Now this is immaculate: the CW’s drought of kudos traction has been broken in a big way this year with the Golden Globe comedy series nom for its buzzy frosh series “Jane the Virgin,” as well as a comedy actress bid for star Gina Rodriguez.
The noms mark the first Globe mentions for the CW since its debut in 2006.
Globe voters lived up to their reputation for giving important credibility boosts to young series. In addition to “Jane the Virgin,” voters showered Showtime’s hot freshman drama “The Affair” with three key noms, for drama series and acting bids for stars Ruth Wilson and Dominic West. The Globes attention was particularly important for “Affair” as the show came up empty on Wednesday in the SAG Award nominations, a surprise given West’s stature as an alum of “The Wire.”
Amazon’s “Transparent” is now officially a contender with a comedy series bid and an acting nod for Jeffrey Tambor. It was also surprisingly ignored by SAG voters.
The high volume of new series in the mix came at the expense of some awards darlings, including “Homeland” in the drama series race and “The Big Bang Theory” and “Modern Family” in comedy. “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” 2014’s surprise victor, also didn’t make the cut for comedy series in its sophomore season, nor was star Andy Samberg nommed for comedy actor after winning this year.
The comedy series nods have a decidedly female-focused bent with “Girls,” “Orange Is the New Black,” “Jane the Virgin” and “Transparent” — all led by female showrunners (Lena Dunham, Jenji Kohan, Jennie Snyder Urman and Jill Soloway, respectively) — squaring off against HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” which earned its awards cred earlier this year with an Emmy nom for comedy series in its frosh season.
Drama-wise, “The Good Wife,” “House of Cards” and “Downton Abbey” held on to their slots. The departure of “Breaking Bad” made room for “Game of Thrones” to get back in the Globes race after two years on the sidelines. “Affair” likely muscled “Masters of Sex” out of the running.
“Homeland’s” absence is a sign that the show’s season-four rebound came too late to make a difference in the Globes voting process for series, although Claire Danes was recognized in lead drama actress after being left out in 2014. And despite much praise for the first half of its final season, “Mad Men” is now out of the Globes mix entirely for a second year in a row.
Wilson faces fierce competition in the drama actress heat that includes Viola Davis, nommed for ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.” Just like in the SAG Award nominations unveiled Wednesday, Davis landed in the competition but her Shondaland colleague, Kerry Washington of ABC’s “Scandal,” did not make the cut. Nor did Tatiana Maslany of “Orphan Black,” although she did get a SAG nom.
“House of Cards” Robin Wright, who bagged the win this year, is back again, as is “Good Wife’s” Julianna Margulies. “OITNB’s” Taylor Schilling was in the drama hunt in 2014 but shifted to comedy this year.
Like West, Clive Owen of Cinemax’s “The Knick” busted in to the oh-so-tough lead drama actor race, elbowing past such presumptive contenders as “Mad Men’s” Jon Hamm and Michael Sheen of “Masters of Sex.” Their absence is all the more surprising given the Globes’ decision to put HBO’s “True Detective” in the movies/miniseries category, thereby easing the competitive pileup that was seen at the Emmys with stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson grabbing lead actor bids.
Nonetheless, James Spader of NBC’s “The Blacklist,” Kevin Spacey of “House of Cards” and Liev Schreiber of Showtime’s “Ray Donovan” made the cut for the second consecutive year.
The comedy actor field is all new with the exception of Don Cheadle for Showtime’s “House of Lies.” Globe voters can’t be too miffed at Ricky Gervais for his racy turns as Globes host a few years ago, as they saw fit to nominate him for the low-profile Netflix/Channel 4 series “Derek.” Louis C.K. for FX’s “Louie” and William H. Macy for Showtime’s “Shameless” are no surprise, although the absence of Jim Parsons of “Big Bang Theory” surely is.
Among the funny ladies, Lena Dunham of “Girls,” Edie Falco of “Nurse Jackie” and Julia Louis-Dreyfus of “Veep” are back again but this year’s winner, Amy Poehler of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” is not. Nor is “New Girl’s” Zooey Deschanel. Their slots went to “Orange is the New Black’s” Taylor Schilling and “Jane the Virgin’s” Rodriguez.
The Globes’ movie/miniseries category sets up a showdown between FX’s “Fargo” and “True Detective” that was avoided at the Emmys by HBO’s decision to field “Detective” as a drama series. Adding to the intrigue is the presence of HBO’s “The Normal Heart,” which was able to compete (and win) in the separate telepic category for Emmys. The longform lead actor category is a three-way brawl between “Fargo” (Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman), “True Detective” (McConaughey and Harrelson) and “Normal Heart’s” Mark Ruffalo.
And then there’s “Olive Kitteridge,” a lower-profile HBO mini but one that has plenty of baked-in awards bait in helmer Lisa Cholodenko and star Frances McDormand.
Starz got in under the longform tent with a nom for “The Missing” (along with its star Frances O’Connor). That probably cost SundanceTV its shot for “The Honorable Woman,” although it did get recognition in longform actress for star Maggie Gyllenhaal.
