‘Rick and Morty’ Nabs Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program

Sporting a list of 21 executive producers, producers, directors and other top creatives, Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty took home the award for Outstanding Animated Program at the final night of this year’s 2020 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, presented virtually by the Television Academy. It was the second Emmy for creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon's hugely popular animated comedy series, now in its fourth season. Competition in this category, as always, was fierce, with four other top shows nominated: Big Mouth, Bob’s Burgers, BoJack Horseman, and The Simpsons.

Netflix’s Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance won for Outstanding Children’s Program, with EPIX’s Godfather of Harlem winning for Outstanding Main Title Design.

The ceremony was hosted by Emmy-nominated host Nicole Byer, and featured presenters from some of the season’s most popular shows including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Black Patriots: Heroes of the Revolution), Jeff Bridges (The Old Man), Rose Byrne (Mrs. America), Bobby Cannavale (Homecoming), Gina Carano (The Mandalorian), RuPaul Charles (RuPaul's Drag Race), Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black; Disclosure), Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian; Better Call Saul), Brandee Evans (P-Valley), Josh Flagg (Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles), Jeannie Gaffigan (Dinner with the Gaffigans), Jim Gaffigan (Dinner with the Gaffigans), Chris Hardwick (The Wall; The Talking Dead), Jerry Harris (Cheer), John Hodgman (Dicktown from Cake), Sofia Hublitz (Ozark), Gabriel Iglesias (Mr. Iglesias), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911), Dylan McDermott (Hollywood), Justin H. Min (The Umbrella Academy), Desus Nice & The Kid Mero (Desus & Mero), Daryl Mitchell (NCIS: New Orleans), Hilarie Burton Morgan (Friday Night In With The Morgans), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Friday Night In With The Morgans; The Walking Dead), Erin Moriarty (The Boys), Lamorne Morris (Woke), Leslie Odom Jr. (Central Park), Jeremy Pope (Hollywood), Jeff Probst (Survivor), Issa Rae (A Black Lady Sketch Show; Insecure), Monica Raymund (Hightown), Rob Riggle (Holey Moley), Drew Scott (Property Brothers: Forever Home; Brother vs. Brother), J.B. Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Wanda Sykes (Crank Yankers; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and Tracy Tutor (Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles).

Here are some of the awards presented Saturday night:

Outstanding Animated Program awards were presented to the following show and artists:

Rick and Morty, “The Vat Of Acid Episode,” Adult Swim

Dan Harmon, Executive Producer
Justin Roiland, Executive Producer
Mike McMahan, Executive Producer
Scott Marder, Executive Producer
Keith Crofford, Executive Producer
Rick Mischel, Executive Producer
Richard Grieve, Executive Producer
Mike Lazzo, Executive Producer
Rob Schrab, Co-Executive Producer
James Siciliano, Supervising Producer
Wes Archer, Supervising Director
Michael Waldron, Producer
Nick Rutherford, Producer
Lee Harting, Producer
Ollie Green, Producer
Sydney Ryan, Produced by
J. Michael Mendel, Produced by
Jacob Hair, Directed by
Nathan Litz, Director
Jeff Loveness, Written by/Supervising Producer
Albro Lundy, Written by

Outstanding Children’s Program awards were presented to the following show and artists:

Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Netflix

Lisa Henson, Executive Producer
Halle Stanford, Executive Producer
Louis Leterrier, Executive Producer
Jeffrey Addiss, Co-Executive Producer
Will Matthews, Co-Executive Producer
Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Co-Executive Producer
Blanca Lista, Co-Executive Producer
Ritamarie Peruggi, Produced by

Outstanding Main Title Design awards were presented to the following show and artists:

Godfather of Harlem, EPIX

Mason Nicoll, Creative Director/Editor
Peter Pak, Designer/Lead Animator/Art Director
Giovana Pham, Designer
Cisco Torres, Animator

Juried categories require all entrants to be screened by a panel of professionals in the appropriate peer group with the possibility of one, more than one or no entry being awarded an Emmy. Therefore, there are no nominees but instead a one-step evaluation and voting procedure. Deliberations include open discussions of each entrant's work with a thorough review of the merits of awarding the Emmy.

Source: The Television Academy

Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.