Golden Globes, Part II: The Picks

Today I pick the eventual winners, and who should win, for the Golden Globe awards, to be broadcast on Jan. 15.

I'll stick with TV, since Keith Demko already made his movies picks over at Reel Fanatic, so check those out.

(I will say I hope "Thank You For Smoking" sweeps.)

The Golden Globes are certainly interesting in their nominees, to say the least. Forest Whitaker may win Best Actor for his movie role in "The Last King of Scotland," but didn't get nominated for his electrifying work on "The Shield." Helen Mirren has a shot at winning two Globes, both Best Actress in a movie ("The Queen") and in a Miniseries/TV movie (she faces off against herself in "Prime Suspect 7" and "Elizabeth I").

As always, there are plenty of deserving people left off (they wouldn't be if I ruled the universe, more is the pity that I don't) and a few less-than-deserving who are included.

BEST DRAMA: Nominees - "24," "Big Love," "Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes" and "Lost."
What should win: "Heroes," TV's best new show, bar none.
What will win: "Grey's," TV's most popular show, bar none.
Comments: How can you include "Big Love" and leave off "The Shield," "Rescue Me," "Battlestar Galactica" and "House?" Friggin' foreign press association!

BEST COMEDY: "Desperate Housewives," "Entourage," "The Office," "Ugly Betty," "Weeds."
What should win/will win: "The Office." Long live Dunder Mifflin.
Comments: If "Ugly Betty" pulls off an upset here, I won't be disappointed. If "DH" pulls one off, I demand that the foreign press be shipped back to France, toute suite!

BEST MINISERIES/MOVIE: "Bleak House," "Broken Trail," "Elizabeth I," "Mrs. Harris," "Prime Suspect."
What should win: "Prime Suspect." Helen Mirren's final bow as Jane Tennison was four of the best hours TV had to offer.
What will win: "Elizabeth I." Voters like those well-done historical dramas. Someone ought to do one on the battle of Hastings. Hey, that's a good idea!
Comments: As long as the person beating Helen Mirren is Helen Mirren, what do I care?

ACTOR, DRAMA: Patrick Dempsey; Michael C. Hall, Hugh Laurie, Bill Paxton, Kiefer Sutherland.
Who should win: Out of this group, please, Laurie in a no-contest vote.
Who will win: Sutherland. Voters for these awards are nitwits. I'd love to see Hall pull the upset if Laurie can't win.
Comments: Geez, McDreamy? Really? Can we get a little love for Edward James Olmos and Michael Chiklis here?

ACTRESS, DRAMA: Patricia Arquette, Edie Falco, Evangeline Lilly, Ellen Pompeo, Kyra Sedgwick.
Who should win: Falco. No one should ever beat Edie Falco in anything ever. Unless it's Helen Mirren.
Who will win: Sedgwick. Not a bad choice.
Comments: Enough with frakkin' Patricia Arquette already! Good God, voters should be ashamed of themselves that she's on the ballot and Kristin Bell and Mary McDonell aren't. You foreign press guys suck!

ACTOR, COMEDY: Zack Braff, Steve Carell, Alec Baldwin, Jason Lee, Tony Shalhoub.
Who should/will win: Baldwin. Carell got his Emmy, and Baldwin has re-invented himself as a near comic genius. He's really the only good thing about "30 Rock."
Comments: I'd love for Braff to get something at some point, but "Scrubs" always seems to get shafted.

ACTRESS, COMEDY: Marcia Cross, America Ferrera, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Felicity Huffman, Mary Louise Parker.
Who should/will win: Ferrera. You can't watch her and not vote for her. You really can't; I defy you to try!
Comments: Not even the brilliant Marcia Cross can save the drivel "Desperate Housewives" has become. The writing is beneath her. Look for Parker to score an upset here.

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Thomas Haden Church, Jeremy Irons, Justin Kirk, Masi Oka, Jeremy Piven.
Who will win: Piven. Hollywood insiders will love his Hollywood insider role.
Comments: Notice how I didn't say who SHOULD win? This is an idiotic category, foreign press guys. How can you compare a role in a weekly series, such as Oka from "Heroes" with a role in a TV movie, such as Irons with "Elizabeth I?" You can't. It's stupid to try. Go back to France already, foreign press. That being said, if anyone deserves the upset, it's Oka, the breakout star of 2006.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Emily Blunt, Tony Collette, Katherine Heigl, Sarah Paulson, Elizabeth Perkins.
Who will win: Heigl. Her whole trying-to-save-Denny storyline is the kind of thing actors live for. This is as close to a sure thing as any award listed.
Comments: See above for the stupidity of doing the category like this. Also, how could pick Paulson as the lone "Studio 60" nominee, especially ahead of the luminous Amanda Peet?

***
R.I.P.: Joseph Barbera, half of the great animation team of Hanna-Barbera. He was partly responsible for some of the best TV cartoons ever, including "The Jetsons" and "The Flintstones." I grew up on the "Superfriends."

MORE ABC SHOWS FINISHED: In addition to pulling "Day Break," ABC has also ended the William Shatner-fest game show, "Show Me the Money." In addition, Ted Danson's "Help Me Help You" appears done, since the network is burning off "Big Day" episodes two at a time on Tuesday nights.

TUESDAY'S BEST BET: A quiet night full of repeats. I only am making a pick here because "House" (Fox, 8-10 p.m.) is re-running two of its best episodes, the one where House is shot and the subsequent episode of his recovery. Why, it's a Golden Globe worthy performance!

Actually, there are a couple of things on. You can catch the classic "I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown!" (ABC, 8 p.m.) and two new episodes of "My Boys" (TBS, 10 p.m.), a series that is growing on me despite the fact that it in no way depicts the life of a real-life sports writer.