PGA Awards: ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ would only be 2nd made-for-TV musician biopic to win

Matthew Stewart
·3 min read
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In 2019, the Best TV Movie and Best Limited Series PGA Awards categories were introduced as replacements for a consolidated one that had existed since 1995. Prior to the split, the organization honored 12 telefilms, almost all of which are based on true stories. Of the few proper biopics in that group, only 2013’s “Behind the Candelabra” – which stars Michael Douglas as Liberace – focuses on the life of a musician. Now, after nearly a decade, the HBO movie is expected to gain some company in that distinction since The Roku Channel’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is the odds-on favorite to take this year’s made-for-TV movie prize.

Naturally, “Weird” differs significantly from a typical biopic in that it parodies the genre’s traditional formula at every turn. Al Yankovic, who co-wrote the script with director Eric Appel, gets across the main beats of the story of his career beginnings while taking increasingly outlandish liberties, eventually resulting in an absurdly hilarious yet uniquely honest audiovisual memoir. Daniel Radcliffe stars as a 20-something Yankovic in the early 1980s, while the stacked supporting cast includes Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna, Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento, Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey and Jack Black as Wolfman Jack.

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A 60% majority of Gold Derby users who have logged their PGA Awards predictions have gotten behind “Weird” as this year’s likeliest Best TV Movie winner. Hulu’s “Predator” prequel, “Prey,” is in a solid second place with 34% of the top choice votes, while “Fire Island,” “Hocus Pocus 2” and “Disney’s Pinocchio” share the remaining 6%. Any of them would follow “Fahrenheit 451” (2019), “Apollo: Missions to the Moon” (2020), “Hamilton” (2021) and “Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free” (2022) as the fifth recipient of this specific award.

Aside from “Behind the Candelabra,” the other fact-based telefilms that conquered the now-defunct Best Long-form Program category are “Game Change” (2013), “Grey Gardens” (2010), “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” (2008), “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers” (2006), “Live from Baghdad” (2003), “Tuesdays with Morrie” (2000), “Miss Evers’ Boys” (1998) and “Truman” (1996). In 28 years, only four TV movies centered on real-life musicians have received PGA nominations, with the remaining two being “Phil Spector” (2014) and “Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows” (2002).

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“Weird” received a boost in its PGA Award odds after the Critics Choice Association named it the best TV movie of the year and rewarded Radcliffe’s performance. It has also racked up key nominations from the Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and American Cinema Editors, the last two of which are still pending. Based on this display of across-the-board admiration, it surely hasn’t finished winning yet.

The 34th annual PGA Awards will be handed out on Saturday, February 25 during a non-televised ceremony in Beverly Hills, California.

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