Oh, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, you do love to make me laugh.The HFPA this morning announced their nominations for the 68th Annual Golden Globes, which will be telecast on Sunday, January 16th. Among the recipients, such worthy nominees as Mad Men, The Good Wife, Modern Family, Boardwalk Empire, and others.
But as always, the voting board--which tends to be relentlessly populist and/or follows certain Emmy trends--went off-track completely in some categories, such as the nomination of Piper Perabo.
Yes, Piper Perabo.
The star of USA's espionage drama Covert Affairs was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series, where she will be competing against the likes of The Good Wife's Julianna Margulies, Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss, Sons of Anarchy's Katey Sagal, and The Closer's Kyra Sedgwick. It's really a case of which one of these things just doesn't belong?
It's not a slam against Perabo or her USA series, but it's also indicative of the fact that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association often determines their nomination process in a method that would confound most of us.
Surely, there were other dramatic performances this year that stood out over that of Perabo? Where was the nomination for, say, Connie Britton? For January Jones? For Anna Torv? For Anna Paquin? Glenn Close? Rose Byrne? The sister-wives of Big Love?
(Then again, this same voting body also gave three nominations to the cinematic trainwreck that is The Tourist, so all logic has sort of flown out of the window by now.)
The musical or comedy category contained not a risk at all. No mention made of Community, Parks and Recreation, or Party Down.
I don't want to appear ungrateful because there were some pleasant nominations to be had. I'm extremely chuffed that Elisabeth Moss received recognition for her amazing performance this season on Mad Men ("The Suitcase" alone should have locked this), that Luther's Idris Elba landed a nom, that some love was given to HBO's Temple Grandin and Return to Cranford, and that The Good Wife also received some love as well. (I'm a little amused that The Walking Dead managed to crack the best drama series after its ratings success, but that they opted not to recognize, say, Lost's final season as a result.)
And then there are the categories in which the same names come up time and time again: Best Actor, I'm looking at you. I'm pleased that Steve Buscemi cracked the category for his turn as Nucky Thompson on HBO's Boardwalk Empire, but it does get repetitive to have largely the same names crop up year after year. (I love Buscemi, but my support goes again to Jon Hamm.)
And the categories that smush together a panoply of supporting actors from various genres to compete against each other: Eric Stonestreet competing against Chris Noth and David Strathairn? Only at the Golden Globes, really, where head-scratching is just part of the package...
The full list of television-related nominees can be found below.
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)
Leverage, Closest to the Hole Productions, Sikelia Productions and Cold Front Productions, HBO Entertainment
b. DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
Showtime, John Goldwyn Productions, The Colleton Company
c. THE GOOD WIFE (CBS)
CBS Television Studios
d. MAD MEN (AMC)
Lionsgate Television
e. THE WALKING DEAD (AMC)
AMC
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. JULIANNA MARGULIES - THE GOOD WIFE
b. ELISABETH MOSS - MAD MEN
c. PIPER PERABO - COVERT AFFAIRS
d. KATEY SAGAL - SONS OF ANARCHY
e. KYRA SEDGWICK - THE CLOSER
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. STEVE BUSCEMI - BOARDWALK EMPIRE
b. BRYAN CRANSTON - BREAKING BAD
c. MICHAEL C. HALL - DEXTER
d. JON HAMM - MAD MEN
e. HUGH LAURIE - HOUSE
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. 30 ROCK (NBC)
Universal Media Studios in association with Broadway Video and Little
Stranger Inc.
b. THE BIG BANG THEORY (CBS)
Warner Bros. Television
c. THE BIG C (SHOWTIME)
Showtime, Sony Pictures Television, Perkins Street Productions, Farm Kid, Original Film
d. GLEE (FOX)
Ryan Murphy Television, Twentieth Century Fox Television
e. MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
Twentieth Century Fox Television
f. NURSE JACKIE (SHOWTIME)
Showtime, Lionsgate Television, Jackson Group Entertainment, Madison Grain Elevator, Inc. & Delong Lumber, Caryn Mandabach Productions
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES –COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. TONI COLLETTE - UNITED STATES OF TARA
b. EDIE FALCO - NURSE JACKIE
c. TINA FEY - 30 ROCK
d. LAURA LINNEY - THE BIG C
e. LEA MICHELE - GLEE
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. ALEC BALDWIN - 30 ROCK
b. STEVE CARELL - THE OFFICE
c. THOMAS JANE - HUNG
d. MATTHEW MORRISON - GLEE
e. JIM PARSONS - THE BIG BANG THEORY
BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. CARLOS (SUNDANCE CHANNEL)
Sundance Channel
b. THE PACIFIC (HBO)
Playtone and DreamWorks in association with HBO Films
c. PILLARS OF THE EARTH (STARZ)
Starz, Tandem Communications, Muse Entertainment Scott Free Films
d. TEMPLE GRANDIN (HBO)
A Ruby Films, Gerson Saines Production, HBO Films
e. YOU DON’T KNOW JACK (HBO)
Bee Holder, Cine Mosaic and Levinson/Fontana Productions, HBO Films
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. HAYLEY ATWELL - PILLARS OF THE EARTH
b. CLAIRE DANES - TEMPLE GRANDIN
c. JUDI DENCH - RETURN TO CRANFORD
d. ROMOLA GARAI - EMMA
e. JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT - THE CLIENT LIST
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. IDRIS ELBA - LUTHER
b. IAN MCSHANE - PILLARS OF THE EARTH
c. AL PACINO - YOU DON’T KNOW JACK
d. DENNIS QUAID - THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
e. EDGAR RAMIREZ - CARLOS
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. HOPE DAVIS - THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
b. JANE LYNCH - GLEE
c. KELLY MACDONALD - BOARDWALK EMPIRE
d. JULIA STILES - DEXTER
e. SOFIA VERGARA - MODERN FAMILY
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. SCOTT CAAN - HAWAII FIVE-O
b. CHRIS COLFER - GLEE
c. CHRIS NOTH - THE GOOD WIFE
d. ERIC STONESTREET - MODERN FAMILY
e. DAVID STRATHAIRN - TEMPLE GRANDIN
What's your take on the Golden Globe nominations? Which category surprised you the most? Who deserves to win? And who should go home empty-handed? Head to the comments section to discuss.
Comments
Also, I'm incredibly miffed that Idris Elba landed a nomination for Luther, but Ruth Wilson didn't. I love Elba, but for me it was Wilson's portrayal of brilliant, seductive, sensational psychopath Alice and her interplay with Elba's Luther that made the series so incredible to watch. Every moment she is on screen is absolutely riveting. She's been robbed as well.