Hulu and Adult Swim Dominate Best of 2017 Awards

IGN, a leading entertainment coverage platform, released its Best of 2017 Awards results on Wednesday. The awards spanned dozens of categories across gaming, movies, television, and technology. In addition to the official awards from the staff, People’s Choice Awards were given to the nominees with the highest tally of popular votes in each category. On the television side of the awards, a dark horse content provider stole the show this time around.

Hulu may be popular for having next-day TV episodes available, but few people think of original content when they think of Hulu. This year, however, one offering from the streaming service garnered critical acclaim: The Handmaid’s Tale.

Based on the famous dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale racked up four awards at IGN’s Best of 2017: TV Series of the Year, Best New Series, Best Drama Series, and Best Dramatic Performance by Elizabeth Moss.

Like the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale depicts a bleak, exaggerated future in which religious, conservative white men have taken over the country, establishing a terrible theocracy in which women are nothing but tools to be used and thrown away. For obvious reasons, this story has become popular once again in 2017, a fact that Hulu used to its advantage.

Despite its critical success, The Handmaid’s Tale did not take home any People’s Choice Awards from the Best of 2017. Unsurprisingly, many of those went to Rick and Morty.

The infamously popular Adult Swim comedy won three People’s Choice awards, including TV Series of the Year. It also won the staff award for Best Animated Series, defeating fellow Adult Swim program Samurai Jack.

In addition, Rick and Morty won Best Comedic Performance from both the staff and fans thanks to the many voices of Justin Roiland. Roiland, co-creator and voice actor for both Rick and Morty, had a stellar year in the show’s third season. In one episode, he played dozens of different versions of his two characters, all without interruption from any other voice actors.

Rick and Morty fell short of achieving Best Comedy Series, coming in at runner-up behind Netflix’s Master of None. The two shows traded punches as leading man Aziz Ansari was runner-up behind Roiland for Best Comedic Performance.

Another popular Netflix Series, Stranger Things, lost most of the awards for which it was nominated. However, it did manage to tie with Game of Thrones for Best Action Series of the year. Millie Bobbie Brown, who plays the psychic Eleven, also won the People’s Choice Award for Best Dramatic Performance.

It was a banner year for entertainment across industries and platforms in 2017, and IGN’s Best of 2017 Awards showcased many of the year’s greatest moments. If you want more end-of-year lists, check out The Nerd Stash’s own Game of the Year piece.