Critics Are All Right, Part 2: The Peabodys

One is reluctant to call the Peabody Awards as coming lately to the entertainment field. After all, they have been in existence since well before television was barely an idea in those that ran it.

But as the world of television evolved, slowly the Peabodys have as well. They also recognized shows like Twin Peaks and China Beach, Homicide, and series that fell through the cracks like Northern Exposure and Nothing Sacred. It recognized Boomtown and Deadwood, and went to even greater lengths recognizing Brotherhood, one of the most underviewed great programs of all time. And while it did acknowledge hipper shows like Glee and Mad Men,  it also acknowledged series like In Treatment ,Men of a Certain Age and Treme. And for those who wonder why no one acknowledged series like Southland and Broadchurch, Jane the Virgin and Rectify, the Peabodys were more than willing to do the work.

In recent years, they've been more inclined to honor entertainment shows than before. In 2015, they acknowledged Jessica Jones and UnREAL, Master of None and Transparent.  In 2016, they recognized Better Things and Atlanta, as well as Horace &Pete.

And for 2017, they recognized Better Call Saul, Insecure, American Vandal (which now I definitely have to watch, considering its been green-lit for a second season.) and A Series of Unfortunate Events.  Their candidates for Best Drama and Best Comedy may be disappoining - they picked The Handmaids Tale and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - but I'm not entirely clear what their time frame, and they definitely don't seem to be including 2018 as part of their calendar. Plus they do seem to have a better grip of late night - they've recognized Saturday Night Live and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver which definitely seems right.

If anything, trying to acknowledge which series the Peabodys will be recognizing will be easier from this point out, considering that beginning with 2014 they decided to announce winners by category rather than en masse. And the fact that they now are being broadcast by PBS -  a service that has received more than its fair share of recognition from them over the years - may finally give some exposure to an award that people might have heard of but know nothing about. But any awards that are willing to recognize Key & Peele, The Knick, and Adventure Time can't be considered homogenized. I look forward to seeing what they come up with for 2018.