GLAAD Media Award For Outstanding TV Movie Or Limited Series
GLAAD recognized the ABC miniseries The Women of Brewster Place at the 1st GLAAD Media Awards in 1990. In 1994, Fox's Doing Time on Maple Drive became the first television film to be recognized by GLAAD, in the Outstanding TV Movies category. Following this, various television films and miniseries would be recognized as separate categories. By the 14th GLAAD Media Awards, in 2003, GLAAD merged the two categories into one named Outstanding Television Film, with HBO's film The Laramie Project winning. At the 19th GLAAD Media Awards in 2008, the category was expanded to also include anthology series, with Here's The DL Chronicles winning. The award remained as such until the 31st GLAAD Media Awards in 2020, where it was separated into two distinct categories: one for television films, the other for limited or anthology series. Further changes took place in 2023 during the 34th GLAAD Media Awards, where television films became part of the Outstanding Film – Streaming or TV category. Despite these reorganizations, GLAAD considers the television films recognized from 2020 to 2022 as part of this award category.
For a limited or anthology series to be eligible, it must include at least one LGBT character in a leading, supporting, or recurring capacity. The award may be accepted by any of the series' producers, writers, or actors. Limited and anthology series selected by GLAAD are evaluated based on four criteria: "Fair, Accurate, and Inclusive Representations" of the LGBT community, "Boldness and Originality" of the project, significant "Impact" on mainstream culture, and "Overall Quality" of the project. GLAAD monitors mainstream media to identify which series will be nominated, while also issuing a Call for Entries that encourages media outlets to submit programmes for consideration. By contrast, in order for series created by and for LGBT audiences to be considered for nomination, they must be submitted after the Call for Entries. Winners are determined by a plurality vote by GLAAD staff and its board, Shareholders Circle members, volunteers and affiliated individuals.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 35 works. The only anthology series to have received multiple nominations are FX's American Horror Story and HBO's The White Lotus, both of which have only won once. American Horror Story won for its second season—subtitled Asylum—in 2013, while The White Lotus won for its second season at the 34th GLAAD Media Awards in 2023.
Winners and nominations
| ‡ | Indicates the winner |
1990s
| Award year | Work | Network | Ref(s). |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 (1st) |
The Women of Brewster Place ‡ | ABC | |
| 1991 (2nd) |
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit ‡ | PBS | |
| 1993 (4th) |
Doing Time on Maple Drive ‡ | Fox | |
| 1994 (5th) |
And the Band Played On ‡ | HBO | |
| 1995 (6th) |
Tales of the City ‡ | PBS | |
| 1996 (7th) |
Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story ‡ | NBC | |
| 1997 (8th) |
Two Mothers for Zachary ‡ | ABC | |
| Losing Chase | Showtime | ||
| 1998 (9th) |
Any Mother's Son ‡ | Lifetime | |
| Breaking the Code | PBS | ||
| In the Gloaming | HBO | ||
| The Twilight of the Golds | Showtime | ||
| 1999 (10th) |
More Tales of the City ‡ | Showtime | |
| Blind Faith | Showtime | ||
| Gia | HBO | ||
| Labor of Love | Lifetime | ||
| My Own Country | Showtime |
2000s
2010s
| Award year | Work | Network | Ref(s). |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 (21st) |
Prayers for Bobby ‡ | Lifetime | |
| An Englishman in New York | Logo | ||
| Pedro | MTV | ||
| Torchwood: Children of Earth | BBC America | ||
| 2012 (23rd) |
Cinema Verite ‡ | HBO | |
| 2013 (24th) |
American Horror Story: Asylum ‡ | FX | |
| Hit & Miss | Audience | ||
| Political Animals | USA | ||
| 2014 (25th) |
Behind the Candelabra ‡ | HBO | |
| In the Flesh | BBC America | ||
| 2015 (26th) |
The Normal Heart ‡ | HBO | |
| 2016 (27th) |
Bessie ‡ | HBO | |
| Banana | Logo | ||
| Cucumber | |||
| 2017 (28th) |
Eyewitness ‡ | USA | |
| London Spy | BBC America | ||
| Looking: The Movie | HBO | ||
| The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again | Fox | ||
| Vicious: The Finale | PBS | ||
| 2018 (29th) |
When We Rise ‡ | ABC | |
| American Horror Story: Cult | FX | ||
| Feud: Bette and Joan | |||
| Godless | Netflix | ||
| Queers | BBC America | ||
| 2019 (30th) |
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story ‡ | FX | |
| American Horror Story: Apocalypse | FX | ||
| Life-Size 2 | Freeform | ||
| Sense8: Amor Vincit Omnia | Netflix | ||
| A Very English Scandal | Amazon |