Golden Globes Did Good... For TV, At Least

Over this decade, the Golden Globes has always been somewhat hit or miss when it comes to the ceremony. When it works, you have Tina Fey and Amy Poehler making us dance for joy; when it doesn’t you have Ricky Gervais doing… whatever the hell he does. Unfortunately, the presence of Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh came closer to the latter than the former.  Considering how good a job Samberg did hosting the Emmys a few years back, this is a huge disappointment. It seemed as if they were trying to say every uncomfortable thing possible, and it is telling that Poehler and Maya Rudolph generated more laughs in their five minutes than Samberg and Oh did in three hours plus.

For all that, thought, I’m inclined to be forgiving. For one thing, a lot of more of my predictions came true than I usually get, and for another, I generally was satisfied with those predictions. I think I practically leapt into orbit when The Americans won Best Drama. From that point on, the Globes could do no wrong, even when they did.

Sandra Oh was a dreadful host, but she almost made up for it in her exceptional speech when she deservedly won for Best Actress in a Drama for Killing Eve. Indeed, the Globes spread the love a lot this year, not just among series – the most any show won was two – but among services. Netflix and FX were the biggest winners with three trophies apiece, and I think the FX choices were far superior than the ones that Netflix gave out.

Maybe I was just shocked that The Kominsky Method did as well as it did. I have yet to get around to seeing it, but I never thought Michael Douglas had a chance in the Best Actor in a Comedy category. And it was rather shocking to see Chuck Lorre, who has become known almost more for the controversy surrounding his shows than for the often high quality, to actually seem gracious and overwhelmed when he won. I wonder how Charlie Sheen feels.

My greatest satisfaction came with the majority of the awards for TV Movie/Limited Series. The Assassination of Gianni Versace more than deserved to triumph over a strong field, as did Darren Criss. But it was also good to see Patricia Arquetter triumph for his radical work in Escape from Dannemora, (and it was cool to see Ben Stiller be there to give it to her) and Patricia Clarkson also emerge triumph for her strong work in Sharp Objects. Both are among the greatest character actresses working today, and I hope this is a sign of things to come. I’ll reserve judgment on Ben Whislaw’s triumph for A Very English Scandal until I see it, which should take too long.

And I was beyond overjoyed to learned that finally, the Golden Globes has decided to show the way, and give a Lifetime Achievement Award for people who in television. It is just as fitting that it should be named for Carol Burnett, one of television and entertainment’s greatest light. (Had they come to their senses earlier, they could’ve named it for Mary Tyler Moore, who had even greater success, but that’s just a sour grapes.) Burnett gave an amusing and powerful speech, about how lucky she was to work at the right time, and that it would be unlikely for a series like The Carol Burnett Show to get made today. “Thank God for re-runs and You-tube,” indeed. And yes I know, this will probably mean the Golden Globes will run an extra fifteen minutes each year, but frankly, I don’t care. Television has been long overdue for getting recognized as an art form. It is our solemn duty to recognize our ‘precious television heritage’ whenever possible. We need to remember the greats and immortals while they are still with us. Are the Golden Globes the ideal forum for it? I’d have preferred the Kennedy Center, but this will do. I just hope there is an audience to appreciate it.

See you in a couple of days when I discuss the Broadcast Critics.