The Critics Choice Awards are launching their own sequel by moving to create a completely separate broadcast TV kudos show that ought to be welcome news for fans.
Today the organization announced The Critics Choice Super Awards will air as a TV Special on The CW Network on Sunday January 10 honoring Superhero, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Horror , Action and Animation, all “fan obsessed” genres for both movies and television.
Similar to what the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror’s Saturn Awards have been doing since being founded in 1973 for feature films (and more recently adding TV and home video categories as well), the Critics Choice version hopes to gain more traction for these genres by expanding the visibility with a splashy televised awards show and putting their own spin on it because nominees and winners will actually be selected by a legitimate group of critics (Full Disclosure: I am a member of CCA and President of the Film division) . The CW is also a natural fit, not only because it already airs the annual Critics Choice Awards (airing on March 7 in 2021) , but also has a steady diet of this type of genre programming already on its air.
Fans have long been frustrated by the Oscars, Golden Globes , and Emmys routinely relegating these genres generally to crafts categories, and not taking them seriously as worthy of their top awards. That has been changing slightly in recent years as 2018’s Black Panther became the first comic book origin film to snag a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and HBO found great Emmy success with the likes of Game Of Thrones and Watchmen, but these may be the exceptions, not the rule. The Critics Choice Awards themselves have actually been one the few awards shows to honor some of these genre categories, but are now just giving them their own network spotlight instead.
“The time has come to recognize the brilliance, creativity, and artistic excellence showcased in genres that, for far too long, have been overlooked by other award shows,” said Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin who oversees the organization that previously expanded further into the awards sphere with its Real TV, Documentary spinoffs, as well as the Celebration Of Black Cinema. “We are thrilled to be partnering with our friends at The CW to bring these beloved genres to the forefront and give them the recognition they so deeply deserve.”
“We’re excited to broadcast the first Critics Choice Super Awards at The CW to showcase and celebrate the excellence in often overlooked genres during the entertainment industry’s award season,” said Gaye Hirsch, Executive Vice President, Development, The CW, who also oversees alternative and special programming. “We look forward to bringing viewers an exciting event filled with the films, series and stars they are most passionate about.”
The window of eligibility for the Super Awards is January 1 – December 31, 2020. Finding enough entries shouldn’t be a problem in the TV categories, but the Coronavirus pandemic and shutdown of production and theatres has taken a huge toll on these big expensive studio genre films in 2020, as the vast majority have been pushed into 2021 and beyond in hopes of things getting back to normal at the box office and for theatrical exhibition, a must considering the cost of making and marketing this type of film. Aiming for a Christmas debut Warner Bros. Wonder Woman 1984 sequel is the sole major superhero movie still left on the rest of the 2020 release schedule. Whether that sticks , or can even be shown in time to qualify before CCSA nominations are announced on November 19 is unknown. The studio’s Tenet though looks to be a major player here, now almost two months into its worldwide release. With all of these tentpoles pushed out of this year, and even some like The Batman, Jurassic World: Dominion, and Avatar II being shuttled even further, the future beyond 2020 looks like it could be the mother lode for the new Critics Choice Super Awards as these kinds of fan favorite movies will likely all be jockeying for attention in an even greater competitive environment than ever before.
CRITICS CHOICE SUPER AWARDS TIMELINE
Honoring the finest in film and television achievement in the most popular genres of entertainment in 2020
October 12, 2020 – Submissions open
November 8, 2020 – Submissions close
November 9, 2020 – Nomination Committees begin consideration
November 19, 2020 – Critics Choice Super Awards nominations announced
December 4, 2020 – Final ballots go out
December 6, 2020 – Deadline for returning final ballots
CRITICS CHOICE SUPER AWARDS MOVIE CATEGORIES
Best Action Movie
Best Male Actor in an Action Movie
Best Female Actor in an Action Movie
Best Animated Movie
Best Male Voice Actor in an Animated Movie
Best Female Voice Actor in an Animated Movie
Best Superhero Movie*
Best Male Actor in a Superhero Movie*
Best Female Actor in a Superhero Movie*
Best Horror Movie
Best Male Actor in a Horror Movie
Best Female Actor in a Horror Movie
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie
Best Male Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie
Best Female Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie
Best Villain in a Movie (across all genres)
* Superhero category also includes Comic Book and Video Game Inspired Movies
CRITICS CHOICE SUPER AWARDS TV/STREAMING CATEGORIES
Best Action Series
Best Male Actor in an Action Series
Best Female Actor in an Action Series
Best Animated Series
Best Male Voice Actor in an Animated Series
Best Female Voice Actor in an Animated Series
Best Superhero Series*
Best Male Actor in a Superhero Series*
Best Female Actor in a Superhero Series*
Best Horror Series
Best Male Actor in a Horror Series
Best Female Actor in a Horror Series
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Series
Best Male Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series
Best Female Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series
Best Villain in a Series (across all genres)
* Superhero category also includes Comic Book and Video Game Inspired Series
The inaugural annual Critics Choice Awards show will be produced by Bob Bain Productions.
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