Golden Globe Surprises and Snubs: So Many New Faces, But Still No Breaking Bad
Oh, Golden Globes. You never fail to amuse and bemuse us with your quirky, awesome and weird nominations. After coming up empty with the Screen Actors Guild, Homeland landed three nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and was just one of the many new shows that reaped nods. And with so many shiny new toys to play with, the HFPA once again forgot about Breaking Bad. But those weren't the only things that caught our attention Thursday.
Homeland, New Girl and new shows lead Golden Globe nominations
Surprises
Score one for the newbies: It's no secret that HFPA members love new shows, being the trendsetters that they are, but rarely have they gifted nods to so much new blood. Homeland, American Horror Story, Game of Thrones, The Killing, Boss, Revenge, Episodes, Enlightened and New Girl are just some of the freshmen series that earned nominations. We expected the ones for, say, Claire Danes and Zooey Deschanel (both of whom are totally winning, by the way), but the mentions for HBO's underrated and under-watched Enlightened will go a long way in helping it get renewed.
USA is officially an awards magnet: We floated the question Wednesday after Suits' Patrick J. Adams garnered a nod and now we know the answer, following Callie Thorne's unexpected nomination in drama actress for Necessary Roughness. Beside these two nods, in the past year, USA has nabbed an Emmy nomination for Burn Notice's Sharon Gless (which wasn't that surprising since this is Sharon Gless we're talking about) and a Golden Globe nod for Covert Affairs' Piper Perabo. And with Thorne, who's tough yet fragile on Roughness, having replaced Perabo in the lineup, it seems like USA has a permanent spot in the category. And why not? It is the top cable network after all.
Madeleine Stowe: The best part of Revenge, which is not exactly topping awards-worthy lists, is the marvelous and campy Stowe. So, of course, leave it to the HFPA — which worships film stars who head to TV — to recognize the actress and her fabulously icy, but sympathetic turn as Victoria Grayson that often times makes us root for her more than Emily Thorne.
Amy Poehler: Parks and Recreation finally scored its first Globe nomination in comedy actress for the very deserving and hilarious Poehler. But what's most surprising about Poehler's nod is that she made it in over Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) and former champ Toni Collette of the defunct United States of Tara. The sorta-funny ladies of dark comedies have dominated the category in recent years (reigning champ The Big C's Laura Linney is nominated), so for Poehler to break in is a big achievement. On the flip side, the HFPA still hasn't ended its love affair with Thomas Jane (Hung) and David Duchovny (Californication), who made the cut again, while Steve Carell — his final chance to be nominated for The Office — did not.
SAGs surprises and snubs: Patrick J. Adams makes the cut, but where's Homeland?
Snubs
Breaking Bad: For the second year in a row, Bryan Cranston is the sole representative for the superb AMC drama. We'd be a lot more upset if we didn't know to expect the cold shoulder. While armed with buzz, Breaking Bad is not splashy, high-brow or conceptual like the type of fare the HFPA adores (Glee, American Horror Story, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones). At this rate, we may have to make peace with the fact that Breaking Bad might never be nominated for series.
Melissa McCarthy: McCarthy had two chances for nods — for Mike & Molly and Bridesmaids — and came away empty-handed. The Mike & Molly slight is less surprising than the Bridesmaids one since she's been picking up steam (and critics awards and nominations) left and right the past few weeks for her scene-stealing performance in the film. McCarthy wasn't the only Emmy champ snubbed: Reigning two-time Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) was dropped in favor of co-star Johnny Galecki. Also MIA: Last year's drama actress champ Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy).
The Kennedys: Who would've ever thought the Emmys would be the ones to embrace the controversial miniseries, while the Globes, who loves them some big-name stars, would give it the shaft? Think about it: They could've nominated Katie Holmes and set a place setting for Tom Cruise, but resisted the urge. Did they learn a lesson from last year's comical The Tourist fiasco?
The Good Wife and network dramas: Cable reigned supreme in drama — the series and lead actor nominees are from cable. We can make a case for the brilliantly crafted and acted Good Wife to be nominated, but it's hard to pick some other broadcast-network replacements. Time to step up your game, networks!
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