My Take on the Golden Globe Nominations Announced this Morning

When Amrie, one of the bloggers at www.TheTVAddict.com, made her Golden Globe wishlist on Tuesday, I meant to do the same in my own blog, but I've gotten behind. Now, the announcements have been made this morning, so I'll combine my reactions to the real nominations and my wishes for what they should have been, all in one. Here are the nominations, with my picks in bold:

Best Drama Series

• Heroes


• Lost


• Grey's Anatomy


• Big Love


• 24

Who Got Left Out: House, Battlestar Galactica, Prison Break
Commentary: I'm shocked Heroes got nominated, but also disappointed that House wasn't. I'm okay with Lost and Grey's Anatomy getting nominated too although Lost has been uneven lately, and I don't like Grey's as much as most people do. I don't watch Big Love because I don't have premium cable channels, and I'm the only upright-walking primate who doesn't like 24.

Best Drama Lead Actor

• Hugh Laurie (House)


• Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy)


• Bill Paxton (Big Love)


• Michael C. Hall (Dexter)


• Kiefer Sutherland (24)

Who Got Left Out: James Spader (Boston Legal), Edward James Olmos (Batttlestar Galactica), Michael Chiklis (The Shield), Denis Leary (Rescue Me), Wentworth Miller (Prison Break)
Commentary: This category really needs to be expanded to 10 or 12 nominees; so many good choices got ignored. Hugh Laurie has got to get this one; anything else would be a travesty. Out of these, the only other show I watch is Grey's Anatomy, but Dempsey doesn't stand out in my mind. Without premium cable, I don't know about Paxton & Hall's performances, and the commercials for 24 alone make me think Kiefer Sutherland consistently over-acts.

Best Drama Lead Actress

• Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy)


• Evangeline Lilly (Lost)


• Patricia Arquette (Medium)


• Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)


• Edie Falco (The Sopranos)

Who Got Left Out: Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy), Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica), Anne Heche (Men in Trees)
Commentary: I only watch Grey's and Lost (have also seen an episode or two of Medium), so Pompeo wins in my book by default. I'm unsure as to whether Lilly deserves the nomination, and I don't think she's quite good enough to win. I'd also be okay with Arquette winning since I've never seen the other two shows.

Best Comedy Series

• Ugly Betty


• Desperate Housewives


• The Office


• Entourage


• Weeds

Commentary: I gave up on sitcoms long ago, but with new one-hour Ugly Betty in the Comedy category, I have a great show to root for again. Desperate Housewives is in decline and doesn't deserve it. I've never seen Weeds, but is it even a comedy?

Best Comedy Lead Actor

• Zach Braff (Scrubs)


• Tony Shalhoub (Monk)


• Steve Carrell (The Office)


• Jason Lee (My Name is Earl)


• Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)

Commentary: Like I said, I gave up on sitcoms. However, I have started watching Scrubs reruns on Comedy Central, so I'll go with Zach Braff by default. My guess is that Tony Shaloub will get it. I actually have seen an occastional episode of Monk; it's okay but not award-worthy.

Best Comedy Lead Actress

• America Ferrera (Ugly Betty)


• Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives)


• Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives)


• Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (New Adventures of Old Christine)


• Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)

Who Got Left Out: Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls)
Commentary: No Lauren Graham again?!? Is she related to Susan Lucci? Despite the bad writing on Desperate Housewives last season, the performances have still been strong. Huffman & Cross are the best two on DH. However, my pick is definitely America Ferrera for Ugly Betty.

Best Series/Mini-Series/TV-Movie Supporting Actor

• Masi Oka (Heroes)


• Jeremy Piven (Entourage)


• Thomas Haden Church (Broken Trail)


• Jeremy Irons (Elizabeth I)


• Justin Kirk (Weeds)

Who Got Left Out: Forest Whitaker (The Shield)
Commentary: I actually predicted on the TVAddict blog that Masi Oka might deserve a nomination for Best Actor as Hiro on Heroes. I'm thrilled to see that I was half right and that he's at least nominated in the Supporting category (which looks like a mixed bag; I guess since Golden Globes include big screen movies too that they have to condense their Supporting TV categories to include series, mini-series, and TV movies).

Best Series/Mini-Series/TV-Movie Supporting Actress

• Sarah Paulson (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip)


• Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy)


• Toni Collette (Tsunami, The Aftermath)


• Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds)


• Emily Blunt (Gideon's Daughter)

Who Got Left Out: Kelly Bishop (Gilmore Girls), Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty)
Commentary: I got another prediction half right. I thought Sarah Paulson might get a Lead Actress nomination for Studio 60, so Supporting is better than nothing. While I'm not thrilled with Studio 60 overall, or even Paulson's character (which is often used as the pawn for social commentary), her performance is great (who else does perfect impressions of Holly Hunter and Juliette Lewis -- in fact, who else would bother trying???). I also watch Grey's Anatomy. Katherine Heigl was excellent as Izzie in the last half of season two, but after her fiance died in the season finale, I felt her season three performance was overly melodramatic. Perhaps that should be blamed more on the writing, and if so, I'd be okay if she got the win too.