‘Empire,’ John Oliver, Amy Schumer, ‘Better Call Saul’ Honored By TV Critics

As the audience laughed, Hamm thanked TV critics for supporting “Mad Men” in its early days on AMC, when the show was still relatively low-profile.

Hip-hop drama Empire has earned the top honor at the Television Critics Association’s 31st annual TCA Awards.

The TCA Awards also acknowledged TV history by bestowing the Heritage Award on Late Show/Late Night With David Letterman, and giving the Career Achievement Award to legendary producer/writer James L. Brooks (The Simpsons, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi), who accepted with a moving speech (and who was honored in video tribute of sorts from Homer Simpson).

Corden may have a rather cuddly persona on his show, but in his opening monologue, he told some jokes that prompted “oohs” from the room, playing off the Bill Cosby sexual-assault allegations controversy. “Mad Men” ended in May after completing seven seasons. Corden said when he was asked to host a TCA, he assumed it was “the Teen Choice Awards”.

Fox’s freshman smash “Empire” took home Program of the Year, while AMC’s “Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul” won Outstanding New Program. Daniels noted that it was surprising to be there, because normally “critics don’t like me”.

The award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama, which went to FX’s The Americans, was presented by TCA members Michael Ausiello (TVLine.com) and Hanh Nguyen (TVGuide.com) dressed in full costume and makeup as the Americans characters portrayed by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. The drama received four nominations overall: Program of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Drama, Outstanding New Program and Individual achievement in Drama (Taraji P. Henson) but snubbed in three categories. “We said goodbye to some old favorites, with the final season of Mad Men and Late Show with David Letterman, and we were treated to strong new additions like Fox’s Empire and HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver“.

Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: ABC Family’s “The Fosters,” the second year the drama has won. The prestigious nod comes as Stephen Colbert looks to take over his the Late Show franchise in September.