The 72nd Golden Globes Awards Sunday went about as expected. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey had another sharp and funny monologue (and promptly disappeared for most of the rest of the long telecast). Movie wins went to “Birdman” and “Boyhood.”
And in TV, there was the kind of things the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are known for: plucking out talent on first season shows and maybe blowing up their assets a teensy bit more than they deserved. Not that there was anything wrong with The CW’s low rated “Jane the Virgin” winning best comedy actress in fresh faced Gina Rodriguez.
The prizes will get more people to watch it, which is good (as long as people don’t think it’s actually better than “Louie” or “Veep” or something as best comedy). The same goes for “The Affair,” the freshman Showtime series that outdid its accompanying “Homeland” with wins for best TV drama and best actress in Ruth Wilson.
It’s a kind of gripping and beautiful looking saga, to be sure, but as creator Sarah Treem said when I asked her today, sets up all kinds of crazy expectations for season two when second seasons already have a lot of such baggage.
What was surprising is that so many awards went to underdog networks: Showtime instead of HBO; The CW instead of any other commercial broadcast network. And PBS got one, for Joanne Froggatt’s portrayal of embattled Mrs. Bates on “Downton Abbey.”
The big news was widening the TV field way beyond just cable and broadcast, as not only did Kevin Spacey win for Netflix’ “House of Cards” but Amazon’s “Transparent” won best comedy series and actor in Jeffrey Tambor. He certainly deserved it, but why as “actor” instead of “actress”?
“Fargo” got its deserved kudos as best TV miniseries (the key is to define it as miniseries instead of series) and best actor in such with Billy Bob Thornton.
But how much did any of this matter? As winner Wes Anderson sardonically showed, reading the obscure foreign names of the shadowy few voters of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, maybe not much.
But it was a good excuse for a party and OK Tv show.