The TV Golden Globe nominations came out this morning. They’re never quite the high stakes game the movie Globes are, because they’re not a harbinger of the Emmys the way the movie Globes can be for the Oscars. Unlike the Emmys, they cover the calendar year, not the TV season, and the distinguishing thing about TV in 2008 was how little there was of it: that is, there was a writer’s strike, followed by a hobbled development season and fewer big debuts.
You’d think, then, that there’d be less room for disagreement, but the list still left me with questions. Like: Does the Hollywood Foreign Press Association not get FX in its collective cable package? The network got a goose egg, with no nominations for the stellar last season of The Shield. Ditto (taking a look down my best-list for 2008) for Lost, The Wire, Battlestar Galactica and Breaking Bad, whose Bryan Cranston won an Emmy. Since when are the freaking Emmys more risk-taking than the Globes?
A look at the major categories after the jump:
Best Drama: Dexter, House, In Treatment, Mad Men, True Blood. Dexter, which had a weaker season 3, seems to be nominated on past reputation (like House); True Blood for its potential; In Treatment, for the good nights while ignoring the bad ones. Mad Men’s the deserving one here.
Best Comedy: 30 Rock, Californication, Entourage, The Office, Weeds. Amazing to say it, but the two network nominees were actually stronger than the cable noms this year. Clearly the foreign press likes comedies about showbiz, California or both. Give it to The Office, which is about neither.
Actress categories: Good to see January Jones nominated for her steely, unstable Betty Draper in a fabulous year for her on Mad Men. (I’d have taken Elisabeth Moss too, but you can’t have everything.) In supporting, I’m hoping that in Breaking Bad’s second season Anna Gunn gets her due. C.C.H. Pounder, again, deserved recognition. Otherwise, usual suspects down the line.
Actor categories: OK, so maybe the HFPA has something against The Shield. But how does anyone justify a nomination for Jonathan Rhys-Meyers’ hambone Henry VIII over Michael Chiklis? Or, well, anyone from The Wire? Clearly the HFPA likes its soapy and its sexy, but this is ridiculous. Good on Blair Underwood for In Treatment; in Recount, it seems that Denis Leary is being nominated for being Denis Leary, not for his underwhelming role.
Movies and minis: As usual, you may as well hand these categories to HBO, but I’m a little surprised to see nothing for Generation Kill. It was a true ensemble, and probably suffered for that, as it was too true to the source material to hand out individual standout roles.
I’m sure there are omissions and deserving performances I’m overlooking, so let’s hear your comments.