Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted Kicks Off Today; 22 Top Nonfiction Programs In Awards-Season Spotlight

Fair warning to certain right-wing politicians. Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted virtual event, which kicks off its 2023 edition Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. PT, will feature the appearance of … (dramatic pause) … drag queens. Miss Isabelle Brooks and Luxx Noir London are among the RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants joining us to talk about Season 15 of the MTV unscripted series. Not only that, but Grammy-winning recording artist Lizzo – an ally of the LGBTQ+ community who boldly invited several RuPaul’s Drag Race all-stars onto the stage at her recent Nashville concert — is also coming by to spill the tea on her HBO Max film Love, Lizzo, which documents her Cuz I Love You world tour. 

Click here to sign up for and launch today’s livestream.

In a time of book banning, furor over how history is taught, and pearl-clutching over queens, count on Deadline as your uncensored guide to the most significant Emmy-contending documentary and unscripted content this awards season. The filmmaking team behind Prime Video’s Judy Blume Forever is primed to talk about the famed YA author whose work has triggered bans and censorship skirmishes for over 50 years now. The executive producers and cast of Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter, meanwhile, will tell us about their celebration of an entertainment legend who practically invented controversial comedy. 

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Nikole Hannah-Jones, host and executive producer of The 1619 Project, is set for a panel on the Hulu series based on her Pulitzer Prize-winning exploration of the legacy of slavery in America. When the New York Times published the original print version in 2019 it touched off the virulent debate over critical race theory, with even then-President Trump weighing in to blast the series as “toxic propaganda.” 

Along with hot-button content, Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted shines a spotlight on films and series about some of the most incredible figures in popular culture, past and present. The Apple TV+ film Sidney explores the impact of the extraordinary Sidney Poitier; Ethan Hawke joins us to talk about his six-part CNN Films/HBO Max documentary series The Last Movie Stars, about the iconic couple Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Director Davis Guggenheim will tell us about his moving Apple TV+ film Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, and Brooke Shields will offer revelations about her deeply personal ABC News Studios documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. Filmmaker Ryan White will disclose what surprised him most making his documentary about former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson in the Netflix doc Pamela, A Love Story. Alek Keshishian, who directed the groundbreaking 1991 documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare, turns his focus to another pop star and actress in the revelatory Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me from Apple TV+. And Elton John and David Furnish head down the Yellow Brick Road to talk Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium

For even more star power, we’ve got narrator and EP Amy Poehler on her Peacock unscripted series The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, Chris Hemsworth and EP Darren Aronofsky on their National Geographic series Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, and Seth Meyers on his Emmy-nominated Late Night with Seth MeyersThe Daily Show with Trevor Noah’s showrunner and other key talent will come by Contenders for a panel on Noah’s final year hosting the late-night comedy franchise. Golf champ Rickie Fowler and the executive producers behind Netflix’s Full Swing tee up a discussion of their eye-opening docuseries shot during the most turbulent year in the history of professional golf. 

A remarkable roster of platforms, networks and cable channels are represented today: ABC and ABC News Studios; Apple TV+, CNN Films, Comedy Central, Fox, HBO Max, Hulu, National Geographic, NBC, Netflix, Peacock, Prime Video, and VH1. 

Check out the lineup for our virtual livestream below, and follow Deadline’s written panel coverage all day on the site and on social using the hashtag #DeadlineContenders. Check back Monday too when we launch the streaming site hosting all the panel videos.

Contenders TV Docs + Unscripted 2023

Virtual livestream; order of show and times approximate; all times PT

9 a.m. – Livestream begins

PEACOCK

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

Amy Poehler (Narrator/EP)
Kate Arend (EP)
David Collins (EP)

The Traitors

Alan Cumming (Host/Producer)
Toni Ireland (EP)
Cirie Fields (Contestant/Winner)

Would it Kill You to Laugh? Starring Kate Berlant + John Early

Kate Berlant (Writer/Actor/EP)
John Early (Writer/Actor/EP)

DISNEY+

Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium

Elton John (EP)
David Furnish (EP)
Ben Winston (EP)

NETFLIX

Sr.

Chris Smith (Director/Cinematographer)

Pamela: A Love Story

Ryan White (Director/Producer)

Full Swing

Rickie Fowler (Subject)
Chad Mumm (EP)
Paul Martin (EP)

HBO MAX

Love, Lizzo

Lizzo (EP/Subject)
Doug Pray (Director/Editor/Producer)

Menudo: Forever Young

Angel Manuel Soto (Co-Director/EP)
Kristofer Rios (Co-Director/Co-EP)

APPLE TV+

Sidney

Reginald Hudlin (Director/EP)
Derik Murray (Producer)

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Davis Guggenheim (Director/Producer)

Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me

Alek Keshishian (Co-Writer/Director/Producer)

12:23-12:53 p.m. – LUNCH

PRIME VIDEO

Judy Blume Forever

Davina Pardo (Co-Director/Producer)
Leah Wolchok (Co-Director/Producer)
Sara Bernstein (Producer)

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Limitless with Chris Hemsworth

Chris Hemsworth (Host/EP)
Darren Aronofsky (Co-Creator/Writer/EP)

ABC NEWS STUDIOS

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields

Brooke Shields (Subject)
Lana Wilson (Director)

NBC

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers (Host/Writer/Producer)

CNN FILMS/HBO MAX

The Last Movie Stars

Ethan Hawke (Director)
Adam Gibbs (Producer)
Ryan Hawke (Producer)
Emily Wachtel (Producer)
Lisa Long Adler (Producer)

ABC

Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter

Emily Hampshire (Actor)
Justina Machado (Actor)
Brent Miller (EP)

MTV

RuPaul’s Drag Race

Sasha Colby (Drag Queen)
Anetra (Drag Queen)
Luxx Noir London (Drag Queen)
Mistress Isabelle Brooks (Drag Queen)

FOX

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test

Hannah Brown (Recruit)
Carli Lloyd (Recruit)
Kenya Moore (Recruit)

HULU

The 1619 Project

Nikole Hannah-Jones (Host/EP)
Shoshana Guy (Showrunner/EP)

COMEDY CENTRAL

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

Jen Flanz (Writer/Showrunner/EP)
David Kibuuka (Supervising Producer/Writer)
Roy Wood Jr (Correspondent)

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