Pentiment & We Are OFK Win Peabodys

Who knew that the Peabody Awards (or simply the Peabodys) were named after a man and not a super-intelligent, talking, and time-traveling Beagle? My usual jokes aside to launch us into the topic of the day, it is a weird one today as I think most people somewhat ignore the Peabodys. At least I’ve almost always seen it as some award given to specific things or people, like Cosmos by Carl Sagan as well as the Scorsese documentary No Direction Home: Bob Dylan. A bit like a Pulitzer Prize but less about journalism, the Peabodys are for a lot of topics for “powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories.“

Late last week, the winners were announced by the jurors. This year includes some games and TV we’ve covered. Don’t worry, I’m not covering all 34 winners, I’m not that insane. You can check those out here. However, one franchise that did receive The Institutional Award this year was Star Trek, spanning from its simple beginnings back in 1966 through countless movies, TV shows, as well as print-based adaptations to the expanded universe. I can gripe about some of the mentioned history, but at the very least Ben Sisko gets a mention.

The Children’s/Youth Award goes to the quintessentially Australian cartoon, Bluey. Speak to any parent and I think you’ll find out why, as the heart-warming and delightful show is a comfort for parents as it is entertainment for the kids. The series talks about every topic, from friendships to death and infertility.

For Entertainment, several shows won awards, including FX’s The Bear and Reservation Dogs, HBO’s The Last of Us adaption, as well as HBO/Max’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver for the November 12th, 2023 episode, “Israel-Hamas War.” All are noted for their critical acclaim, and in the case of Last Week Tonight, noted for its “important corrective to the media landscape awash in misinformation and decontextualized vitriol.” The Last of Us is noted specifically for its faithfulness to the source material as an adaptation.

The last notable category is that of Interactive & Immersive media, particularly Obsidian Entertainment’s 2022 release Pentiment, as well as Team OFK’s 2022 adventure We Are OFK. I have issues with Pentiment while everyone praises it, much like I do with most of Josh Sawyer’s games. With that said there is something that needs to be said about the research that had gone into its very dry world. Meanwhile, Teddy Dief’s We Are OFK does have small stakes to its story but big plans for the virtual band that is just getting off the ground.

What strikes me as odd is that this is the 2023 Peabody Awards, the 84th overall. It is May 2024, and both games I’ve mentioned are from 2022. Am I the only one confused by how late some of these inclusions on the list are? While everything else is predominantly debuting in 2023, the Interactive & Immersive Media awards are for things outside of the year. Either scrap the games element or find a way to keep up to date.