Before I continue,
a reminder. Those of you who have read my columns may remember that I have spent
quite some time advocating for at least two sets of Supporting Awards; one set
for Limited Series/TV Movie and one for Drama and Comedy. I’ve actually been
pressing like this well beyond the time I began posting on Medium. So the fact is,
the realization of this dream in the 2022 Golden Globes fill me with an
inordinate amount of personal satisfaction. Perhaps this is not the kind of
change that Hollywood was looking for when the HFPA was placed under intense scrutiny
the previous year, and I don’t pretend it begins to solve the structural
problems. But as someone who knows just how much pressing it takes for the
Golden Globes to create a new award at all, this is progress. And for TV
in general, it’s a step in the right direction.
OUTSTANDING
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA OR COMEDY
A category filled
with veteran actors. Even Tyler James Williams has been acting for more than
fifteen years. And much as I would love to see him triumph here, I think it’s
going to be an actor with some variation of the name John.
John Lithgow has
done exceedingly well in the Golden Globes in the past, having already won twice,
once in the Supporting Actor category
for Dexter. However, I think this award will come down to the two other
Johns: Turturro for Severance and Pryce for The Crown. There is
much to recommend either actor. Pryce is the third actor to take on a role that
two other men have been nominated for Emmys for, and Turturro has been one of
the best actors working in the industry for nearly forty years. Both are long
overdue recognition from any awards show; both are among the most versatile
character actors in history. It is a very close call. My personal preference is
for Pryce, simply because I like The Crown more than Severance, and
because as great as Turturro is, there are any number of his co-stars (including
Christopher Walken) who could just as be here. But Turturro has been robbed of
awards from the Emmys far more often, most recently when he was ignored for a
nomination in the superb limited series The Plot Against America. I think he pulls it off by an eyelash, but
there really aren’t any bad choices here.
Should Win:
Pryce.
Will Win: Turturro.
OUTSTANDING
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA OR COMEDY
I will not
pretend to be overjoyed to see Julia Garner here for Ozark instead of
Rhea Seehorn for Better Call Saul, even though it was the last chance
for either of them and neither ever received a nomination in this category.
Still, the remainder of the choices are all ones I would love to see win. And
much as I’d love to see Hannah Einbinder take the prize for Hacks or Elizabeth
Debicki for The Crown, I think ultimately one of the women from Abbott
will prevail.
Last year, I made
the mistake of thinking that Janelle James priceless Ava would manage to
triumph over Sheryl Lee Ralph: despite the similar levels of their magnificent performances,
James is more of a scene stealer than Ralph who is just effortlessly brilliant. Now, of course, I want Ralph to win every
single award going forward, if only to see what song she’ll sing next time and
how much she’ll bring the house down. That may be the only reason I’m glad
Seehorn isn’t here – now I can root for Ralph with a clear conscience.
Should Win/Will
Win: Ralph (and again, all good choices.)
Now, let’s move
on to Limited Series/TV Movie or Special (they might start considering eliminating
the last two parts, when was the last time any actor from any of the other two
were nominated for anything? Write in if you remember.)
BEST LIMITED
SERIES, TV MOVIE OR SPECIAL
Very easy choice.
As great as The Dropout is and as much potential as Black Bird has,
it’s The White Lotus in a landslide. At this point, I don’t have to make
any arguments in favor of its quality overall any more, so let’s just add this;
last year, for reasons that boggle the mind the Golden Globes did not nominate
the show for Best Limited Series or practically anything else. (Then again,
neither the Critics’ Choice nor they didn’t do it this year, either so…we’ll
deal with that next week.) At this point, it’s hard to think of anyone on the
show lacking anything resembling gold, but The White Lotus still is. I
think that will change on Tuesday.
Should Win/Will
Win: The White Lotus.
BEST ACTOR IN A
LIMITED SERIES, TV MOVIE OR SPECIAL
This is an
interesting group, with three major nominees from series that the Emmys
fundamentally shut out in 2022, one nominee that is a controversial choice
(Evan Peters is a fine actor, but there’s a lot of animosity towards Dahmer as
a whole) and Taron Egerton from Black Bird.
While the Globes do tend to look backwards as much as they do
forwards, I’m going to consider that they will more likely look towards the
future.
I will give the
barest of edges to Egerton, partially because he has a good history with the
Globes (he won Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy for Rocketman for playing
Elton John) and his work in Black Bird is generally brilliant. As a man
in hell trying to get the truth from a man who does nothing but lie, facing horrors
everywhere he looks, he makes you root for him even though its hard to like
him.
Should Win:
Egerton.
Will Win: Egerton
(?)
BEST ACTRESS IN A
LIMITED SERIES, TV MOVIE OR SPECIAL
By contrast, the
Golden Globes will look back in this category, mainly because most of
the more impressive performances were given in the previous year. And much as I’d
like to see Julia Roberts take the prize for Best Actress, I think we all know
who it’s going to.
Amanda Seyfried
is on her awards show tour, just like Kate Winslet was last year for Mare of
Easttown and Michelle Williams two years before that for Fosse/Verdon. And
considering that it is one of the great performances of 2022, considering that
the actual Elizabeth Holmes has recently been sentenced for fraud, and
considering that even with this series, we’re still no closer to understanding
Homes – but slightly more to empathizing her – Seyfried takes this in a walk.
OUTSTANDING
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES, TV MOVIE OR SPECIAL
Much as I would
like to see Domhnall Gleason prevail for his fascinating work in The Patient
since he is the only nominee for the Series the Golden Globes has given, I
think he’s out. I think it will come down to two choices: F. Murray Abraham,
for his magnificently comic work as paterfamilias of the Grasso clan in The
White Lotus or Paul Walter Hauser for his superbly unsettling study as a
serial killer in Black Bird.
Both performances
have much to recommend them. Abraham’s is the more enjoyable and rollicking,
Hauser’s the more measured and fascinating. Abraham overplays without quite
hamming it up; Hauser is so soft spoken (and oh, that voice) that he almost
blends into the scene, which is remarkable considering how massive he is. I
think, at the end of the day, the Globes will go for Hauser, mainly because he
accomplishes something almost unheard of in the era of television: he plays a
monster who even when he tells the world what he's done, they don’t believe
him. And someone who almost got away with it but didn’t is more frightening
than someone who got away with it and was caught.
Should Win: Gleason.
Will Win: Hauser.
OUTSTANDING
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES, TV MOVIE OR SPECIAL
I admit, I’m prejudiced
here. I want Aubrey Plaza to win because she gave a great performance in The
White Lotus and because, you know, she’s Aubrey Plaza. I’ve long since given
up at marveling what she can’t do because she finds a way to do it. But let’s
not kid ourselves, we all know who’s winning in this category.
We love Jennifer
Coolidge as Tanya. We loved her after she won the Emmy last year. We loved her
in Season 2 even though we already knew we shouldn’t and she kept giving us
more reasons not to. Hell, she died like
an idiot at the end of Season 2, and we got pissed at Mike White for killing
her off. Because we love Jennifer Coolidge. And considering that the Golden Globe
was basically the only award she didn’t win on her march to the Emmy
last year (except the SAG award, but that’s another mess), we all know she’s
going to win it this year. And I want to hear her give another speech. I’ll
settle for them giving the Emmy to Aubrey Plaza.
Should Win: Plaza.
Will Win: Coolidge.
Well, the awards
are happening Tuesday. I will get to them next week – you know, between my
Critics Choice predictions and the SAG nominations and everything else. Like I
said, there will be a lot of drama on Tuesday night – and much of it will
probably have nothing to do with the winners and losers.
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