasing the Cure (TNT)
Build (Yahoo)
Live PD (A&E)
Talking Dead (AMC)
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (Bravo)
Interactive Show
Chasing the Cure (TNT)
Enamorándonos (Univision)
Talking Dead (AMC)
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (Bravo)
Culinary Show
Chopped (Food Network)
Nailed It! (Netflix)
Top Chef (Bravo)
Tournament of Champions (Food Network)
Ugly Delicious (Netflix)
Game Show
25 Words or Less (Fox/Syndicated)
Brain Games (National Geographic)
Cash Cab (Bravo)
Jeopardy!: The Greatest of All Time (ABC)
Mental Samurai (Fox)
Travel/Adventure Series
Expedition Unknown (Discovery)
Extinct or Alive (Animal Planet)
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted (National Geographic)
The Great Food Truck Race (Food Network)
Somebody Feed Phil (Netflix)
Animal/Nature Show
Dodo Heroes (Animal Planet)
Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet (Nat Geo WILD)
Crikey! It’s the Irwins (Animal Planet)
Serengeti (Discovery)
Seven Worlds, One Planet (BBC America)
Lifestyle: Fashion/Beauty Show
The Goop Lab (Netflix)
Making the Cut (Amazon)
Next in Fashion (Netflix)
Project Runway (Bravo)
Queer Eye (Netflix)
Relationship Show
90 Day Fiancé (TLC)
Are You the One? (MTV)
Black Love (OWN)
Couples Therapy (Showtime)
Love Is Blind (Netflix)
Lifestyle: Home/Garden Show
Celebrity IOU (HGTV)
Home (Apple TV+)
Home Town (HGTV)
Selling Sunset (Netflix)
A Very Brady Renovation (HGTV)
Ensemble Cast in an Unscripted Series
Crikey! It’s the Irwins (Animal Planet)
Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
Making the Cut (Amazon)
Queer Eye (Netflix)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
A Very Brady Renovation (HGTV)
Female Star of The Year
Nicole Byer – Nailed It! (Netflix)
Dr. Orna Guralnik – Couples Therapy (Showtime)
Dr. Sandra Lee – Dr. Pimple Popper (TLC)
Gwyneth Paltrow – The Goop Lab (Netflix)
Michelle Visage – RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Monica Aldama – Cheer (Netflix)
Male Star of The Year
Jerry Harris – Cheer (Netflix)
The Fab Five – Queer Eye (Netflix)
Trevor Noah – The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
RuPaul Charles – RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Hasan Minhaj – Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (Netflix)
Kevin Hart – Kevin Hart: What the Fit (YouTube Originals)
Show Host
Will Arnett – LEGO Masters (Fox)
RuPaul Charles – RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Jeff Goldblum – The World According to Jeff Goldblum (Disney +)
Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler – Making It (NBC)
Jeff Probst – Survivor (CBS)
Alex Trebek – Jeopardy! (CBS Television Distribution)
Outstanding Achievement In Nonfiction Programming By A Network Or Streaming Platform
A+E Networks
HBO
National Geographic
Netflix
PBS
TLC
Outstanding Achievement In Nonfiction Production
Anvil 1893 Entertainment
Big Fish Entertainment
Florentine Films
Kinetic Content
Raw TV
Smart Dog Media