Two rounds of judging have been completed for the 2023 Sentinel Awards. The final honorees will be announced in the fall. Read the press release
Two rounds of judging have been completed on entries for the 2023 Sentinel Awards, which will celebrate some of the best and most challenging TV entertainment of the past year that made a difference in the lives of audiences. Entries from broadcast, cable and streaming network shows were all eligible, and represent a range of topics on health, safety and security. The final honorees will be selected based on accuracy, entertainment value and benefit to audiences. To learn more about the awards, visit the HH&S awards web page.
Last year's awards, held in October at the Television Academy, drew stars such as Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Williams of Abbott Elementary; Hannah Einbinder and Paul W. Downs of Hacks; Sarah Podemski from Reservation Dogs; Shoniqua Shandai, Jerrie Johnson and Meagan Good of Harlem; and Allison Miller from A Million Little Things. Sterlin Harjo, Reservation Dogs co-creator and showrunner, and Dopesick creator/writer/director Danny Strong accepted their honors in taped remarks. Actress, producer and host Yvette Nicole Brown, whose credits include roles and appearances on Big Shot, Community, Mom, Family Guy, Curb Your Enthusiasm and A Black Lady Sketch Show, which earned her a 2021 Primetime Emmy nomination, was the host.
The annual celebration recognized 12 shows whose storytelling tackled powerful and timely topics, including Emmy nominees and winners Dopesick, Abbott Elementary and Hacks, as well as A Million Little Things, Never Have I Ever and Reservation Dogs, the breakout coming-of-age series about four indigenous teen-age friends living in rural Oklahoma. Reservation Dogs received a Culture of Health Award for its entire Season 1 body of work that covered healthcare and economic disparities, aging and caregiving, mental health, suicide and racism.
Hollywood, Health & Society (HH&S), a program of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, is the presenter of the awards event.
For more than 20 years, the Sentinel Awards have recognized exemplary achievements in TV storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives. For audiences here and around the world, television often provides both entertainment and factual information about a wide range of health topics and social issues. Today, fighting widespread misinformation with facts has never been more important, and HH&S helps TV storytellers find the facts they need to “get it right.”
As the entertainment landscape expands and programs continue to push boundaries, topics such as disease, injury, maternal health, disability, violence, discrimination and more are being explored through dynamic storytelling.
Funding for Hollywood, Health & Society comes from the California Dept. of Water Resources, the California Health Care Foundation, End Well, Future of Life Institute, John Pritzker Family Fund, Ogilvy, the Plastic Pollution Coalition, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The SCAN Foundation, and the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute. The program, now celebrating more than 20 years of service to the TV entertainment industry, serves as a free resource by providing expert consultations and briefings, panel discussions, screenings, custom research trips, social media and more.
