The AACTA Award for Best Television Comedy Series is an accolade given by the

Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) is a professional organisation of film and television practitioners in Australia. The Academy's aim is "to identify, award, promote, and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements i ...

(AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film and television." The award is handed out at the annual

AACTA Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

, which rewards achievements in Australian

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

and

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s. From 2003 to 2010, the category was presented by the

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...

(AFI), the Academy's parent organisation, at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (known as the AFI Awards). When the AFI launched the Academy in 2011, it changed the annual ceremony to the AACTA Awards, with the current prize being a continuum of the AFI Award for Best Television Comedy Series. The award was first handed out in 2003 it was called Best Comedy Series – Sitcom or Sketch until 2005, when it was renamed Best Television Comedy Series. In 2013, the Academy announced that because of a lack of funds, due to the loss of Samsung as a naming rights sponsor for the AACTA Awards, some categories were either merged or removed from the 2014 Awards. This included the award for Best Television Comedy Series which was merged with the Best Light Entertainment Television Series prize, under the name Best Television Comedy or Light Entertainment Series. However, AACTA announced that it will split the category, and Best Television Comedy Series will be given as a stand-alone award once again for the 2015 presentation. The AACTA Award for Best Television Comedy Series is given to the producer of the winning production. To be eligible for nomination, the program must be a

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

or sketch series, with no less than four substantially scripted episodes, no more than one hour in length. Each episode must contain either a "continuing story with an ongoing plot and characters" or "a series of unrelated sketches." ''

Review with Myles Barlow ''Review with Myles Barlow'' is an Australian satirical black comedy television series which screened on Thursday nights on ABC2 and Friday nights on ABC 1. The series began screening on 16 October 2008. It is co-written and directed by Trent O' ...

'', ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

'' and ''

The Letdown ''The Letdown'' is an Australian television comedy series first screened on the ABC in 2016. It follows the adventures of Audrey, including her struggles as a new mum in an oddball mothers' group. The title is a play on the word ''letdown'', wh ...

'' have earned two awards, more than any other program. Selin Yaman and

John Safran , citizenship = , education = , occupation = DocumentarianJournalistRadio presenterAuthor , years_active = 1997 – present , known_for = ''John Safran's Music Jamboree'' ''John Safran vs God'' ''Race ...

are the most awarded producers with two wins, and Nicole Minchin,

Adam Zwar Adam Zwar (born 13 January 1972) is an Australian actor, voice artist, and writer. He is best known for co-creating the Australian comedy series '' Squinters'', '' Lowdown'', '' Wilfred'' and creating the critically acclaimed Channel 10 comedy ...

Robyn Butler Robyn Butler is an Australian writer, actress and producer who is best known for her starring role in the television comedy series '' The Librarians''. Butler hosted a radio program called ''Tough Love'' on the Triple M network. She is married to ...

and

Wayne Hope Wayne Hope is an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer. Career Television Hope's acting career began in 1996, when he appeared on ''The Glynn Nicholas Show''. Some of his acting roles have been in the following shows: *'' The Gly ...

have received the most nominations with four each.

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years listed correspond to the year that the television programme aired on Australian television; the ceremonies are usually held the following year. The television series whose name is emphasised in boldface and highlighted in yellow has won the award. Those that are neither highlighted nor in bold are the nominees. When sorted chronologically, the table always lists the winning program first and then the other nominees. (User must click on the appropriate decades to access the winners and nominees of each year.)

References

;Further reading * * {{Australian Film Institute Awards C Australian comedy awards Awards established in 2003

Winners and nominees

See also

References