Thursday, December 13, 2007

Golden Globes List

Nominees for the 65th Golden Globes were announced this morning. Since I'm sure our Reel Fanatic will do something on the movie picks, here are the TV ones:

Series, Drama: ‘‘Big Love,’’ HBO; ‘‘Damages,’’ FX Networks; ‘‘Grey’s Anatomy,’’ ABC; ‘‘House,’’ Fox; ‘‘Mad Men,’’ AMC; ‘‘The Tudors,’’ Showtime.

Actress, Drama: Patricia Arquette, ‘‘Medium’’; Glenn Close, ‘‘Damages’’; Minnie Driver, ‘‘The Riches’’; Edie Falco, ‘‘The Sopranos’’; Sally Field, ‘‘Brothers & Sisters’’; Holly Hunter, ‘‘Saving Grace’’; Kyra Sedgwick, ‘‘The Closer.’’

Actor, Drama: Michael C. Hall, ‘‘Dexter’’; Jon Hamm, ‘‘Mad Men’’; Hugh Laurie, ‘‘House’’; Jonathan Rhys Meyers, ‘‘The Tudors’’; Bill Paxton, ‘‘Big Love.’’

Series, Musical or Comedy: ‘‘30 Rock,’’ NBC; ‘‘Californication,’’ Showtime; ‘‘Entourage,’’ HBO; ‘‘Extras,’’ HBO; ‘‘Pushing Daisies,’’ ABC.

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Christina Applegate, ‘‘Samantha Who?’’; America Ferrera, ‘‘Ugly Betty’’; Tina Fey, ‘‘30 Rock’’; Anna Friel, ‘‘Pushing Daisies’’; Mary-Louise Parker, ‘‘Weeds.’’

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, ‘‘30 Rock’’; Steve Carell, ‘‘The Office’’; David Duchovny, ‘‘Californication’’; Ricky Gervais, ‘‘Extras’’; Lee Pace, ‘‘Pushing Daisies.’’

Miniseries or Movie: ‘‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,’’ HBO; ‘‘The Company,’’ TNT; ‘‘Five Days,’’ HBO; ‘‘Longford,’’ HBO; ‘‘The State Within,’’ BBC America.

Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Bryce Dallas Howard, ‘‘As You Like It’’; Debra Messing, ‘‘The Starter Wife’’; Queen Latifah, ‘‘Life Support’’; Sissy Spacek, ‘‘Pictures of Hollis Woods’’; Ruth Wilson, ‘‘Jane Eyre (Masterpiece Theatre).’’

Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Adam Beach, ‘‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’’; Ernest Borgnine, ‘‘A Grandpa for Christmas’’; Jim Broadbent, ‘‘Longford’’; Jason Isaacs, ‘‘The State Within’’; James Nesbitt, ‘‘Jekyll.’’

Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Rose Byrne, ‘‘Damages’’; Rachel Griffiths, ‘‘Brothers & Sisters’’; Katherine Heigl, ‘‘Grey’s Anatomy’’; Samantha Morton, ‘‘Longford’’; Anna Paquin, ‘‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’’; Jaime Pressly, ‘‘My Name Is Earl.’’

Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Ted Danson, ‘‘Damages’’; Kevin Dillon, ‘‘Entourage’’; Jeremy Piven, ‘‘Entourage’’; Andy Serkis, ‘‘Longford’’; William Shatner, ‘‘Boston Legal’’; Donald Sutherland, ‘‘Dirty Sexy Money.’’

One thing that has always bothered me about the Golden Globes has been the way they lump together actors from TV movies/miniseries with those of regular TV series in the supporting categories. How can you compare Anna Paquin's work in "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" for example with that of Jaime Pressly in "My Name Is Earl?" Talk about your apples and oranges.

Yet the Golden Globes are also the awards that get it right when it comes to movies, separating dramas and comedies into separate categories. There's really no rhyme or reason to it.

Anyway, looking at the list, here are few names that struck me:

--It was good to see the love for "Pushing Daisies," getting noms for Best Comedy Series, Best Actor (Lee Pace) and Best Actress (Anna Friel). I would have loved for Chi McBride and Kristin Chenowith to have gotten nods as well, but three nominations for a series still in its first year is pretty good. (Any series that can work in the phrase, "homeopathic drug mule," into the narrative deserves a nomination). And I have no doubt Digby the dog would have been a clear cut winner were animals eligible.

--Also rewarded for excellence was the fantastic "Mad Men," up for Best Drama and Best Actor (Jon Hamm, with the year's breakthrough performance).

--"Dexter" didn't get a nom for Best Series, losing out to other cable fare such as "The Tudors" and "Big Love," but at least Michael C. Hall got a deserved nomination. (Are you paying attention, Emmys?)

--Sometimes, the Golden Globes try to be a bit too hip, giving a nomination to David Duchovny for "Californication." Duchovny is a fine actor, but "Californication" is an absolute joke. There were plenty of others more deserving. "Curb Your Enthusiasm," for example.

Still, the GGs do a better job than the Emmys in spreading around the nominations and at least taking a look at series not on regular networks and which are fairly new. That said, the GGs did nominate Patricia Arquette in Best Actress for "Medium," yet not a single entry in any category for "Battlestar Galactica."

(Of course, if I picked all the awards, they'd be perfect and I'd never get to complain, and where would the fun be then?)

THURSDAY'S BEST BETS: One show that is remarkably consistent in its quality but will never get nominated for anything is "Supernatural" (CW, 9 p.m.) In tonight's all-new episode, Dean prepares for what might be his last Christmas by tracking an evil St. Nick who yanks his victims up the chimneys. It follows an all-new "Smallville" (CW, 8 p.m.)

"Survivor" (CBS, 8 p.m.) leads up to its big, three-hour finale on Sunday with a new episode tonight. Didn't CBS learn already that no one wants three-hour finales to reality shows? It's followed by new episodes of "CSI" at 9 p.m. and "Without A Trace" at 10 p.m.

Finally, "30 Rock" (NBC, 9 p.m.) is also new with a Christmas-themed episode.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Globes do a better job than the Emmys but you're correct whehn you talk about how ridiculous it is to lump ALL supporting performances together.

Here are my picks of the nominees:

Best Drama-

should win: Mad Men
will win: Damages

Best Actress, Drama:

should win: Edie Falco
will win: Glenn Close

Best Actor, Drama:

should win: John Hamm
will win: Hugh Laurie (yuck)

Best Comedy:

should win: 30 Rock
will win: 30 Rock

(How in God's name does Californication get a nomination? It's atrocious! And where's "the Office"?)

Best Actor, Comedy-

should win: Alec Baldwin
will win: Ricky Gervais

(highway roberry)

Best Actress, Comedy-

should win: America Ferrerra
will win: America Ferrerra

I won't do supporting categories here because comparing these are ludicrous.

Phillip Ramati said...

I'll save my picks for when the show is aired. But there are a lot of nominations that don't make a lot of sense, and a lot of omissions.

And combining the supporting categories is an absolute joke, especially in an age where most of the best stuff on TV is done with ensemble casts (like Lost), in which there are no lead actors.

And, nothing at all for Friday Night Lights.

Jonathan said...

Patricia Arquette gets nominated every year it seems, and I don't know a single person that watches "Medium." I understand it does pretty well in the ratings, but it's very strange. Since I've never actually watched it, I guess I can't harp on it too much.

I agree that Michael C. Hall should be nominated, but I didn't think "Dexter" was quite as strong in its second season. I would have stuck it in there over "The Tudors," which I found okay at best. I've never watched "Big Love," but my wife thinks it's the bomb, as does Zod, so I figure that's deserving.

Phillip Ramati said...

Medium is much like Wings a few years ago or ER now: I don't know of anyone who watches it, and all the love for Arquette is indeed a mystery. There are so many more deserving actresses in this category.

I disagree on Dexter. I think Season 2 equals the quality of Season 1, and the last four or five episodes have been sensational as we see Dexter backed into a corner.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't get into "Dexter" when I started watching it in season 1, just TOO dark and TOO gruesome, so I stopped. That being said, I understand the awards love for Michael C. Hall, who's a terrific actor. Even when "Six Feet Under" got too ludicrous and my wife & I stopped watching it, Hall was always a strong actor.

Add me to the people confused as to why people like Patricia Arquette. She's downright weird to me. I have a friend named Mac who argues about actors with me all the time - he LOVES weirdos like Arquette, Zooey Deschanel, Giovanni Ribisi - all actors that make my skin crawl.

As for "Big Love", it's a terrific show, Jonathan and my wife & I enjoy it, but Season 1 was a lot better than season 2 (though season 2 still was enjoyable) and even though season 1 was great, the only 'Emmy' love I ever felt that "Big Love" should get was maybe a best actress nomination for Jeanne Tripplehorn as first wife, Barb.