2012 Genesis Awards – winners

The Humane Society of the United States presented its 26th annual Genesis Awards last night at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California at a ceremony hosted by "Dancing With the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba. The Genesis Awards are given in recognition of the major news and entertainment media for producing outstanding works that raise public awareness about animal issues.

The winner for Feature Film nominees was Rupert Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes for its examination of the ethics of animal testing on chimps. It was competing against Charles Martin Smith's Dolphin Tale, Carlos Saldanha's Rio and Steven Spielberg's War Horse.

For Documentary, winner was David Lickley's IMAX feature Born to be Wild 3D about the rehabilitation of baby elephants and orangutans orphaned by poachers. It had been up against Buck by Cindy Meehl, and One Lucky Elephant by Lisa Leeman.

The Colbert Report won the Sid Caesar Comedy Award for the second year in a row. The winner for TV drama was Hawaii Five-0. Other television winners included The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Gordon Ramsay, Shark Bait which examined the issue of shark finning.

The 26th Genesis Awards celebrity presenters and attendees included Kaley Cuoco, Bill Maher, Colbie Caillat, Ke$ha, Jason Ritter, Sophia Bush, Kristin Bauer van Straten, John Bernthal, Rose McGowan, Wendie Malick, Moby, Cloris Leachman, Fiona Gubelmann, Penelope Ann Miller, Pauley Perrette, Michael Vartan, Wilmer Valderrama, and Uggie.

The awards ceremony will air as a one-hour TV special on Animal Planet on May 5.

Nominees for the 26th annual Genesis Awards

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Complete list of winners for the 26th annual Genesis Awards

Feature Film
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Twentieth Century Fox/Chernin Entertainment

Feature Documentary
Born to be Wild 3D, Warner Bros. Pictures, IMAX Corporation

Sid Caesar Comedy Award
The Colbert Report, multiple issues, Comedy Central

Dramatic Series
Hawaii Five-0, "Lapa’au", CBS

Children's Programming – Teen
Nick News With Linda Ellerbee, "Dangerous Crossroads: Human Animal vs. Wild Animal", Nickelodeon

Children's Programming – Pre-School
Sid the Science Kid, "Save the Stump!", PBS Kids

TV Newsmagazine
20/20, egg farm cruelty, ABC

National News
NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams, multiple issues

Local News Feature
KTLA NEWS AT 10 (Los Angeles), multiple issues

Local News Series
KTNV-TV (Las Vegas), "LOLAA Kennel"

Morning News Show
Today, multiple issues from Jill Rappaport, NBC

Talk Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, multiple issues

TV Documentary/Special
Gordon Ramsay, Shark Bait, BBC America

Reality Series
Animal Planet Investigates: Captive Hunting Exposed

Brigitte Bardot International
Kopi Luwak/Ethical Consumerism, Carte Blanche M-Net South Africa

Magazine
Vanity Fair, "Agony and Ivory" by Alex Shoumatoff

Series of Newspaper Articles
McClatchy Newspapers, Chris Adams

Online Award
TheAtlantic.com, multiple articles on wild horses by Andrew Cohen

Brigitte Bardot International Print
The Independent (UK), multiple articles by Martin Hickman

William Wilberforce Award
Prism, "A Call to Compassion from Our Brothers the Animals" by Kendra Langdon Juskus

The Wyler Award
Ian Somerhalder, Ian Somerhalder Foundation

International Humanitarian Award
Pritish Nandy