The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards will honor the best in film and television from the past year. Hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the ceremony will air on NBC Sunday, January 13 at 8pm ET (5pm PT).
The Globes are customarily less stuffy than most other awards shows and also more unpredictable. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association loves to honor newer and smaller shows.

Complete List of 2013 Golden Globe Nominees>>

Last year the Golden Globes were the first awards show to honor Homeland, leading to its eventual Emmy victory. But they also recognize performers overlooked by the Emmys. Recent Golden Globe winners include Matt LeBlanc for Episodes, Kelsey Grammer for Boss, Katey Sagal for Sons of Anarchy and Anna Paquin for True Blood.

What TV shows and actors will win this year? Here are my predictions.

DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Homeland
The Newsroom

Prediction: Downton Abbey. Last year Homeland won this award, but Downton won for Best Miniseries/TV Movie. Oddly enough, this year Downton is competing as a Drama while American Horror Story (nominated last year in this category) is a Miniseries.

As for the prediction, Downton Abbey seems to have all the momentum. It has grown in popularity over the past year and the recent season 3 premiere drew nearly 8 million viewers on PBS in America. Homeland drew some negative reviews for its soapier second season, so now it's Downton's time to shine. It also doesn't help that the Golden Globes love to spread the wealth as The X-Files and Mad Men are the only dramas to win the award more than once in the past 25 years.

COMEDY/MUSICAL
The Big Bang Theory
Episodes
Girls
Modern Family
Smash

Prediction: Girls. The inclusion of Smash is puzzling at best, but it shouldn't pose much of a threat. Modern Family may be the reigning champion at every awards show, but Girls is the hot new thing, something the Golden Globes love. Also, no major network half-hour comedy has one this award multiple times since The Golden Girls 25 years ago.

DRAMA ACTOR
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Damian Lewis, Homeland

Prediction: Jeff Daniels. The Globes love fresh blood. Eight of the last 10 winners in this category (and 17 of the last 25) were first-time nominees, which greatly benefits Daniels, the only first-timer.

DRAMA ACTRESS
Connie Britton, Nashville
Glenn Close, Damages
Claire Danes, Homeland
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Prediction: Claire Danes. In the history of this category only two women have won multiple times for the same role: Angela Lansbury for Murder, She Wrote and Edie Falco for The Sopranos. I think Danes may join them as she is still the most exciting actress on television. However, if tradition holds, that only leaves Britton and Dockery as the sole nominees who haven't won before.

COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Louis C.K., Louie
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Prediction: Louis C.K. There's no one cooler than Louis C.K., and he seems like the kind of hip, outside-the-box winner the Globes would love to pick. Of course the competition is stiff as all four of the other men have won Golden Globes before.

COMEDY ACTRESS
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Lena Dunham, Girls
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Prediction: Amy Poehler. Dunham may be the new IT girl and Louis-Dreyfus is coming off an Emmy win, but my money is on Poehler. She's hosting, which means the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is aware of who she is, and that should be all it takes. She had a tremendous year on Parks and Recreation and even though her show isn't new, the Globes could still be considered cutting edge since Poehler has NEVER won a single award for her work.

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Max Greenfield, New Girl
Ed Harris, Game Change
Danny Huston, Magic City
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Prediction: Mandy Patinkin. Holla! I don't know if there's an actor with more goodwill for his performance than Patinkin, whose shout-out during Claire Danes' Emmy acceptance speech was awesome. Danes and Lewis might get the attention, but Patinkin is the unsung hero of Homeland and the Globes can sing his praises.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Hayden Panettiere, Nashville
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Sarah Paulson, Game Change
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Prediction: Sofia Vergara. Talk about an odd mix of nominees. TV movie and miniseries stars historically have a better track record, but Paulson doesn't seem to have much of a chance. Vergara is wonderfully over-the-top and, as the only comedic performance, she stands out.

TV MOVIE/MINISERIES ACTOR
Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
Woody Harrelson, Game Change
Toby Jones, The Girl
Clive Owen, Hemingway and Gellhorn

Prediction: Benedict Cumberbatch. This guy is the next big thing, bound to become a huge star in 2013. So it would make sense for the Globes to start his year off right.

TV MOVIE/MINISERIES ACTRESS
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway and Gellhorn
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Asylum
Sienna Miller, The Girl
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals

Prediction: Julianne Moore. Between these nominees you have 16 Oscar nominations, 8 Emmy nominations and 31 previous Golden Globe nominations. While Moore and Lange both won Emmys this past year (and Lange won the Golden Globe for Supporting Actress last year for American Horror Story), I give Moore the edge for her spot-on portrayal of Sarah Palin.

TV MOVIE/MINISERIES
Game Change
The Girl
Hatfields and McCoys
The Hour
Political Animals

Prediction: Hatfields and McCoys. When in doubt, go for the biggest hit, and Hatfields and McCoys was a massive ratings success.


Find out who will win the awards when the 2013 Golden Globe Awards air Sunday, January 13 at 8pm ET (5pm PT) on NBC.


(Image courtesy of PBS)