"The Walking Dead" leads 2017 Saturn Awards television winners

I wrote "I plan on continuing with the television winners tomorrow" when I finished reporting on the 2017 Saturn Awards for film.  Today is yesterday's tomorrow, so it's time for me to comment on the television winners as reported by Critical Blast.

The small screen always scores big at the Saturn Awards and tonight was no exception. The unstoppable walkers of AMC’s global TV phenomenon “The Walking Dead” proved just as invincible last night, garnering three Saturn Awards for Best Horror TV Series, Best Actor on Television (Andrew Lincoln), and Best Guest Star on Television (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

In 'The Walking Dead' vs. 'Westworld' at the 2017 Saturn Awards, I wrote that I was voting for all three of the eventual winners.  I did, they won, and I'm pleased.

HBO’s “Westworld” 21st century reboot outdrew the competition for two awards: Best Science Fiction TV Series and Best Supporting Actor on Television (Ed Harris).

I'm happy that "Westworld" won Best Science Fiction TV Series, as I voted for it.  I'm also happy that Ed Harris won, even though he was not my choice.  I voted for Jeffrey Wright because "his performance was more nuanced than Ed Harris, who is the more established actor."  That should have been a giveaway.  Nuanced and subtle are synonyms and as I wrote yesterday, "the Saturn voters are not about subtle."

In a rare tie, Best New Media TV Series was split between “Marvel’s Luke Cage” and the retro hit “Stranger Things,” both on Netflix.

I voted for "Stranger Things," so I can point to this tie as an instance in which my vote mattered.  Without it, or any one of the rest of the votes for "Stranger Things,"  “Marvel’s Luke Cage” would have won uncontested.  That alone made my $40 membership worth it.  My other vote for "Stranger Things" was for Millie Bobby Brown for Best Younger TV Actor and it was also rewarded; she won.

Follow over the jump for more winners and red carpet interviews.

Besides "Westworld" and "Stranger Things," two other shows won two awards.  "Supergirl" pulled off an upset by winning Best Superhero Adaptation TV Series.  I thought "Supergirl" had the best chance of beating "The Flash" in this category and I ended up being right, even though I voted for "Legion."  On the other hand, I did not anticipate Melissa Benoist winning Best Actress on Television.  I voted for Kim Dickens of "Fear the Walking Dead" but thought that Caitriona Balfe of "Outlander" would likely win.  Surprise!  Just the same, congratulations to Benoist.

The other double award winner was "Riverdale" for Best Action/Thriller TV Series.  I voted for "Mr. Robot," but wrote "it wouldn't surprise me if 'Riverdale' pulled an upset.  Yes, this electorate might just go for Archie pretending to be 'Twin Peaks.'"  That's exactly what happened.  The second was a special award, The Breakthrough Performance Award for KJ Apa, who plays Archie.

The rest of the shows won only one award each.  I've already mentioned “Marvel’s Luke Cage” tying “Stranger Things” for Best New Media TV Series.  As I expected, "Outlander" won Best Fantasy TV Series, beating my choice, "Lucifer."  Mingle Media has a red carpet interview with the show's executive producers, Maris Davis & Toni Graphia.


Congratulations!  Also, the upcoming season sounds really interesting.

I voted for "Mars" as Best Presentation on Television, but expected "Doctor Who: The Return of Dr. Mysterio" to win instead.  Instead, "11.22.63" won.  Stephen King and time travel--I should have realized that would be a big hit with the Saturn electorate.

Also, I voted for Thandie Newton for Best Supporting Actress on Television but anticipated that Danai Gurira would win.  Instead, the winner was Candace Patton from "The Flash."  I was a bit worried that fans of "The Walking Dead" and "Westworld" would split their votes among the two shows' nominees and Patton would sneak on by and that's what happened.  Also, it seemed that there was more of a studio campaign for her than for the other nominees.  If so, it worked.

Mingle Media also has a red carpet interview of Patton.


Again, congratulations!

There was one more television award.

2017 also saw a new Saturn Award inaugurated in the Television category: Best Animated TV Series, won by Disney XD/Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars Rebels.”

Yes, I already covered this yesterday, but it is a television show and this is the television winners report, so I'm sharing the news along with a red carpet interview of Dave Filoni.

At the 43rd Annual Saturn Awards, Fanbase Press' Barbra Dillon talks with Dave Filoni (STAR WARS REBELS, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS) about the last season of REBELS, the possible return of Ahsoka, the final fate of Darth Maul, and more.

One last time, congratulations!

I'll have more on speculative fiction on television with the Teen Choice Awards and the Emmy Awards.  In the meantime, stay tuned for a drum corps 4th of July!