The 75th annual Golden Globes Awards airs live at 7 p.m. today on NBC. Seth Meyers will be trying to keep the action moving. It'll be like herding cats.
The Golden Globes are more of a party than all the other awards shows, especially the Academy Awards. Perhaps it's because a Golden Globe doesn't have the career-changing gravitas of an Oscar.
I suspect that's because there are only about 90 voting members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association compared to some 6,000 in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Nonetheless, a Golden Globe nomination or win is always going to be on the resume because the ceremony is viewed in more than 236 countries. Last year's awards were seen in the United States by 20 million viewers.
In addition, those 90 HFPA members represent 56 countries with a combined readership of 250 million.
The Golden Globes ceremony is also the first in the new year's awards season, and the venue, the Beverly Hilton's International Ballroom, is intimate and conducive to letting your hair down.
I've been in that ballroom numerous times on press tours and can attest that it's much smaller than it looks on TV. It's downright cozy and, by golly, the restrooms are just right there, not 30 feet away on the upper tier.
That handy availability led to the awards' most famous (and hilarious) moment. It was 1998 when Christine Lahti thought she had plenty of time to just dash in to, um, powder her nose. She missed Michael J. Fox call her name for best actress in a TV drama for Chicago Hope.
When she finally blushed her way to the stage, Robin Williams (who had been vamping to kill time) gave her a hand towel. The room erupted in laughter as Lahti blurted out, "You know, I was in the bathroom, Mom."
You won't see that sort of fun at the Oscars.
Trivia: Lahti's fellow nominees that year were not in the bathroom. Waiting anxiously in their seats were Gillian Anderson (The X-Files); Kim Delany (NYPD Blue); Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel) and Julianna Margulies (ER).
Also, did you ever wonder about Hollywood's so-called "awards season"? It actually begins in early November with a handful of honors through the middle of December, but kicks into high gear with the Golden Globes.
The big seasonal finale is always the Oscars, to be held this year on March 4. But between tonight's Golden Globes and the Oscars come 10 other excuses to don a tux or gown and strut the red carpet.
Here for your edification are the awards that loom ahead.
People's Choice Awards (Tuesday); NAACP Awards (Jan. 15); Producers Guild of America Awards (Jan. 20); Screen Actors Guild Awards (Jan. 21); Grammy Awards (Jan. 28); Directors Guild of America Awards (Feb. 3); Writers Guild of America Awards (Feb. 11); BAFTA Awards (Feb. 18); Razzie Awards (March 3); Independent Spirit Awards (March 3).
Finally, we'll leave the Golden Globes movie awards to the movie critics. Here are the nominees in the television categories, along with my personal picks (not that they'll win).
Drama: The Crown, Netflix; Game of Thrones, HBO; The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu; Stranger Things, Netflix; This Is Us, NBC. My pick: Game of Thrones.
Musical or Comedy: black-ish, ABC; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon; Master of None, Netflix; Smilf, Showtime; Will & Grace, NBC. My pick: black-ish.
Limited Series or Motion Picture: Big Little Lies, HBO; Fargo, FX; Feud: Bette and Joan, FX; The Sinner, USA Network; Top of the Lake: China Girl, Sundance TV. My pick: Big Little Lies.
Actress, Drama: Caitriona Balfe, Outlander; Claire Foy, The Crown; Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Deuce; Katherine Langford, 13 Reasons Why; Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale. My pick: Claire Foy.
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Pamela Adlon, Better Things; Alison Brie, Glow; Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Issa Rae, Insecure; Frankie Shaw, Smilf. My pick: Pamela Adlon.
Actress, Limited Series or Motion Picture: Jessica Biel, The Sinner; Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies; Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan; Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan; Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies. My pick: Nicole Kidman.
Actor, Drama: Jason Bateman, Ozark; Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us; Freddie Highmore, The Good Doctor; Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul; Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan. My pick: Freddie Highmore.
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Anthony Anderson, black-ish; Aziz Ansari, Master of None; Kevin Bacon, I Love Dick; William H. Macy, Shameless; Eric McCormack, Will & Grace. My pick: Anthony Anderson.
Actor, Limited Series or Motion Picture: Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies; Jude Law, The Young Pope; Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks; Ewan McGregor, Fargo; Geoffrey Rush, Genius. My pick: Geoffrey Rush.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 01/07/2018