Preview: The Golden Globes

By Tom Rose
Fancast.com

With presenters like Seth Rogen, Jennifer Lopez, Drew Barrymore and Sacha Baron Cohen, Sunday’s Golden Globe awards ceremony is aiming to avoid a repeat of last year’s live TV debacle.

In a show of support for the Writers Guild, the on air talent stayed away in droves. So the NBC telecast took on a red carpet/press conference atmosphere with Matt Lauer sweating out the last two hours hosting a hastily pasted together clip show, and relying on feeds from other networks. It was a ratings disaster.

Now that the Writers strike is over, things should be back to normal. And normal for the Golden Globes means anything can happen. The three-hour event broadcasts live from The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles and Fancast will be there, live-blogging every minute. As usual, the champagne will be flowing like wine, hopefully loosening some otherwise stiff upper lips. Remember, this is the show where Jack Nicholson mooned the paparazzi and Christine Lahti had to be pulled out of a Ladies room stall to accept her Best Actress statuette.

The telecast marks the official opening of award season, being the first race of the entertainment triple crown, with the S.A.G. awards and Oscar coming down to the wire right behind. But since we’re all about TV here, our list is confined to the tube.

I tried to watch as many of the entries as possible, but, like every other year, the choices are all over the map. And since part of the fun with the Globes is handicapping the nominees, I asked my brother Tim, who’s even more of a television addict than I am, to give me a quick pick in each category. Turns out, he knows less about TV than I do.

Best Television Series - Drama
House (FOX)
In Treatment (HBO)
Mad Men (AMC)
True Blood (HBO)
Dexter (SHOWTIME): “I’d be proud to have this serial killer as my neighbor. He’s such a quiet man.”

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Sally Field – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
January Jones – Mad Men (AMC)
Anna Paquin – True Blood (HBO)
Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer (TNT)
Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order (NBC): “I didnt see enough of these shows to make a call, but I’ve been chanting Mariska Hargitay since the American Idol final so it may as well be her.”

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Gabriel Byrne – In Treatment (HBO)
Michael C. Hall – Dexter (SHOWTIME)
Jon Hamm – Mad Men (AMC)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors (SHOWTIME)
Hugh Laurie – House (FOX): “House is on a roll, so he’ll probably win. That should make his dad, Peter Lorre, very proud.”

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
30 Rock (NBC)
Entourage (HBO)
The Office (NBC)
Weeds (SHOWTIME)
Californication (SHOWTIME): “It’s a toss up. Too bad Mulder didn’t appear on In Treatment. Then it’d be a lock.”

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
America Ferrera – Ugly Betty (ABC)
Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds (SHOWTIME)
Christina Applegate – Samantha Who? (ABC)
Debra Messing – The Starter Wife (USA) “Debra Who?”

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
Steve Carell – The Office (NBC)
Kevin Connolly – Entourage (HBO)
David Duchovny – Californication (SHOWTIME)
Tony Shalhoub – Monk (USA): “I love this guy. But how come we never get to see Mrs. Columbo?”

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
A Raisin In The Sun (ABC)
Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Cranford (PBS)
Recount (HBO)
John Adams (HBO): “John Adams will win easily, but I prefer his brother Samuel. And powdered wigs are making a comeback.”

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Judi Dench – Cranford (PBS)
Catherine Keener – An American Crime
Laura Linney – John Adams (HBO)
Susan Sarandon – Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Shirley MacLaine – Coco Chanel: “Kudos to Shirley MacLaine for being reincarnated again and chaneling Coco.”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Ralph Fiennes – Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Paul Giamatti – John Adams (HBO)
Kevin Spacey – Recount (HBO)
Tom Wilkinson – Recount (HBO)
Kiefer Sutherland – 24 (FOX): “I didn’t see any of these shows. But he was great in M*A*S*H so he gets my vote.”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Eileen Atkins – Cranford (PBS)
Melissa George – In Treatment (HBO)
Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Dianne Wiest – In Treatment (HBO)
Laura Dern – Recount (HBO): “I never get tired of seeing her cry. But over a hanging chad?”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Jeremy Piven – Entourage (HBO)
Blair Underwood – In Treatment (HBO)
Tom Wilkinson – John Adams (HBO)
Denis Leary – Recount (HBO): “I got your hanging chad right here.”

Don’t miss the Golden Globes when the winners are announced live on Sunday, January 11 on NBC.

See you there!