The Critics Choice Association has announced the nominees for the 3rd annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards, which honor the very best in nonfiction television. In my role as President of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch, I am involved in this event and have a part in overseeing and participating in the selection of some of the contenders, so understandably I’m pretty happy with the choices spotlighted in 2021.
That said, I work with numerous other CCA members, so this isn’t all my doing, even for the docuseries categories. Speaking of which, surprisingly HBO came out on top for docs despite Netflix seemingly having a larger share of docuseries these days, particularly of the true-crime variety. The only docuseries to receive multiple nominations were HBO’s true-crime hits I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Murder on Middle Beach, and The Vow, plus the Disney+ and National Geographic’s nature show Secrets of the Whales.
The HBO titles are competing against each other for the award for Best Crime/Justice Show, with Netflix also showing up with Murder Among the Mormons and The Ripper, while National Geographic rounds out the category with Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller. Liz Garbus‘ I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and Madison Hamburg‘s Murder on Middle Beach are also up for Best Limited Documentary Series, while Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim‘s The Vow, which has been announced to continue with a second season, is separately up for Best Ongoing Documentary Series.
The Ongoing Documentary Series category is otherwise PBS-heavy, with nominations going to Frontline (which won last year), POV (which won two years ago), and American Masters (which won the award in 2017 when the category was still part of the Critics Choice Documentary Awards). Showtime’s The Circus: Inside the Craziest Political Campaign on Earth also earned a nomination in the category for the third year in a row, while the Apple TV+ show Dear… rounded out the group.
Apple TV+ also received a nomination in the Best Limited Documentary Series category, with Asif Kapadia‘s eight-part music doc 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything joining HBO’s two series in competing against Netflix’s Will Smith-hosted historical documentary Amend: The Fight for America, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady‘s four-episode Showtime true-crime doc Love Fraud, and the James Cameron-produced, Sigourney Weaver-narrated four-part nature series Secrets of the Whales.
Other series that could be considered documentaries appeared in other 2021 Critics Choice Real TV Awards categories. Netflix’s Lenox Hill is nominated for Best Unstructured Series, Netflix’s History of Swear Words and HBO Max’s World of Calm are nominated for Best Structured Series, ESPN’s 30 for 30 and Netflix’s Last Chance U: Basketball are up for Best Sports Show, and Starz’ Men in Kilts and Netflix’s Somebody Feed Phil are up for Best Travel/Adventure Show, with the host of the latter of those two also being up for Male Star of the Year, for Phil Rosenthal.
Also, Netflix’s latest David Attenborough program, Life in Color, is facing Secrets of the Whales in the Best Animal/Nature Show category. The Best Relationship Show contenders include Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking and My Love: Six Stories of True Love. And last but certainly not least, Hulu’s Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi is nominated for three awards, including Best Culinary Series, Female Star of the Year, and Best Show Host. Lakshmi is also the main host of Top Chef, which also received three nominations.
Here are all of this year’s nominations for Critics Choice Real TV Awards:
BEST COMPETITION SERIES
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
The Amazing Race (CBS)
The Great British Baking Show (Netflix)
Top Chef (Bravo)
Tough as Nails (CBS)
BEST COMPETITION SERIES: TALENT/VARIETY
American Idol (ABC)
Legendary (HBO Max)
The Masked Singer (Fox)
The Voice (NBC)
World of Dance (NBC)
BEST UNSTRUCTURED SERIES
Crikey! It’s the Irwins (discovery+)
Deaf U (Netflix)
Lenox Hill (Netflix)
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked (VH1)
The Real World Homecoming: New York (Paramount+)
BEST STRUCTURED SERIES
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)
Shark Tank (ABC)
Streets of Dreams with Marcus Lemonis (CNBC)
Undercover Billionaire (Discovery Channel and discovery+)
Wahl Street (HBO Max)
BEST SPORTS SHOW
30 for 30 (ESPN)
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+)
Frontline (PBS)
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
A special winner will be announced on June 21.
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)
BEST 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)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
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)
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)
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)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION PROGRAMMING BY A NETWORK OR STREAMING PLATFORM
Discovery+
Disney+
HBO Max
Hulu
National Geographic
Netflix
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION PRODUCTION
The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC)
Jigsaw Productions
Renegade 83
Sharp Entertainment
Winners of the 3rd Annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards will be announced on June 21, 2021.
