This year’s television freshmen class can boast of one thing: a lot of Golden Globes nominations. Indeed, this has been a good season for new television, with comedies taking off and dramas winning critical acclaim. The Golden Globes have always been a bit of a wild card when it comes to nominations, unlike the more stodgy and predictable Emmys. With a fresh, hit-making crop of newcomers it should come as no surprise that they dominated the nominations for television excellence. But are they all equally deserving? Let’s take a look.
Best of the Newbies:
American Horror Story
While many critics find the show a mixed bag, it must be admitted that the deeply weird American Horror Story is daring to be different. The best word to describe the show is campy, with horror sequences happening so fast and furious they almost take on an air of comedy. Underneath the frenetic pacing and camera work there are some amazing performances, like show-stealer Jessica Lange as a demented, aging Southern belle to die for.
Unless Peter Jackson is involved, award committees don’t usually love high-fantasy. Not so for HBO’s bloody Game of Thrones. The show has picked up Emmy nominations and wins for its gritty look at life in the fictional medieval world of Westoros. Vying for the throne has never been so dangerous and a show that’s not afraid to kill off a main character is one that earns respect.
Madeline Stowe (Revenge)
As the matriarch of the ultra-powerful Grayson clan on ABC’s hit primetime soap, Stowe’s character Victoria rules the Hamptons with an iron fist. Yet she imbues enough vulnerability into Victoria to make her seem human. But let’s be honest: It’s not humanity we look for in Revenge, it’s catty backstabbing. And Stowe does it better than anyone else on the dial.
Worst of the Newbies:
Episodes
Maybe what’s wrong with Episodes’ inclusion isn’t so much the show itself, but the shows that got bypassed so Episodes could be nominated. Nowhere on the list are hilarious veteran comedies Parks and Recreation, Louie, Community, or even Raising Hope. Episodes’ crime is one of taking a nomination from a far more deserving show.
Boss
The problem with Boss is similar. Despite Kelsey Grammer putting in another great performance as the titular lead character, the show is clearly edging out some more deserving contenders in the drama category. How can Boss be nominated but awards-darling Breaking Bad is nowhere to be found?
Callie Thorne (Necessary Roughness)
Thorne is absolutely adorable and charming as a psychiatrist to the stars on USA Network’s hit Necessary Roughness. But the show is light summer fun and feels too frothy for a drama nomination alongside heavy fare like Claire Danes’ obsessive CIA agent in Homeland. Thorne does a good job with a likable character, but seems to be nominated in the wrong category.
Last year, the quest to first avoid and then kill Klaus drove the plot of CW’s supernatural “The Vampire Diaries”. Having heard much about the character without ever seeing him, Klaus certainly had a big reputation to live up to. And he did in spades with Joseph Morgan confidently inhabiting the part of the murderous vampire-werewolf hybrid. Yet the show doesn’t shy away from Klaus’ vulnerability. His quest to make more hybrids is motivated at least in part by his loneliness. Plus he has more family issues (patricide and matricide?) than you can shake a (pointy) stick at. “The Vampire Diaries” loves a good bad guy, and we can’t help but love Klaus.
Sure, the latex gimp suit got a lot of the scary play on FX’s horror serial “American Horror Story”, even landing on the cover of Entertainment Weekly beside show stars Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott. But after finding out that lovestruck, whiny teenager Tate was the one embodying the suit, the scary got a bit zapped out. But the house where all the creepy madness took place never stopped being terrifying. Looking for a mad scientist, a school shooter, a pig baby or an angry gay ghost? The house has those to spare!
