LGBTQ Critics Announce 2026 Dorian TV Award Nominations

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics announced its 17th Dorian TV Award nominations today with TRR favorites Heated Rivalry and Hacks (above) leading the nod count.

The 565-member-strong organization, one of the largest entertainment journalists groups in the world, recognizes the best in television and streaming from mainstream content to queer-themed programs.

Full disclosure: I am a longtime voting member of GALECA.

Via press release:

Heated Rivalry, the hockey-hunks-in-love drama that became a cultural phenomenon this year, and showbiz satire Hacks—a longtime favorite with GALECA members—lead the competition with nominations across nearly every major category, including Best LGBTQ TV Show and Best Written TV Show.

Vying for Best TV Drama alongside Heated Rivalry is the gritty medical drama The Pitt (last year’s Dorian winner here), the post-apocalyptic sci-fi series Pluribus, frothy financial soap Industry, and HBO’s timely period spectacle The Gilded Age.

The comedy field is similarly stacked, with Hacks going up against The Comeback—the final round of star and co-creator Lisa Kudrow’s endlessly quotable TV industry send-up—Abbott Elementary (another past Dorian winner), Shrinking, and Widow’s Bay, the new comedy horror series from Apple TV.

As ever, the Dorian Awards’ more specialized categories put a light on lesser-known gems. The Best Unsung TV Show category, reserved for programs GALECA members feel deserve a louder megaphone, champions Boots (also up for Best LGBTQ Show), the robot romp Murderbot, Netflix’s starry comedy ensemble The Four Seasons, and rising cult thriller From.

As for the Campiest TV Show award, Netflix’s wildly over-the top—and deliciously queer—Texas ladies drama The Hunting Wives vies with The Traitors, Ryan Murphy’s legal drama All’s Fair (refresher: Kim Kardashian plays a high-priced attorney named Allura Grant), The Comeback, and last year’s Dorian winner Palm Royale.

Winners will be announced Saturday, August 15.

2026 DORIAN TV AWARD NOMINATIONS — FULL LIST

BEST TV DRAMA
Heated Rivalry (HBO Max)
Industry (HBO Max)
The Gilded Age (HBO Max)
Pluribus (Apple TV)
The Pitt (HBO Max)

BEST TV COMEDY
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
The Comeback (HBO Max)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Shrinking (Apple TV)
Widow’s Bay (Apple TV)

BEST LGBTQ TV SHOW
The Comeback (HBO Max)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Half Man (HBO Max)
Heated Rivalry (HBO Max)
Pluribus (Apple TV)

BEST TV MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES
All Her Fault (Peacock)
Beef (Netflix)
DTF St. Louis (HBO Max)
Half Man (HBO Max)
Love Story (FX/Hulu)

BEST NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE TV SHOW
Blossoms of Shanghai (Criterion Channel)
Dan Da Dan (Netflix)
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Crunchyroll)
Mussolini: Son of the Century (Mubi)
Squid Game (Netflix)
The Summer Hikaru Died (Netflix)

BEST LGBTQ NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE TV SHOW
The Boyfriend (Netflix)
Chosen Home (Netflix)
Go For It, Nakamura-kun! (Crunchyroll)
The Summer Hikaru Died (Netflix)
Tremembé (Amazon MGM)

BEST WRITTEN TV SHOW
The Comeback (HBO Max)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Heated Rivalry (HBO Max)
Pluribus (Apple TV)
The Pitt (HBO Max)

BEST TV PERFORMANCE — DRAMA
Marisa Abela, Industry (HBO Max)
Jamie Bell, Half Man (HBO Max)
Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age (HBO Max)
Myha’la Herrold, Industry (HBO Max)
Mark Ruffalo, Task (HBO Max)
Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus (Apple TV)
Connor Storrie, Heated Rivalry (HBO Max)
Hudson Williams, Heated Rivalry (HBO Max)
Noah Wyle, The Pitt (HBO Max)
Zendaya, Euphoria (HBO Max)

BEST SUPPORTING TV PERFORMANCE — DRAMA
François Arnaud, Heated Rivalry (HBO Max)
Patrick Ball, The Pitt (HBO Max)
Isa Briones, The Pitt (HBO Max)
Richard Gadd, Half Man (HBO Max)
Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt (HBO Max)
Ken Leung, Industry (HBO Max)
Charles Melton, Beef (Netflix)
Sepideh Moafi, The Pitt (HBO Max)
Colman Domingo, Euphoria (HBO Max)
Karolina Wydra, Pluribus (Apple TV)

BEST TV PERFORMANCE — COMEDY
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Wonder Man (Disney+)
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear (FX/Hulu)
Elle Fanning, Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Apple TV)
Ethan Hawke, The Lowdown (FX/Hulu)
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback (HBO Max)
Dan Levy, Big Mistakes (Netflix)
Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay (Apple TV)
Tim Robinson, The Chair Company (HBO Max)
Jean Smart, Hacks (HBO Max)

BEST SUPPORTING TV PERFORMANCE — COMEDY
Leslie Bibb, Hacks (HBO Max)
Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons (Netflix)
Paul W. Downs, Hacks (HBO Max)
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks (HBO Max)
Harrison Ford, Shrinking (Apple TV)
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay (Apple TV)
Ashley Padilla, Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Apple TV)
Meg Stalter, Hacks (HBO Max)

BEST TV MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Audra McDonald, “Rose’s Turn” (The 78th Tony Awards)
Bad Bunny, (The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show)
Miles Caton, Raphael Saadiq, Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey and Alice Smith, “I Lied to You,” (The 98th Academy Awards)
Sabrina Carpenter and The Muppets, “Manchild,” (The Muppet Show)
Sabrina Carpenter, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, “Islands in the Stream,” (The Muppet Show)

BEST UNSUNG TV SHOW
Boots (Netflix)
English Teacher (FX/Hulu)
The Four Seasons (Netflix)
From (MGM+)
Murderbot (Apple TV)

BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS SHOW
The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
Hot Ones (YouTube)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO Max)
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)

BEST TV DOCUMENTARY OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Kylie (Netflix)
Mr. Scorsese (Apple TV)
Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television (HBO Max)
Selena y Los Dinos (Netflix)
The Yogurt Shop Murders (HBO Max)

BEST LGBTQ TV DOCUMENTARY OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Club Cumming (WOW Presents Plus)
Enigma (HBO Max)
It’s Dorothy! (Peacock)
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (Hulu)
Murder in Glitterball City (HBO Max)

BEST GENRE TV SHOW
Alien: Earth (FX/Hulu)
The Boys (Amazon Prime Video)
IT: Welcome to Derry (Max)
Pluribus (Apple TV)
Widow’s Bay (Apple TV)

BEST REALITY SHOW
The Boyfriend (Netflix)
Love on the Spectrum (Netflix)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV/Paramount+)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Traitors (Peacock)

BEST ANIMATED SHOW
Bob’s Burgers (Fox)
Invincible (Amazon Prime Video)
Hazbin Hotel (Amazon Prime Video)
Long Story Short (Netflix)
South Park (Paramount+)

MOST VISUALLY STRIKING TV SHOW
Alien: Earth (FX/Hulu)
Euphoria (HBO Max)
The Gilded Age (HBO Max)
Heated Rivalry (HBO Max)
Pluribus (Apple TV)

CAMPIEST TV SHOW
All’s Fair (Hulu)
The Comeback (HBO Max)
The Hunting Wives (Netflix)
Palm Royale (Apple TV)
The Traitors (Peacock)

For more info about the Dorian Awards and GALECA, click here.