Scott D. Pierce: ‘Real Housewives of SLC’ and ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ nominated for TV critics awards

The 2022 Television Critics Awards nominations are out, and three of the shows on the list have strong ties to Utah:

• “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” nominated for outstanding achievement in reality programming, is, of course, produced mostly in Utah and features mostly Utahns.

• Another nominee in that category, “The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans,” features one-time Utah resident Julie Stoffer in the cast. And her backstory is that she was kicked out of Brigham Young University for appearing on “The Real World’ more than 20 years ago.

• And “Under the Banner of Heaven,” nominated for outstanding movie, miniseries or special, wasn’t filmed in Utah but it recounts the story of the infamous Lafferty murders, which took place in American Fork in 1984, and goes into ties to mainstream and fundamentalist Mormons.

The more than 200 members of the TCA in the United States and Canada will vote for the winners in 13 categories — 11 competitive categories for current programming, plus a lifetime achievement award and a heritage award, which is sort of a lifetime achievement award for a program. The awards will be presented on Aug. 6 in non-televised ceremonies at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, California.

The fact that they’re not televised means that the winners can say whatever they want for as long as they want. And that’s fun, I can assure you.

It will also be the first time the awards have been presented in person since 2019. Stupid pandemic.

For many years, I’ve argued that the TCA Awards are more legit than the Emmys, because those of us who vote for the TCA Awards actually watch TV. I cannot begin to count the number of times I’ve heard the people who work in television — the people who vote for the Emmys – say that they don’t have time to watch TV. They vote for their friends, for other shows at their studio, and for people who have won before.

It’s true that it’s no longer possible for even TV critics to see everything. There were 559 scripted series on broadcast, cable and streaming last year, and that’s not counting news and sports and documentaries and talk shows and game shows and on and on. But TV critics see more than most and, generally, have a better understanding of and perspective on the best of what’s out there.

Which is not to say that I agree with all the nominations. But then not everything I nominated made the final list.

I did nominate ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” which has the most nominations — five — as well as a bunch of other people and shows that made the final ballot. And, yes, I did include all three of the Utah-related shows among my nominations.

I’m glad to see the nominations spread out among more than a dozen programmers: ABC, AMC, Apple TV+, Bravo, CBS, Disney, FX, HBO/HBO Max, Hulu, NBC, Netflix, Paramount+, PBS, Peacock,

Now I’ve got to decide which of the nominees to vote for. Honestly, I haven’t decided at this point. There are multiple deserving nominees in every category.

Below is the list of 2022 Television Critics Association nominees, excluding the career achievement and heritage award winners, which will be announced later this summer:

Individual achievement in drama

• Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game” (Netflix)

• Michael Keaton, “Dopesick” (Hulu)

• Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets” (Showtime)

• Mandy Moore, “This Is Us” (NBC)

• Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul” (AMC)

• Margaret Qualley, “Maid” (Netflix)

• Adam Scott, “Severance” (Apple TV+)

• Rhea Seehorn, “Better Call Saul” (AMC)

• Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout” (Hulu)

• Jeremy Strong, “Succession” (HBO)

Individual achievement in comedy

• Pamela Adlon, “Better Things” (FX)

• Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

• Bridget Everett, “Somebody Somewhere” (HBO )

• Bill Hader, “Barry” (HBO)

• Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

• Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)

• Jean Smart, “Hacks” (HBO Max) (Note: Smart won this category in 2021.)

• Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)

News and information

• “The Beatles: Get Back” (Disney+)

• “Benjamin Franklin” (PBS)

• “Frontline” (PBS) (An eight-time winner in this category.)

• “George Carlin’s American Dream” (HBO)

• “How To with John Wilson” (HBO)

• “Prehistoric Planet” (Apple TV+)

• “60 Minutes” (˜TVCCBS) (The 2012 winner in this category.)

• “The Tinder Swindler” (Netflix)

• “We Need To Talk About Cosby” (Showtime)

Reality

• “The Amazing Race” (CBS) (The 2011 winner in this category.)

• “Cheer” (Netflix) (The 2020 winner in this category.)

• “Finding Magic Mike” (HBO Max)

• “Legendary” (HBO Max)

• “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” (Bravo)

• “Real World Homecoming: New Orleans” (Paramount+)

• “Take Out with Lisa Ling” (HBO Max)

• “Top Chef: Houston” (Bravo)

Youth programming

• “Ada Twist, Scientist” (Netflix)

• “The Baby-Sitters Club” (Netflix) (Last year’s winner in this category.)

• “El Deafo” (Apple TV+)

• “Mira, Royal Detective” (Disney Junior)

• “Octonauts: Above & Beyond” (Netflix)

• “Odd Squad” (PBS)

• “Ridley Jones” (Netflix)

• “Sesame Street” (PBS/HBO Max)

New program

• “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

• “Ghosts” (CBS)

• “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)

• “Pachinko” (Apple TV+)

• “Reservation Dogs” (FX)

• “Severance” (Apple TV+)

• “The White Lotus” (HBO)

• “Yellowjackets” (Showtime)

Movies, miniseries or specials

• “Dopesick” (Hulu)

• “The Dropout” (Hulu)

• “The Girl From Plainville” (Hulu)

• “Maid” (Netflix)

• “Midnight Mass” (Netflix)

• “The Staircase” (HBO Max)

• “Station Eleven” (HBO Max)

• “Under the Banner of Heaven” (FX on Hulu)

Drama

• “Better Call Saul” (AMC) (The 2019 winner in this category.)

• “The Good Fight” (Paramount+)

• “Pachinko” (Apple TV+)

• “Severance” (Apple TV+)

• “Squid Game” (Netflix)

• “Succession” (HBO) (The 2020 winner in this category.)

• “This Is Us” (NBC) (The 2017 winner in this category.)

• “Yellowjackets” (Showtime)

Comedy

• “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

• “Atlanta” (FX) (The 2017 winner in this category.)

• “Barry” (HBO)

• “Ghosts” (CBS)

• “Hacks” (HBO Max)

• “Only Murders In The Building” (Hulu)

• “Reservation Dogs” (FX)

• “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+) (The 2020 winner in this category.)

Variety, talk or sketch

• “The Amber Ruffin Show” (Peacock)

• “A Black Lady Sketch Show” (HBO) (The 2020 winner in this category.)

• “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” (Netflix)

• “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO) (The winner in this category in 2018, 2019 and 2021.)

• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC)

• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)

• “Saturday Night Live”(NBC)

• “Ziwe” (Showtime)

Program of the year

• “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

• “Better Call Saul” (AMC)

• “Hacks” (HBO Max)

• “Severance” (Apple TV+)

• “Squid Game” (Netflix)

• “Succession” (HBO)

• “The White Lotus” (HBO)

• “Yellowjackets” (Showtime)

Editor’s note • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.