AFI Honors Top TV Shows

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

A total of 10 TV shows -- from ABC’s Alias to HBO’s The Wire -- will be honored by the American Film Institute for their outstanding achievements in television at a Beverly Hills luncheon Thursday, Jan. 22.

Also on the list are HBO’s Angels in America, Fox’s Arrested Development and 24, CBS’s Everybody Loves Raymond and Joan of Arcadia, FX’s Nip/Tuck, ESPN’s Playmakers and Showtime’s Soldier’s Girl.

Unlike most awards shows, which honor the creative community in various categories, AFI honors a show’s entire creative ensemble, including producer, director, cast, writer and so on. A 13-person jury of scholars, artists, critics and AFI trustees chooses the shows to be honored after two days of deliberation in Los Angeles.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.