GALECA The Society For LGBTQ Entertainment Journalists recently announced their nominees for their Dorian TV Awards, and it should come as no surprise, Heated Rivalry did very well. Of course, so did Hacks, which has been a favorite of GALECA for its entire five seasons. Here’s my thoughts on the best and worst of the Dorian Award nominees.The Worst: Missing Categories

I’m going out on a limb to say it’s weird to have a Limited Series category, but the actors are shoved into comedy and drama. For anyone who follows TV at all, this choice disproportionately affects the Drama races. There are not nearly as many limited comedies as there are dramas. So, this decision shortchanges both limited actors, and drama.

Best Drama Series: Heated Rivalry, Pluribus, The Guilded Age, The Pitt, and Industry all received the nominations. There isn’t a huge shock here, especially from LGBTQ film critics. If you were expecting a dominating sweep by Taylor Sheridan’s shows, then I have some swampland to sell you. If I could knock something out, it would probably be The Guilded Age, because it bores me terribly.

Comedy Series: Hacks, Shrinking, Abbott Elementary,The Comeback,Widows Bay

It’s a solid five, but The Best here certainly goes to Widows Bay for striking such a strong chord to make a final five. Remmeber, for the Emmys, it would be one of eight, but here it made the top five. I’d say the worst is Abbott Elementary, which is starting to struggle with remaining inspired for 22 episodes. Instead, ignoring what I would personally pick, I’m a little surprised we didn’t go for Big Mistakes.

Best LGBTQ TV Show: The Comeback, Hacks, Half Man, Heated Rivalry, Pluribus

So, here, because I haven’t caught up yet with The Comeback, I’m really questioning that nomination. So, I’d label that the worst, and go to bat for something like Boots, which caused such a stir in October. Half Man is such a complicated story,I wasn’t sure how it would be received, but I’m glad it’s here.

Limited Series: All Her Fault, Half Man, Beef, DTF St Louis, Love Story

OK. So. While I disliked DTF St Louis, I understand why it is here. I don’t understand Love Story, especially as our voters seemed to have a lapse when it came to The Beast In Me. The Claire Danes/Matthew Rhys show even featured a lesbian lead, in addition to strong reviews and critical reception. The fact it got snubbed here for Ryan Murphy’s inexplicably fluffy Love Story, is tragic. I won’t even lament other great choices with non-queer leads, but there was a much better limited series than both DTF St Louis and Love Story.

Best Non-English: Blossoms Of Shanghai, DanDaDan, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Mussolini: Son of THe Century, Squid Game

I’ve only seen two, so picking a loser is unfair, however Apple’s Unconditional is amazing, and deserves a slot. As far as CrunchyRoll series go, I would have gone with Witch Hat Atelier.

Best LGBTQ Non-English: The Boyfriend, Chosen Home, Go For It, The Summer Icaru Died, Tremembe

I’ve seen none of these, and I abstained from nominating in this category because I couldn’t even think of five that qualified that I had seen. I need audio description, yo.

Best Written TV Show: The Comeback, Hacks, Heated Rivalry, Pluribus, The Pitt

A tough category, since it just pulls the five most popular show. Like, there might be a show you think has some great writing, but didn’t quite make it to the top elsewhere, but you recognize the plot is unique. Take The Boroughs, for example. That is a first season, a brand new series, not based on anything. If voters thought less of what else they had already voted for, and perhaps more broadly, what concepts blew them away, something like that might have popped in, rewarding writers for creating original and inventive new content.

Lead Performance Drama: Marissa Abela (Industry), Jamie Bell (Half Man), Carrie Coon (The Guilded Age), Myhi’la Herrold (Industry), Mark Ruffalo (Task), Rhea Seahorn (Pluribus), Connor Story (Heated Rivalry), Hudson Williams (Heated Rivalry), Noah Wyle (The Pitt), Zendaya (Euphoria)

I definitely didn’t vote for all of these, and the limited shows suffered, sending only Jamie Bell through. No Oscar Issac nomination. I’m also a little surprised at the lack of love for The Testaments, Paradise, Your Friends And Neighbors, and some other shows. This isn’t a bad bunch, and the only swaps I’d make would be for shows I don’t watch.

Supporting Performance Drama: Francois Armand (Heated Rivalry), Patrick Ball (The Pitt), Isa Briones (The Pitt), Richard Gad (Half Man), Katherine LaNasa (The Pitt), Ken Leung (Industry), Charles Melton (Beef), Sepideh Murphy (The Pitt), Coleman Domingo (Euphoria), Karolina Wydra (Pluribus)

Oof. So we got three nominations across the categories for limited performances. Too many Pitt actors here for my liking. I watch too many shows for this to be acceptable. I’d kill most Pitt nominees, and replace them with performances like Amelia Jones (Task), Allison Janney (The Diplomat), Bill Skarsgard (Welcome To Dairy), Geena Davis (The Boroughs), or some other inspired choices.The nomination here also for Domingo reminds me we don’t have a guest category, and the format likely shoved out some really terrific guest performances, like Eric Dane’s final work on Euphoria, or Michael J Fox in Shrinking.

Lead Performance in a Comedy: Yaya Abdul Mateen II (Wonder Man), Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), Elle Fanning (Margo’s Got Money Troubles), Ethan Hawke (The Lowdown), Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback), Dan Levy (Big Mistakes), Matthew Rhys (Widows Bay), Tim Robinson (The Chair Company), Jean Smart (Hacks)

A lot of people missing, but I’ll go out on a limb for Jason Segal (Shrinking), because I think he’s winning the Emmy this year, and he was fantastic all season, and the whole run. i could do without the nomination for Tim Robinson, personally. Otherwise, yeah, no one from only Murders, no Jenna Ortega, no Steve Carell, no one from Nobody Wants This, and perhaps most tragically, no one from Ghosts. Anywhere. The Best? I love that Yaya Abdul Mateen made the cut here for Wonder Man. A pleasant and well earned surprise.

Supporting Performance Comedy: Leslie Bibb (Hacks), Hannah Einbinder (Hacks), Coleman Domingo (The Four Seasons), Paul W downs (Hacks), Harrison Ford (Shrinking), Janelle James (Abbott Elementary), Kate O’Flynn (Widows Bay), Ashley Padilla (SNL), Michelle Pfeiffer (Margo’s Got Money Troubles), meg Stalter (Hacks)

OK. I called it for The Pitt, and as much as I love Hacks, way too many fucking people from the same show. I remember reading this the first time, and needing to reread it because Ford is the only nominee from Shrinking. No Jessica Williams, and most surprisingly, No Michael Urie. Also, the absolute audacity at forgetting Laurie Metcalf for Big Mistakes? Of course there are others. Stephen Root (Widows Bay), Nick Offerman (Margo’s Got Money Troubles), Evan Moss Bacarach (The Bear), no one from Nobody Wants This, or Daniel Radcliffe (The Fall And Rise Of Regggie Dinkins), John C McGinley (Rooster), the list goes on. Bibb is inspired, but the least impactful Hacks nomination, and with four from the same show in this category, bare minimum, I need to axe one, and spread some love. While I feel surprised Urie missed out here, I’d take away Bibb and put in Metcalf. What Dan Levy is doing for her is what he did for Catherine O’Hara in Schitt’s Creek. He seems very adept at writing quirky matriarchs.

TV Musical Performance: Audra McDonald for Rose’s Turn (The Tony’s), Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show (The Super Bowl), A Bunch Of People for I Lie To You (The Oscars), Sabrina Carpenter and The Muppets (Manchild), Sabrina Carpenter, Kermit, and Miss Piggy for Islands In The Stream (The Muppet Show),

It was never going to be nominated, but Henry doing Leaving On A Jet Plane in From is one of the best moments of the last calendar year. i suppose I could push Carpenter to just one nomination. The best here is Audra, who I forgot about, but would have nominated myself. I sometimes forget what constitutes eligible here. Awards shows can slip my mind.

Unsung TV Show: Boots, English Teacher, The Four Seasons, From, MurderBot

I have to laugh a little as From moves into its fifth season, The Four Seasons is headed into its third, and MurderBot will have a second. There are probably a few other worthy contenders here that got the axe, perhaps like NBC’s promising Stumble. I love the Boots nomination, since it’s the only show that didn’t even get a second season. By definition, it is the most unsung of the bunch.

Current Affairs Show: The Daily Show, Hot Ones,Last Week Tonight, Late Night With Seth Meyers, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Nothing personal, but I’d swap Hot Ones for Jimmy Kimmel Live, considering the year he’s had.

TV Documentary or DocuSeries: Kylie, Mr Scorsese, Seen And Heard, Selena y Los Dinos, The Yogurt Shop Murders

I wish we had nominated the wonderful two-parters done by HBO for Billy Joel and Mel Brooks, but such is life. I’m happy mr Scorsese is here. Seen and Heard is also an excellent nomination.

LGBTQ DocuSeries: Club Coming, Enigma, It’s Dorothy, Lilith Fiar: Building A Mystery, Murder In Glitter Ball City

I have no opinions here. Another category I abstained from. I don’t vote if I don’t have enough to fill the category with worthy nominees. Meaning, even if I had seen five, and only five, if I felt one wasn’t worthy, I wouldn’t vote at all in any category.

Genre TV Show: Alien Earth, The Boys,Welcome To Dairy, Pluribus, Widows Bay

I guess From is unsung. Ha. We basically ignored three of these shows, until this category, yet From didn’t break in. Also notable, nothing for Stranger Things. And, while Yaya Abdul Mateen got a nomination for WOnder Man, the series also missed out here. I like all five shows though, some more than others.

Reality Show: The Boyfriend, Love On The Spectrum, Drag Race, Top Chef, The Traitors

I’m fine with this category. I kinda wanted to see Million Dollar Secret or Age Of Attraction sneak in, but this is fine.

Animated Show: Bob’s Burgers, Invincible, Has Been Hotel, Long Story Short, South Park

A surprising group considering we nominated anime in other categories, but those shows lost to American animation. There’s nothing here that surprises me, and if I swapped, I’d move out Bob’s Burgers for Solar Opposites, which wrapped its final season.

Visually Striking TV Show: Alien Earth, Euphoria, The Guilded Age, Heated Rivalry, Pluribus

This feels like a personal attack on Stranger Things. There are actually a few shows here with high production value that could have made it in. Yeah, I’m blind, but I just don’t know why Heated Rivalry is here over Welcome To Dairy, Stranger Things, Fallout, Monarch, or any other expensive flashy TV shows. Probably the best choice here is The Guilded Age, because period dramas done well can be a different kind of visually striking.

Campiest TV Show: All’s Fair, The Comeback, The Hunting Wives, Palm Royale, The Traitors

An award Alls Fair can actually win. I don’t know if it will, but it has a real shot here.

That’s it.The whole list. I’m excited to vote for and see who wins. How many of these will go on to Emmy nominations?