BLUEY

– Michael Griffin (AFI Class of 2008), Editor

Peabody Award Jurors: “Creator Joe Brumm’s endearing family of animated Australian dogs—daughters Bluey, 7, and Bingo, 5, along with their mother, Chili, and father, Bandit—have captivated both children and adults for years in episodes equally delightful and heartrending. This is the unique power of Bluey, a children’s show that cleverly hides profound life lessons in the whirlwind goings-on of each effervescent seven-minute installment. The cartoon is powered by a sensibility that honors both children’s playfulness and their capacity to navigate a variety of complex and nuanced emotions. Very little feels off the table, as Bluey fearlessly tackles topics from death to infertility to fleeting friendships, all while maintaining a sense of innocence and exuberance for the children, and affinity and understanding for the parents, who are allowed to be dynamic, imperfect beings on their own growth journey. For its unparalleled ability to seamlessly unite childhood bliss with meaningful life lessons, for young and adult viewers alike, we recognize Bluey with a Peabody Award.”

DEAD RINGERS

– Daniel A. Valverde (AFI Class of 1988), Editor

– Affonso Gonçalves (AFI Class of 1993), Editor

– Erin Magill (AFI Class of 2012), Production Designer

Peabody Award Jurors: “In the blood-red-tinged world of Dead Ringers, there are few things as terrifying as being an expectant mother. The anxieties that come with delivering a child within a healthcare system that dismisses women’s pain and does little to alleviate the very real fears surrounding every step of the process play backdrop to this latest adaptation of the 1977 novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland and the 1988 David Cronenberg film of the same name. Here, though, the encroaching sense of doom that rankles the Mantle twins (both played with gusto by Rachel Weisz) comes just as much from their commitment to improving women’s care (a scary, uphill battle as it is) as from the predatory ways in which venture capitalists cannot comprehend why there may be a worthy business model in valuing women’s sense of bodily autonomy. Even at its goriest—and the show never shies away from the bloodied reality of childbirth—this sly, satirical series is an engrossing, urgent call to action. For aptly packaging a bold adaptation of this twinned-body horror classic within the continued nightmarish world of women’s reproductive health care in the United States, Dead Ringers wins a Peabody Award.”

FELLOW TRAVELERS

– Uta Briesewitz (AFI Class of 1994), Director

Peabody Award Jurors: “Running all through Fellow Travelers, a limited series based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel, is the question of what it costs us—as individuals, as a community, as a country—to make parts of ourselves unknowable, inviolate, invisible. Set against the backdrop of the “Lavender Scare” during the 1950s McCarthy era on one end and the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s at the other, this ambitious period drama is anchored by the decades-spanning affair between Hawkins Fuller (Matt Bomer) and Timothy Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey). Along with their friends, who include a State Department secretary, an African-American journalist, and a stealth drag performer, the lovers are forced to wrestle with why and whether to keep their relationship—and their very identities—a secret. As Hawk finds pain and solace in the closet with a picture-perfect family and Tim rebukes his faith while thrusting himself into increasingly more radical politics, their love chains them to one another as they see the world and the queer community change around them. For chronicling a half century’s worth of LGBTQ history and anchoring it in a sweeping romance that makes us swoon and blush in equal measure, Fellow Travelers wins a Peabody Award.”

JUDY BLUME FOREVER

– Sara Bernstein (AFI Class of 1988), Producer

Peabody Award Jurors: “Judy Blume stands as one of the most beloved authors in the United States—and one of the most banned. The writer of such beloved young-adult novels as Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, Blubber, and Forever is the subject of Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok’s touching documentary portrait of an artist who continues to make teenage girls feel seen with her frank depictions of puberty and budding sexuality. Judy Blume Forever is a poignant slice of the origins of what is now considered YA writing, as well as a heartwarming reminder of the power literature wields in inspiring children to better understand themselves, the world around them, and even their changing bodies. Yet the documentary insists on seeing Blume’s story as necessarily intertwined with the waves of book censorship that flared up during the Reagan administration and continue to be fodder in the culture wars of 21st century America, and that is where Pardo and Wolchok’s film finds its urgency as an evergreen warning. For lovingly sketching a feminist coming-of-age tale of this esteemed author and her readers alike, and for wrapping it up in a rallying cry in support of the power of reading, Judy Blume Forever receives a Peabody Award.”

THE LAST OF US

– Emily Mendez (AFI Class of 2015), Editor

Peabody Award Jurors: “Post-apocalyptic settings have long haunted our fictions, reliably serving as an evocative canvas for artists to work out all manner of questions about the human experience while staging genre thrills along the way. In HBO’s The Last of Us, a faithful adaptation of the critically-acclaimed Naughty Dog video game, the road trip odyssey of Joel and Ellie (played by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey) functions as a recursive meditation on love and loss—and how love is capable of changing people, for good and for ill. Video game enthusiasts have been grappling with this story, including its rich and complicated ending, for more than a decade. But in the hands of showrunner Craig Mazin, who worked in collaboration with Neil Druckmann, a co-director on the original game, this adaptation extracts new layers from the text that expand its meaning. Look no further than “A Long, Long Time,” the series’ standout third episode featuring superior performances by Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman, which imagines what a life of love and fulfillment can look like at the end of the world. For its creative achievements as a feat of cross-media translation, and for setting a new, high watermark for the artistic possibilities of video game adaptations, The Last of Us is recognized with a Peabody Award.”

RESERVATION DOGS

– Varun Narayan Viswanath (AFI Class of 2012), Editor

Peabody Award Jurors: “The third and final season of the breakthrough series Reservation Dogs exemplifies the power of indigenous storytelling over ten exquisite and nuanced episodes chronicling life on and off the reservation. Co-created and executive produced by Sterlin Harjo, a member of the Seminole nation with Muscogee ancestry, and Taika Waititi, of Maori descent, the closing season tackles issues of poverty, forced assimilation, ancestral rites, and more, with humor, depth, and frequent touches of magical realism. Audiences continue following Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Elora Danan (Devery Jacobs), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), and Cheese (Lane Factor) as they make their way from high school to adulthood. Smart-mouthed spirit guides such as William “Spirit” Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth) help and hinder them along the way until the group’s journey culminates in an artful finale that honors the fierce independence of the series and its Indigenous makers. For dispelling Hollywood’s colonialist tropes and turning violent or sanctimonious depictions of Indigenous Americans into fiercely liberated portrayals of individuals navigating life on the Rez, we honor Reservation Dogs with a second Peabody Award.”