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Orange Is the New Black, Scandal Among Peabody Recipients

Orange Is the New Black, Scandal Among Peabody Recipients

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They and several other LGBT-inclusive programs are receiving the prestigious award for excellence in electronic media.

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LGBT-inclusive TV and film projects Orange Is the New Black, Scandal, and How to Survive a Plague are among the winners of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Awards for 2013, announced today.

There are a record 46 recipients of the awards, given annually by the University of Georgia to recognize excellence in electronic media. They will be formally presented on May 19 at a luncheon ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, emceed by Ira Glass, host and producer of the public radio program This American Life, itself a multiple Peabody winner.

Orange Is the New Black, Netflix's women-in-prison dramedy, features several LGBT characters, and its cast includes lesbian performer Lea DeLaria and transgender actress Laverne Cox. The Peabody website lauds it by saying, "Orange Is the New Black turns a notorious drive-in genre -- women behind bars -- into a complex, riveting character study rich in insights about femininity, race, power, and the politics, inside and outside prison walls, of mass incarceration."

ABC's political drama Scandal, starring Kerry Washington as a "fixer" who cleans up scandals in the nation's capital, is "an exaggerated, outrageous, fun-house reflection of the real-life political shenanigans we've come to loathe and jeer," says the Peabody site. Its has Jeff Perry as White House chief of staff Cyrus Beene, who is married to journalist James Novak, played by out actor Dan Bucatinsky. Bucatinsky's character was killed off in a recent episode.

The documentary How to Survive a Plague, directed by David France, chronicles the activism of ACT UP, Treatment Action Group, and others in the early years of the AIDS crisis. It was shown on PBS's Independent Lens series and also had a theatrical release, the latter resulting in an Oscar nomination.

Gay luminaries of Broadway feature in a couple of Peabody winners. HBO's Six by Sondheim is a documentary on the esteemed composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, with interviews, archival footage, and new interpretations of six of his most famous songs. Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, from PBS's Great Performances, includes the work of Sondheim and other gay or bisexual talents, such as Leonard Bernstein, Jerry Herman, Arthur Laurents, and Marc Shaiman.

Find a full list of the winners here.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.