Hatfields & McCoys wins Best TV Movie/Miniseries in Channel Guide’s 2012 Viewer’s Voice Awards

Kevin Costner in Hatfields & McCoysWho knew an epic — and deadly — American feud could inspire so much love? But we’re hardly surprised, when it’s captured in a viewing experience as well-crafted and impeccably cast as History’s spring miniseries, which landed 16 Emmy nominations and scored the statuettes in five of them, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for  Kevin Costner, who starred as William Hatfield.

Costner told Channel Guide that he sees his character as much more than a footnote to history, but also as an entrepreneur, father and veteran who tried to befriend Randall McCoy (played by Bill Paxton). “I wanted to do this story,” Costner said, adding he didn’t care if it was for TV or movie theaters. “I didn’t care what the format was.”

“The story of the Hatfields and the McCoys is not who was right and who was wrong,” surmises the project’s executive producer Leslie Greif, who had the film on his radar for more than 30 years. “These were two men who were trying to lead their families.”

Best TV Movie/Miniseries — Winner: Hatfields & McCoys

Hatfields & McCoys/History 47%
Political Animals/USA Network 30%
Drew Peterson: Untouchable/Lifetime 14%
Hemingway & Gellhorn/HBO 9%

Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.

Check out our complete list of 2012 Viewers Voice Award winners!

Channel Guide Magazine, the only monthly print and online publication dedicated to making finding what to watch on TV fast and entertaining, published the ballot for its first-annual Viewer’s Voice Awards in August 2012. Fans across the country cast their votes for the best and worst in cable TV in a variety of unusual categories.

Hatfields and McCoys Kevin Costner photo: Credit: Kevin Lynch/History Channel