Even later than the movie results, it’s time to talk about the TV Golden Globes category. At this point, it’s practically an afterthought but that’s appropriate considering that that’s kind of how the Hollywood Foreign Press Association treats the TV awards.
The best and worst part about the TV Golden Globes is that they make really weird decisions, most of which would never happen on the Emmys. Note the lack of wins for Jim Parsons or anything from Modern Family. We’re going to break the awards down into different degrees of expected and unexpected.
Not That Surprising
– Kevin Spacey for Best Actor in a Drama for House of Cards. I heard that Spacey won before I saw it and I hadn’t remembered the list of nominees so at first I wasn’t that happy with this result but it turns out that I didn’t really have any strong feelings about this category. Jon Hamm probably should have been nominated and then he should have won.
– Maggie Gyllenhaal for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture made for Television for The Honourable Woman. I get it, OK? I need to watch The Honourable Woman already. Everyone who’s seen it agrees that Gyllenhaal was great in it. I just wanted Allison Tolman to win. I promise that I will still watch The Honourable Woman, though.
– Joanne Froggatt for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television for Downton Abbey. First, let’s all stop pretending that Downton Abbey is still a prestige show. It’s not. Second, let’s stop giving actresses rape storylines as the only way to give them deep, emotional awards-bait performances. Stop it now. That said, Froggatt is a great actress and it’s not her fault that Julian Fellowes can’t write her better material.
Not That Surprising But Still Really Great
– Fargo for Best Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television. There are a lot of directions this could have gone and while I would have been fine with any of the nominees in this category winning, I am still very happy that Fargo won. It had an excellent first season and it’s probably my favorite show of any genre that premiered in the past year.
– Jeffrey Tambor for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Transparent. Much like the Best Actor in a Drama category, this wasn’t a very strong field. The exception, though, was that I did feel very strongly about Tambor. He so embodies the role of Maura Pfefferman and clearly has such respect for doing justice to the story of a trans woman who is transitioning later in life and all of the internal and external challenges that accompany that.
– Matt Bomer for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television for The Normal Heart. I had no strong feelings on this one but Bomer gave a really great speech. Maybe TV is just currently giving stronger roles to women than men and if so, that’s really great. I’m just glad that creepy Jon Voight didn’t win. He’s so creepy and Ray Donovan is so awful.
Unexpected and Delightful
– Transparent for Best Musical or Comedy. Like it’s fellow nominees Orange is the New Black and Girls, it’s debatable as to whether Transparent actually is a comedy but that doesn’t really matter. It’s an excellent show about an important issue with really rich characters and I love that it won.
– Gina Rodriguez for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for Jane the Virgin. This is where the Golden Globes’ tendency to get really weird leads to great results. Rodriguez is a huge part of why Jane the Virgin works so well and it’s great that her performance got the CW its first ever Golden Globe.
– Billy Bob Thornton for Best Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television for Fargo. So, so great. It was the last chance for Matthew McConaughey to win an award for True Detective and it’s a little ridiculous that he never won for a performance that was a huge part of why his show worked as well as it did. That said, Billy Bob Thornton was still really great in Fargo and I love that the HFPA seems to love this show almost as much as I do.
Unexpected and OK
– Ruth Wilson for Best Actress in a Drama for The Affair. Unlike her show, I’m OK with this win. Wilson did good with the material she was given and this felt more like a “We’re sorry we didn’t give you an award for your excellent work in Luther” sort of thing more than anything else.
Unexpected and Awful
– The Affair for Best Drama? They must have closed voting before the season actually ended and it turned from “Maybe The Affair isn’t as good as I thought it was.” to “The Affair definitely isn’t as good as I thought it was. It is an awful show about awful people that no one should watch.”