CBC and HBO Max’s groundbreaking TV show “Sort Of” has won a coveted Peabody Award.
The prestigious American awards are given to television, radio and online programs that “powerfully reflect the pressing social issues and the vibrant emerging voices of our day.” Thirty winners are chosen every year across all categories.
“Sort Of,” a dramedy co-created by Fab Filippo and Bilal Baig, explores life at the intersection of identities. Baig stars as Sabi, a gender-fluid millennial learning how to navigate their own gender and sexuality while also positioning themselves within the world at large.
Sabi works as a nanny for a well-to-do family in Toronto but has dreams of moving to Berlin with their best friend. “Sort Of” follows Sabi as they grapple with growing up and settling into an identity of “in between” as events beyond their control throw their life into the hands of fate.
According to CBC, Baig is the first non-binary lead character on Canadian TV, and Baig is the first queer South Asian, Muslim actor to star in a Canadian prime-time TV series.
A representative from CBC said the show “unapologetically represents and pushes against the walls of under-representation on TV to create space for queer people of color across Canada.”
A press release from the Peabody Awards said “Sort Of” was selected “for its blazingly original comedic sensibility and its tender portrait of a queer non-binary individual embracing the multitudes they contain within.”
“Sort Of” won three Canadian Screen Awards this year, including best comedy series. CBC has renewed it for a second season, which is expected to be released later this year.
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