AAFCA TV Honors 2026: 'Paradise,' 'Shrinking' Win Big
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- AAFCA unveiled winners of its eighth annual TV Honors, with "Paradise" (Hulu) taking Best Drama, "Shrinking" (Apple TV) winning Best Comedy, and "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette" (FX) earning Best Limited Series.
- Sterling K. Brown won Best Actor for "Paradise" for the second consecutive year, while Jurnee Smollett took Best Actress for the Apple TV drama "Smoke" and Lamorne Morris won Supporting Actor for "Spider-Noir."
- Anthony Hemingway won Best Directing (Comedy) for Hulu's "All's Fair," which the source called "the winner slate's biggest surprise," while "Abbott Elementary" took Best Writing and Best Ensemble despite losing the comedy category.
- AAFCA introduced two new categories this year — Best Reality Series went to OWN's "Love & Marriage: Huntsville" and Best Podcast to "All the Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson," the first honors in those fields.
- Five special achievement honorees were previously announced, including Tracy Morgan (Flip Wilson Award), Kathryn Busby (TV Vanguard Award), Celeste Hughey (Impact Award), Lamar Chase (Horizon Award), and Felicia Pride (Salute to Excellence Award).
- Winners will be celebrated at an invitation-only event Aug. 8 at City Club Los Angeles, with AAFCA's Top 10 TV Programs of the year including Paramount+'s "The Madison" and Peacock's "The 'Burbs" among the notable inclusions.
Why it matters: AAFCA is one of the largest collectives of Black film critics in the U.S., and its annual slate — which added reality and podcast categories for the first time — shapes awards-season visibility for shows across Hulu, Apple TV, FX, ABC, OWN, and Prime Video that may get overlooked by mainstream outlets.
