The 2011 Golden Globe Awards air this Sunday at 8pm ET (5pm PT), and will be hosted once again by the incredibly funny Ricky Gervais. Last year saw a diverse pool of winners with Glee taking home the Best Comedy award while Mad Men won for the third year in a row in Drama.
This year’s TV nominees are a diverse mix of wild cards, new stars and old favorites, but which ones will win? Here are my TV predictions for this year’s Golden Globe Awards.
Best Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
The Walking Dead
PREDICTION: Boardwalk Empire
Without Breaking Bad, this category isn’t complete. Still, the Golden Globes love new blood, and I think they’ll want to anoint the HBO Prohibition Era drama as the new king.
Best Comedy
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie
PREDICTION: Glee
The Globes may want to follow the Emmys and recognize Modern Family this year, but I think they’ll still be won over by the showy fun of Glee and give it the honor again.
Best Actor in a Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
PREDICTION: Steve Buscemi
Continuing the trend for Best Drama, I think the Globes will really show their love for Boardwalk Empire by giving another award to Buscemi.
Best Actor in a Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matthew Morrison, Glee
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
PREDICTION: Matthew Morrison
This is a hard one to predict. Baldwin is the safe choice while Parsons is the right choice, but I think the Globes will want to reinforce their love of Glee by recognizing the male star, despite the fact that he hasn’t been very good recently.
Best Actress in a Drama
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
PREDICTION: Katey Sagal
I’m going out on a limb here, but since the Emmys refuse to nominate Sagal for her brilliant performance, I hope the Globes will highlight this tragic error by giving her the win.
Best Actress in a Comedy
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Lea Michele, Glee
PREDICTION: Laura Linney
Linney combined comedy and drama perfectly and delivered a performance that demands an award. There’s no way the Globes will resist.
Best Mini-Series or TV Movie
Carlos
The Pacific
The Pillars of the Earth
Temple Grandin
You Don’t Know Jack
PREDICTION: The Pacific
It’s a bit unfair to compare a 10-part miniseries to a TV movie, but if anything other than The Pacific wins, the Globes got it wrong.
Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie
Idris Elba, Luther
Ian McShane, The Pillars of the Earth
Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack
Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship
Edgar Rairez, Carlos
PREDICTION: Al Pacino
A Hollywood heavyweight playing a controversial real-life figure is a virtual guarantee to win.
Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie
Hayley Atwell, The Pillars of the Earth
Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
Judi Dench, Return to Cranford
Romola Garai, Emma
Jennifer Love Hewitt, The Client List
PREDICTION: Claire Danes
Those other four ladies don’t even need to show up, because Danes is such a lock that she could probably beat the field of ladies nominated in the film category too.
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie
Scott Caan, Hawaii Five-0
Chris Colfer, Glee
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
David Straithairn, Temple Grandin
PREDICTION: Scott Caan
This is a supremely weird category with so many different styles that I have no idea how the Globes will choose one. In that case, I go for the real dark horse, and that’s Caan, who delivers one of the most enjoyable performances on the biggest new hit of the year.
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie
Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch, Glee
Kelly MacDonald, Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
PREDICTION: Jane Lynch
Last year the Globes failed to give Lynch her much-deserved win, so I imagine they’ll make up for it this time.
(Images courtesy of HBO and FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
