Greg Berlanti is the latest television heavyweight to land the Paley Center for Media's top prize. The center will present him with the Paley Honors Award, its highest recognition, at the 2026 Paley Honors Fall Gala on Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Beverly Wilshire, Variety and Deadline reported. More honorees will be named later.
The award recognizes people whose contributions have had a lasting effect on the media industry. "A visionary creative force, Greg has helped shape the television landscape," said Maureen J. Reidy, the center's president and CEO, in a statement.
Three decades of television
Berlanti first rose to prominence as showrunner of Dawson's Creek and went on to create or produce a long list of series, including Everwood, Brothers & Sisters, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Blindspot, Riverdale, All American, You and, more recently, Brilliant Minds. His superhero slate spans Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl. Deadline credited his inclusion of diverse and LGBTQ+ characters with reshaping how television represents people.
Two new series are on deck: How to Survive Without Me and Afterlife with Archie.
The Paley prize adds to a growing shelf. Berlanti has received the Emmy Governors Award and the Producers Guild's Norman Lear Achievement Award, was named to Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020, and is a Golden Globe nominee. He also founded the Berlanti Family Foundation, which Deadline said has raised millions of dollars for charities, nonprofits and cancer research.
Past honorees
Last year's honorees included Reba McEntire, writer-producer Bill Lawrence and Ynon Kreiz, then chairman and CEO of Mattel and now co-CEO of Skydance, according to Variety.
Reporting sources: Variety, “Greg Berlanti to Receive the Paley Center for Media’s Honors Award at Its Fall Gala” · Deadline, “Greg Berlanti To Receive The Paley Center Honors Award”.