Earlier this week, the 69th annual Golden Globe and 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were announced, and TV TALK is back after a brief hiatus, to comment on the nominations, as the award season 2011-12 begins
To view the complete lists of nominees of both the sets of awards, click on the links below:
69th annual Golden Globe Awards nominees
18th annual ScreenActors Guild Awards nominees
So let’s face it… the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, both play it a little safe when it comes to recognizing TV shows and performances, unlike the Emmys, where they make it a point to award the breakthrough performances. The Globes and the SAGs, on the other hand, award the same people consistently, albeit for performances that are consistent with past work, but still without that new, ‘wow’ factor in them. Which is why, last year, the SAGs went on to honor Alec Baldwin for the fourth consecutive time for his role in 30 ROCK. The Globes did do things right by finally acknowledging Jim Parsons’ outstanding work in THE BIG BANG THEORY. That being said, it feels like this year, both these sets of awards feel like they’ve done their bit with Parsons, in a way, saying that it’s time to move on, having not even nominated him.
The SAGs have an excuse, one could think, given that they don’t have any categories for supporting performances in television, so they have to squeeze in leading as well as supporting roles into five spots, making it impossible to do justice to all those who deserve a place. Moving on, I still think that nominating Johnny Galecki was a bit of a saving grace, since the guy has done more than his bit on THE BIG BANG THEORY. But the major plus points in this year’s nominations are the first time nominees, whether it comes to series, ensembles or actor nominees. All but one Globe nominees for Series Drama are new, and while we all knew that GAME OF THRONES is going to be there, it was still refreshing to see that the list didn’t just have the usual suspects.
While many say that this has been completely unfair to shows like SONS OF ANARCHY and BREAKING BAD, I still think it’s a good sign. However, while GAME OF THRONES shows great promise, BOARDWALK EMPIRE did win the last time, and we know how much the Globes like to repeat series winners (remember MAD MEN’s hat-trick?). Moreover, GAME… didn’t even win at the Emmys in September (even there it was MAD MEN that won, even though FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS was going strong till the final win of the evening). Even in the comedy/musical category, besides GLEE and MODERN FAMILY, the list of Globe nominees is completely new, with a new hit like NEW GIRL making its mark, and EPISODES being recognized after recognition from the Emmys.
On the other hand, the SAGs have all repeat nominees, except for GAME… However, we do have to realize that they award the ensembles, and even if the two awards do have common patterns at times, the series/ensemble awards, and hence nominees, aren’t necessarily even close to common between the two. So with the SAGs, the ensemble award can go anywhere. I think 30 ROCK’s winning streak was over last year, so again it’s a battle between GLEE and MODERN FAMILY, unless they decide to finally award the great work of the ensemble in BIG BANG…
Moving on to individual performances, like both sets of awards did their bit for Jim Parsons last year, I think they feel like they’ve already done their bit for Michael C Hall (DEXTER), who’s only got a SAG nomination this time, as is the case with Kyle Chandler, who won the Emmy for FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. In general, I feel like the nominees in common categories are quite different between the two sets of awards. Very few common names between the two lists and new nominees like Jessica Lange (AMERICAN HORROR STORY), Kelsey Grammer (BOSS), Kathy Bates (HARRY’S LAW), Patrick J Adams (SUITS), etc, will make the build-up to these award shows so much more exciting because of their unpredictability.
Another positive aspect was how refreshing it was to see some recognition given to newly popular shows like REVENGE and NEW GIRL, especially Madeleine Stowe’s performance in the former. I, for one, think that she deserves nominations simply for being in front of the camera and letting her eyes talk! Moreover, while we do have a lot of popular shows in the comedy categories, for the Globes to nominate someone from a popular, new drama (which isn’t a period drama or set in some fantasy world) is quite commendable.
So there we have it. A lot of new names, a lot of new shows; some popular, some emerging and showing promise… It’s going to be an unpredictable wait for the next month or so, as we wait to find out whether the Globes and SAGs play it safe again or all the wins end up being for new shows and performances!
The 69th annual Golden Globe Awards will be presented on Sunday, January 15, 2012
18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be presented on Sunday, January 29, 2012
