The third seasons of Star Trek: Picard and Lower Decks got a big boost today with the announcement of 8 nominations from the Hollywood Critics Association, 7 of which are for Picard. This recognition could be a good sign that the Trek shows may also be recognized by the Television Academy, with Emmy nominations set to be announced on Wednesday.
Hollywood critics recognize Picard
Today the Hollywood Critics Association announced nominees for their 3rd Annual HCA TV Awards. The HCA breaks up their categories into cable & broadcast and streaming, with Picard dominating across the streaming drama categories with a total of seven nominations. This includes a nomination for Best Streaming Drama Series, the same category Strange New Worlds was nominated for in 2022. This year Picard is going up against 1923, Andor, Bad Sisters, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, The Boys, The Crown, The Diplomat, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Mandalorian.
Picard star Sir Patrick Stewart was nominated for Best Actor in a Streaming Drama Series and the competition includes Lower Decks star Jack Quaid (nominated for The Boys). He is also facing off with Antony Starr (The Boys), Diego Luna (Andor), Dominic West (The Crown), Harrison Ford (1923), Logan Lerman (Hunters), and Penn Badgley (You).
Brent Spiner was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Drama Series and Jeri Ryan was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Drama Series. Spiner’s competition is Bradley Whitford (The Handmaid’s Tale), Chace Crawford (The Boys), Edi Gathegi (For All Mankind), Ismael Cruz Córdova (The Lord of the Rings), Jensen Ackles (The Boys), Jonathan Pryce (The Crown), Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale), Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat), and Stellan Skarsgård (Andor).
Jeri Ryan is nominated along with Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale), Anne-Marie Duff (Bad Sisters), Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown), Emily Swallow (The Mandalorian), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters), Genevieve O’Reilly (Andor), Lesley Manville (The Crown), Sarah Desjardins (The Night Agent), and Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid’s Tale).
Michelle Forbes is nominated for Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series for the Picard episode “Imposters.” She’s going up against, Aya Cash (The Boys), [Prodigy voice actress] Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets), Gwendoline Christie (The Sandman), Lizzo (The Mandalorian), Mckenna Grace (The Handmaids Tale), Melanie Lynskey (The Last of Us), Regina Taylor (CSI: Vegas), Tamara Clatterbuck (Will Trent), and Vanessa Kirby (The Crown).
Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas picked nominations for Best Writing in a Streaming Drama Series and for Best Directing in a Streaming Drama Series, both for the season finale “The Last Generation.” For the writing award, Matalas is facing Taylor Sheridan (1923), Tony Gilroy (Andor), Carla Banks Waddles & Daniela Gaj (Bel-Air), Logan Ritchey & David Reed (The Boys), and Peter Morgan (The Crown).
And for directing, Matalas faces Ben Richardson (1923), Benjamin Caron (Andor), Nelson Cragg (The Boys), Alex Graves (The Diplomat), and Lee Isaac Chung (The Mandalorian).
Lower Decks nominated again
For the second year in a row, Star Trek: Lower Decks was nominated for Best Streaming Animated Series Or TV Movie for its third season. The animated Trek is going up against Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, Central Park, Animaniacs, and Harley Quinn.
Due to the ongoing WGA strike and the SAG/AFTRA strike looming, winners of the 2023 HCA TV Awards will not be presented on the previously announced dates of August 12th and August 13th. The presentation of the HCA TV Awards Winners is TBD.
