This year’s Peabody winners probably look familiar to you.
The Entertainment and Children’s programming round of the 75th annual awards were announced on NBC’s Today show. Perhaps most notably in the list of 11 winners is Marvel’s Jessica Jones as well as breakout hit Mr. Robot and ABC’s family comedy black- ish.
While explicit insight into the judging process isn’t given, Peabody historically awards media that has some sort significant message. “The single criteria for receiving a Peabody Award is excellence,” the Peabody website says. “Toward that end, Board members ask themselves: Does this story matter? Is it a story that needs telling? Does it inform us as citizens or help us empathize with one another?”
While the notion of a Netflix series based on a Marvel comic (and one building to it’s own superhero crossover series, for that matter) may seem unusual, Jessica Jones dealt with themes of trauma and recovery just as much as beating up bad guys. “This one part superhero saga, one part neo-noir program asks unpopular questions about power and consent,” the Peabody website said.
Similar Big Issues can easily be found in the other winners too. Mr. Robot‘s thriller tackled morality in a security- less age and gave perpetually distressed protagonist Elliot (Rami Malek) 99 problems that included everything from mental illness to drug addiction. black- ish has maintained its traditional family sitcom feel while still zeroing in on modern topics of race, notably its February episode about police brutality. While Master of None (one of the three Netflix programs awarded) mainly followed Dev (Aziz Ansari) on his romantic journey, it also managed to devote entire episodes to problematic Asian representation in media, sexism and ageism.
Also among the winners was the Oscar- snubbed feature Beasts of No Nation, reality tv skewering UnReal, and the lauded emotional dramedy Transparent.
As for Jessica Jones, our rough reluctant hero already knows how she’ll be celebrating.
Today’s announcement comes after Tuesday’s round of news- centric winners that included Bryant Gumbel. The Documentary and Education winners will be announced April 26 on the Peabody Facebook page.
Here’s the full list of today’s winners:
Beasts of No Nation (Netflix)
black-ish (ABC)
Deutschland 83 (Sundance)
Marvel’s Jessica Jones (Netflix)
Master of None (Netflix)
Mr. Robot (USA)
The Leftovers (HBO)
Transparent (Amazon Prime)
UnREAL (Lifetime)
Wolf Hall (PBS)
Katie Morag (Cbeebies)