Golden Globe Awards TV picks
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, January 14, 2007
You never quite know what’s going to happen at the Golden Globes, but the surprises are usually worth the price of admission and generally less disappointing than the Emmys. Besides, what can you expect from the awards show where you actually get to see the stars mingling — cocktails in hand?
But let’s give it a shot and see how we fare in the TV categories for tonights Golden Globes Awards, which air at 8 tonight on KING Channel 5.
24
Big Love
Grey’s Anatomy
Heroes
Lost
Should win: “24.” Jack Bauer is coming off his most spectacular season yet and this time it came complete with shocking deaths all around and a superb supporting cast that was rounded out by Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart as the President and First Lady.
Will win: “Grey’s Anatomy.” On sheer consistency and popularity, “Grey’s” has revived the primetime hospital soap. And, being that this show is more fun than spectacle, the Globes will try to live up to their hip image.
Doesn’t belong: “Big Love.” Give them credit for trying something new here, but “Big Love” was better in theory than in execution.
Snubbed: “The Wire.” It’s possibly the best, most complete, most authentic drama to appear on television.
Patricia Arquette (Medium)
Edie Falco (The Sopranos)
Evangeline Lilly (Lost)
Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
Should win: Falco. Early in “The Sopranos” run, Falco was showered with honors and she deserves them once again as last season was one of her best. Lilly is the only other one of these nominees who deserves serious consideration.
Will win: Falco.
Doesn’t belong: Arquette. Enough already with the “I see dead people” thing. She’s just not that convincing and the show is boring.
Snubbed: Sally Field, who is quickly becoming the only reason to watch “Brothers &Sisters.”
Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
Hugh Laurie (House)
Bill Paxton (Big Love)
Kiefer Sutherland (24)
Should win: Hall, whose subtle creepiness makes viewers love him despite his moonlighting as a serial killer. And we’re not sure how that makes us feel.
Will win: Laurie, who is definitely deserving, and I’m not fully convinced the Hollywood Foreign Press is on board enough with Showtime’s “Dexter” to hand the award to Hall.
Doesn’t belong: Paxton, because a guy with three hot wives should be smiling all the time, yet I don’t get a drip of emotion from him.
Snubbed: Kyle Chandler, who is the heart and soul of one of the best new dramas on TV, “Friday Night Lights.”
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
The Office
Ugly Betty
Weeds
Should win: “The Office.” Just when you think you’ve seen it all with this show, it gets better and funnier. The American version has completely escaped the shadow of its British inspiration and secured its place as one of TV’s great comedies.
Will win: “The Office,” with the chance that “Ugly Betty” pulls an upset. Its immediate success combined with its international roots gives “Betty” a chance to make a run.
Doesn’t belong: “Weeds.” I love this show, but it’s the textbook definition of a show that isn’t enough of a comedy or drama to fit into either category, therefore gets trampled by the competition.
Snubbed: “How I Met Your Mother.” While everyone is out looking for the next “Friends,” CBS, of all networks, has already found it.
Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives)
Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives)
America Ferrera (Ugly Betty)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine)
Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)
Should win: Ferrera. She’s just a joy to watch, plain and simple.
Will win: Ferrera. She’s in a league of her own in this category, while the rest of the pack is just more of the same.
Doesn’t belong: Huffman, who in the second season and first part of the current season (the cut-off date for Globe entries is Oct. 19, before Huffman’s amazing performances in “Housewives’” November episodes, for which she should definitely be nominated) just wasn’t able to do much with a pretty lame storyline.
Snubbed: Tina Fey, who is the rock — pun intended — of “30 Rock.” She’s the ultimate straight man, sacrificing herself and even sticking lettuce in her hair for the rest of the bunch to get the big laughs.
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Zach Braff (Scrubs)
Steve Carell (The Office)
Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl)
Tony Shalhoub (Monk)
Should win: NBC. Is this not the ultimate tribute to the network’s Thursday night sitcom lineup? All four lead actors on NBC’s shows that night are nominated, and I could make a case for each one to win.
Will win: Baldwin has been too great to ignore on “30 Rock,” and I’ll say that a win for him is as much a victory for Fey.
Doesn’t belong: Shaloub. I love this guy, but he’s had his time and the Globes should recognize some new talent.
Snubbed: Josh Radnor, the often conflicted and always funny Ted on “How I Met Your Mother” is the centerpiece of one of TV’s great up-and-coming sitcoms.
Bleak House
Broken Trail
Elizabeth I
Mrs. Harris
Prime Suspect: The Final Act
Should win: “Elizabeth I.” Helen Mirren’s take on the first Queen Elizabeth was truly inspired.
Will win: “Elizabeth I.”
Doesn’t belong: All are deserving of nominations here.
Snubbed: HBO’s “Tsunami: The Aftermath”
Gillian Anderson (Bleak House)
Annette Bening (Mrs. Harris)
Helen Mirren (Elizabeth I)
Helen Mirren (Prime Suspect: The Final Act)
Sophie Okonedo (Tsunami: The Aftermath)
Should win: Sophie Okonedo, who was mesmerizing as a mother who lost her daughter in “Tsunami.”
Will win: Mirren, but I won’t say for which nomination, just so I can play the odds.
Doesn’t belong: All deserve to be there.
Snubbed: No one.
Andre Braugher (Thief)
Robert Duvall (Broken Trail)
Michael Ealy (Sleeper Cell: American Terror)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Tsunami: The Aftermath)
Ben Kingsley (Mrs. Harris)
Bill Nighy (Gideon’s Daughter)
Matthew Perry (The Ron Clark Story)
Should win: Nighy, who is awesome in everything he does and gets relatively little recognition for it.
Will win: Braugher, who carried FX’s six-episode “Thief” on his back.
Doesn’t belong: Ealy of “Sleeper Cell,” which is a fine show in which he does a fine job, but neither is deserving of these types of awards.
Snubbed: It looks as though every actor in every miniseries or movie from last year is listed, so…
Emily Blunt (Gideon’s Daughter)
Toni Collette (Tsunami: The Aftermath)
Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy)
Sarah Paulson (Studio 60)
Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds)
Should win: Heigl, who made us forget the near absurdity of her storyline and moved anyone with a beating heart sob like mad when Denny died.
Will win: Heigl. She must, and any other choice here would be a sham.
Doesn’t belong: Paulson, whose nomination here sticks out in ways the rest of the “Studio 60” cast and crew probably can’t stand because the show was otherwise shut out.
Snubbed: Sandra Oh (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Jamie Pressly (“My Name is Earl”).
Thomas Hayden Church (Broken Trail)
Jeremy Irons (Elizabeth I)
Justin Kirk (Weeds)
Masi Oka (Heroes)
Jeremy Piven (Entourage)
Should win: Piven, whose Ari Gold on “Entourage” has run Jerry McGuire off the road in his BMW as the new iconic superagent.
Will win: Oka, who emerged as the face of NBC’s daring and fun new drama, “Heroes.” And because the Foreign Press wants to see him give his acceptance speech in Japanese.
Doesn’t belong: Irons, whose performance was great, but wasn’t on screen enough to deserve the bid here, especially in place of some others.
Snubbed: John Krasinski, who hits just the right notes as Jim on “The Office,” whether he’s pulling a prank on Dwight or pouring his heart out to Pam. Also, Neil Patrick Harris, who is bringing the prototype single, swinging bachelor friend to new heights as Barney on “How I Met Your Mother.”
