It was out with the old and in with the new on Thursday (December 15) morning as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced a slate of TV nominations in which seven of 10 Best Series nominees were for new shows.
On the drama side, the clear leader was Showtime’s “Homeland.” One day after being shut out by the Screen Actors Guild, the terrorism drama picked up a Best Television Series, Drama nod, along with nominations for leads Claire Danes and Damian Lewis.
In the Drama Series category, “Homeland” will be going against fellow category newcomers “American Horror Story,” “Boss” and “Game of Thrones,” plus last year’s winner “Boardwalk Empire.” The influx of new blood meant that familiar awards favorites like “The Good Wife,” “Dexter” and “Breaking Bad” were left on the outside.
Facing off against Danes in the Actress in a Drama field will also be a slew of stars from new shows, led by Emmy nominee Mireille Enos of “The Killing,” Madeleine Stowe of “Revenge” and Callie Thorne of “Necessary Roughness.” The only returning nominee in the category is “Good Wife” star Julianna Margulies, while such regular awards favorites as Kyra Sedgwick, Glenn Close and last year’s winner Katey Sagal were excluded.
With last year’s winner Steve Buscemi and perennial contender Bryan Cranston nominated, Lewis’ Actor in a Drama competition has a little bit more seasoning, but the Golden Globe voters also nominated “Borgias” star Jeremy Irons and “Boss” star Kelsey Grammer in the category. Irons and Grammer obviously aren’t newcomers, but their shows are and those two actors meant the Globes favorites like Michael C. Hall and Hugh Laurie went nomination-less.
In the Best Series, Comedy category, established favorites “Glee” and “Modern Family” will face off against new shows “Enlightened,” “Episodes” and “New Girl,” which all also earned nominations for their stars.
Zooey Deschanel and Laura Dern topline the Actress in a Comedy category, which ended up featuring a slew of established regulars including “30 Rock” star Tina Fey, “Parks & Recreation” star Amy Poehler and last year’s winner, “The Big C” star Laura Linney.
“Episodes” lead Matt LeBlanc is up for Actor in a Comedy against Globes favorites Alec Baldwin, David Duchovny, Thomas Jane and “Big Bang Theory” star Johnny Galecki, subbing in for more decorated co-star Jim Parsons. You’ll also surely note the absence of Steve Carell for his last season on “The Office.”
While “Modern Family” didn’t get any lead acting nods — it never does — it was the only series represented in each of the Globes’ catch-all supporting categories.
Sofia Vergara will face off against Jessica Lange (“American Horror Story”), Kelly MacDonald (“Boardwalk Empire”), Maggie Smith (“Downton Abbey”) and Evan Rachel Wood (“Mildred Pierce”) for Supporting Actress, while Eric Stonestreet is the “Modern Family” representative against Peter Dinkage (“Game of Thrones”), Paul Giamatti (“Too Big To Fail”), Guy Pearce (“Mildred Pierce”) and Tim Robbins (“Cinema Verite”) for Supporting Actor.
Naturally, the Movie/Miniseries category was dominated by HBO’s “Mildred Pierce,” which also picked up the inevitable nod for star Kate Winslet, and PBS’ not-really-a-miniseries “Downton Abbey,” which also picked up nods for Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern. The other movie/miniseries nominees are “Too Big To Fail,” “Cinema Verite” and “The Hour,” which earned noms for leads Dominic West and Romola Garai.