SAG Awards Surprises and Snubs: Patrick J. Adams Makes the Cut, But Where's Homeland?
Is USA slowly becoming an awards magnet? A year after Covert Affairs' Piper Perabo scored a Golden Globe nomination, network-mate and Suits star Patrick J. Adams pulled off a Screen Actors Guild nod Wednesday, where he'll face off against such heavyweights as Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Michael C. Hall (Dexter). But his nomination wasn't the only SAG shocker.
Modern Family dominates SAG nominations
Surprises
Patrick J. Adams: There are number of actors who probably should have been nominated instead or with him, depending on how you look at it — especially since there are no supporting TV categories — but it's not like Adams is a completely abysmal pick. Shocking? Yes. Terrible? No. He's devastatingly charming and effortless in balancing Mike Ross' full-on swagger and hidden vulnerability on Suits. Plus, you've got to give him, a relative new name, kudos for managing to snare more votes than more established and buzz-y names, like Aaron Paul, Damian Lewis or Timothy Olyphant.
Friday Night Lights: Better late than never, right? Perhaps burnished by its Emmy wins, the late football drama finally nabs its first SAG nomination — drama actor for Kyle Chandler. Too bad Connie Britton couldn't break into drama actress to nab Mr.-and-Mrs. Coach nods or the cast in drama ensemble.
Jessica Lange: The SAGs wasn't very welcoming to newbies this year. Three freshmen series earned three nominations among them: Suits (Adams), Game of Thrones for drama ensemble and American Horror Story in drama actress for Lange, who's doing her best crazy Southern dame since her Broadway stint as Blanche DuBois. Being a legend helps too (did her name alone help her knock out her AHS co-star Britton?). Fun fact: Lange, who's never won a SAG, was nominated at the very first SAG Awards for Blue Sky, but lost to Jodie Foster (Nell). Lange went on to win the Oscar, however.
Betty White: White getting a comedy actress nomination for Hot in Cleveland wasn't a surprise (she is the reigning champ after all), but her TV movie/miniseries actress nomination for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie is a head-scratcher. Really, SAGs? You nominated that over such stellar turns by Evan Rachel Wood (Mildred Pierce) or Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey)? We adore White and we know the SAGs does too, but let's ease up on the lovefest a bit.
The Artist and Hugo top BFCA nominations; George Clooney sets record
Snubs
Homeland: A few deserving dramas were overlooked, including Justified and Sons of Anarchy, but no slight irks us more than Homeland's. The twisty, taut and consuming psychological drama — our show of the year — was inexplicably snubbed across the board and we're still at a loss to try to explain it. But that's good news for the drama actress contenders because Claire Danes, so complicated and layered as Carrie Mathison, would've been a lock for the win. Still, tsk, tsk, SAGs.
Parks and Recreation: Easily the funniest show on TV this year, Parks and Rec came up empty for Amy Poehler and its ensemble that has been firing on all cylinders more so than, say, The Office. While the show is doing fine without Steve Carell, we all know it has seen better days.
Jim Parsons: The Big Bang Theory at long last entered the comedy ensemble race, but Parsons, a two-time Emmy winner and defending Golden Globe champ, has still yet to score an individual nomination. No offense to the rest of the cast, but Sheldon makes the show.
Supporting Drama Players: As mentioned above, the SAGs does not have supporting races for TV, meaning lead and supporting actors vie for a measly five spots (or six in the event of a tie). Comedy supporting actors have historically fared better (ahem, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally), but drama supporting actors have an extraordinarily tough time breaking in and are mostly ignored. What we'd give to see Aaron Paul, Giancarlo Esposito, Peter Dinklage and Walton Goggins nominated. The only solution? Create supporting categories.
What were you most surprised by? Who do you wish had been nominated?
Related Articles on TVGuide.com
