You might be unaware
(and unless you regularly read my column or spend a lot of time in awards
circles we can forget the ‘might be’) that the Golden Globes has been
undergoing, shall we say, a bit of controversy so far this decade. In 2021,
like most awards shows, it was done entirely on Zoom; in 2022 so much outcry
came from celebrities about the judges behavior it took place but wasn’t even
broadcast; in 2023 it returned to TV and tried to ignore the controversy,
something host Jerrod Carmichael dismantled with his opening monologue and in
the lead up to 2024, the HFPA, the organization behind completely dissolved and
it was re-established with a new group of voters. The only change people might
have noticed, if they did at all, was that it now airs on CBS rather than NBC.
I’ve been dismayed by
this because, regardless of all of the agita or scandals as long as I’ve been a
critics . The Golden Globes have, in my opinion, done a far superior job with
its nominations and awards for TV then the Emmys have, at least until fairly
recently. In the era of Peak they have recognized such landmark dramas as Six
Feet Under, The Shield, Boardwalk Empire and The Americans with
prizes for Best Drama, something the Emmys never did. They’ve also nominated
many series and actors from such undervalued dramas as In Treatment, Big
Love and Nip/Tuck to mention
just the most obvious omissions by the Emmys over the years. Their record with
comedy is not quite as outstanding but they did recognize Glee, Weeds and
The Kominsky Method. And without them leading the way I would not have
watched such brilliant series as Ramy, Transparent or Marvelous Mrs.
Maisel. Until the Critics’ Choice Awards came along – and indeed quite a
bit after – they have always been a guiding light for me as a critic and I will
always be grateful to them for that.
And I need to be very
clear: regardless of all of the endless behind the scenes trouble, they’ve
still been doing a masterful job when it comes to recognizing the best
television series and performers over the last four years. I may not have been
able to see them in 2022 but that didn’t mean I didn’t still respect the
overall they’ve been doing that year and the last two. So I’m hoping, now that
we’re officially two years out from all of the agitation that the Globes can
finally get a clean slate. I’ve always been willing to view their nominations
for TV strictly on the merits and I will keep doing so this year.
All of which is a
roundabout way of saying that the nominations were today and I have very little
problem with the ones for television. Furthermore with these awards and the
Critics Choice Awards, I believe the constant viewer of television may be able
to get a clear picture of what will likely be among the contenders for Emmy
nominations this summer, even at this early state.
So let’s get started.
BEST TV DRAMA
As with the Critics
Choice Awards, the only common nominee with 2024 is The Diplomat. Three
of the other nominees – The Day of the Jackal, Shogun and Slow Horses
– were also nominated by the Critics Choice Awards and in the last case, it
received more recognition then from the Critics.
Where the Globes are
superior this year, in my opinion, is their recognition of Mr. and Mrs. Smith
with three nominations. Most shocking is that for the first time in as long
as I can remember, there is not a single drama from HBO among the six nominees.
(The sixth nominee is Squid Game.) HBO is represented in many other
categories but for the first time since The Sopranos debuted it is nowhere
to be found in any of the drama categories. I suspect this will change next year
when the majority of the HBO powerhouses, such as Last of Us and White
Lotus return, but it is striking – and encouraging in an odd way.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A
MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA
The only commonalities
between the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards are Hiroyuki Sanada and
Eddie Redmayne. Some of their choices are improvements over the Golden Globes –
Gary Oldman for Slow Horses, Donald Glover for Mr. and Mrs. Smith and
Jake Gyllenhaal deserves to be here for Presumed Innocent.
However Billy Bob Thornton’s
inclusion over Jeff Bridges for The Old Man strikes me as a major
blunder. Rufus Sewell would be a far better choice than Thornton.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A
FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Four of the six
nominees in this category are among the Critics’ Choice nominees – Kathy Bates,
Keira Knightley, Keri Russell and Anna Sawai. I’m inclined to think Maya Erskine
is a better choice that Catriona Balfe and Emma D’Arcy has been here before for
House of The Dragon. No Shanola Hampton, but honestly she would have
been a long shot.
OUTSTANDING COMEDY
SERIES
The biggest difference
between the two groups is that the Globes have no problem with Season 3 of The
Bear. Indeed it is the most nominated show in any category with five nominations.
Whether this is out of laziness or whether the Critics Choice were the anomaly
remains to be seen.
Abbott Elementary, Hacks,
Nobody Wants This and
Only Murders in the Building are not surprises but The Gentlemen is
– I honestly thought Palm Royale or The English Teacher would be
nominated ahead of it but neither show is anywhere to be found here. Oh well.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A
MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Adam Brody, Steve
Martin and Martin Short were among the Critics Choice nominees and few would be
surprised to see Jeremy Allan White here. I’m actually inclined to give more credit
to the Globes for this group: Jason Segel should have been recognized instead
of Kayan Novak for his work on Shrinking and as much as I love David
Alan Grier, Ted Danson deserves recognition for his work on Man on the
Inside.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A
FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Quinta Brunson and Jean
Smart are hardly a shock. Neither is Kristen Bell or Ayo Edebiri. I’m irked not
to see Bridget Everett but that is overcome by the presence of Selena Gomez and
the wondrous Kathryn Hahn for Agatha All Along. Trust me, I’ll get to
that eventually too.
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
Five of the six
nominees deserve to be here: Baby Reindeer, Ripley and Night Country from
the previous year; Disclaimer and The Penguin from the one to
come. I’ll be honest Monsters was more likely to be here then any of the
other three nominated series from the Critics Choice, so no notes.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A
MALE ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES
No real notes. Colin
Farrell, Richard Gadd, Kevin Kline and Andrew Scott were certain to be here and
I honestly didn’t expect Ewan McGregor to be here for Gentleman in
Moscow. Is it odd Cooper Koch is here for Monsters and Tom Hollander
isn’t included? A little.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE
ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES
Cate Blanchett, Jodie
Foster, Cristin Milioti and Naomi Watts were honored by the Critics’ Choice Awards
and honestly I expected that Sofia Vergara would be here: she made more sense
then the other two nominees by the Critics Choice. I suspect Kate Winslet is
here less out of great admiration for The Regime then the Golden Globes
habits of double honoring its actors (she’s nominated for Best Actress in Lee.)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A
MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION
Issues with combining
all three major categories aside many of the nominees make more sense than the
Critics Choice. Harrison Ford absolutely should have been nominated for Shrinking,
Jack Lowden should have been nominated for Slow Horses. Tadanobu Asano
and Ebon Moss-Bachrach deserved their nominations.
As for the two
representatives of Limited Series I do have some issues. I’m not so much
opposed to Javier Bardem for his work in Monsters but how the hell do
they nominate Diego Luna for La Maquinna over, among many better choices,
Robert Downey Jr. and Treat Williams? Seriously Golden Globes, start separating the
supporting performance categories next time. We’ve talked about this.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A
FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION
No notes here as all
six actresses more than deserve to be nominated: Hannah Einbinder and Liza
Colon Zayas for the comedies; Alison Janney for the dramas, and Dakota Fanning,
Jessica Gunning and Kali Reis for the Limited Series.
MOST GLARING OMISSIONS
I will confess it is
strange to see Squid Game here with no other nominations as well as The
Gentlemen when say Shrinking is among the comedy nominees and Presumed
Innocent among the dramas for acting awards. It is also striking to see nothing for The
English Teacher and The Old Man ignored completely. I will admit I’m
slightly surprised (but not much) that Capote Vs. The Swans was almost entirely
ignored in favor of Monsters. No more than one Ryan Murphy show at a
time I guess.
And I will admit to
being stunned as to how much love was given The Bear after all of the
mixed reviews for Season 3. The last thing I expected was for it to be the
leading nominee. Part of me wonders if this less the overall caliber of the
series this season and more the occasional pattern of the Globes for nominating
the same show excessive year in and year out despite its overall quality (Sex
and The City and Will & Grace were the biggest ‘beneficiaries’
from these habits.)
Still overall the
Globes met their usually high standard and if it was not quite at the level of
the Critics Choice overall, there were occasions where it outshone it. I look
forward to trying to predict the winners which I will try to do the first week
of January. See you then.
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