Golden Globe picks

Tonight are the Golden Globes, which celebrates a combination of Television and Film, and the awards are decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Here are my picks for who will take home the statues tonight on the television side of things. I am making a lot of far-out picks this year, so I fully expect to be wrong on several of them, but I am more so picking based on what I personally think deserves to win. Any pick marked with an * is basically a sure thing to win.

You can find a full list of the nominees here: http://www.goldenglobes.org/2012/12/nominations-2013/

Best Drama: Homeland*
Lead Actress in a Drama: Claire Danes (Homeland) *
Lead Actor in a Drama: Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom)
Best Comedy/Musical: Girls
Lead Actress in a Comedy/Musical: Lena Dunham (Girls)
Lead Actor in a Comedy/Musical: Louis C.K. (Louie)
Best Miniseries/TV Movie: Game Change
Lead Actress in a Miniseries/TV Movie: Julianne Moore (Game Change)
Lead Actor in a Miniseries/TV Movie: Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes)
Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey) *
Supporting Actor: Mandy Patankin (Homeland)

The Golden Globes are on tonight, January 13th, on NBC at 8:00pm ET.

Top Shows of 2012

It's the end of the year, so I will once again make my list for my picks of the top shows of 2012.  Making this list was very difficult, considering I watch just shy of 50 different television shows, and to narrow it down to just 10 took many, many edits. I have also made a list of the top 5 new shows of the year, which was not as difficult considering the selection of this year's new quality TV was slim compared to last year.

Warning: Mild Spoilers

Top 5 Best New Shows of 2012

5. Ben and Kate
-This adorable comedy about a brother and sister relationship has moments where I am crying because I laugh so hard. Nat Faxon is hysterical, and I cannot believe it took him this long to have his own show. The little girl, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, is ones of the cutest kids I have ever seen.  Plus, the sibling relationship reminds me of my own relationship with my brother, so I think it adds to its comedy.

4. Girls
-This HBO comedy has been an complete hit with critics, and has been recognized by both the Academy and the HFPA. Series creator and star Lena Dunham isn't afraid to showcase what is real about young single women. It's like Sex and the City, but more edgy.

3. Don't Trust the B**** in Apartment 23
-Krysten Ritter is one of those girls who is so funny without even trying. Her chemistry with Dreama Walker is spot on, and the main stars of the show are not even its leads. The real star is James Van Der Beek, who plays an outlandish version of himself. If you grew up loving Dawson's Creek, do yourself a favor and watch this show.

2. The Newsroom
-Easily the best written Drama on television, and Jeff Daniels is one of the strongest Lead Actors. From covering the BP oil spill, to Bin Laden's capture, to the election, the writing is so strong that is has me laughing and crying each week. I even personally enjoy the love stories that go along with it. The show was created by Aaron Sorkin, so would you expect anything but success?

1. Nashville
-From the pilot episode, this show became my new obsession. I cannot wait to buy the soundtrack to this show, considering all of its songs are original and have great potential to become Country hits. Connie Britton is an incredible actress and her rival, Hayden Panettiere is in a role that perfectly suits her. I also love the political backstory. Everything about the show makes you yearn for the next episode.


Top 10 Shows of 2012

10. Game of Thrones
-This show had the single best episode of any show all year. The "Blackwater" episode was written by the author of the books and was the best fight/battle scene I have ever scene. Add that to a decently steady season, and the show deserves to make a top ten list.

9. The Walking Dead
-Most fans would agree that this season of TWD is its strongest. I will agree with those fans. The show's ability to kill off its lead characters left and right makes you love and hate the writers at the same time. The show is not afraid to take risks, which is why it is so successful. The only reason it is not ranked higher is because of the stupid Andrea and The Governor story line.

8. Sons of Anarchy
-I just started watching SOA this season, and I became very involved, very quickly. I didn't even have an attachment to certain characters and I found myself loving and hating them as though I had been a fan from the beginning. I applaud the creator, Kurt Sutter, for taking a risk killing off a fan favorite out of the blue, as well as for showing the single most disturbing image I have ever seen on television (Otto ripping out his own tongue...you all were horrified too right?)

7. Parks and Recreation
-I personally don't think the current season of P&R is its best (minus the engagement!), but I am putting them on the Top 10 because of the episodes last spring, which was some of the best comedy on TV.  The election  episodes were very well written, and Paul Rudd made a perfect addition to the cast. Plus, the cast is the most collectively funny group of actors on television today.

6. Community
-If you know me well, or follow me on Twitter, you know how much I obsess over this show. Everything about it is hysterical and the only reason I am not putting it at number one is because there have not been any new episodes since May.  Also, I am still holding a grudge that Dan Harmon, its creator, was fired. Please NBC, save this show.

5. The Newsroom
-See above.

4. Nashville
-See above.

3. Dexter
-Call it the comeback story of the year. The show had two disappointing seasons and then came back with arguably its best season yet.  I cannot even count the times I was at the edge of my seat and shaking with suspense. And how about that ending?

2. Happy Endings
-Most people have probably never even heard of this show, and shame on you if you haven't.  The writing is fantastic, and there are constantly amazing (or should I say Ah-Mah-Zing) one-liners. Do yourself a favor and give it a try.

1. Homeland
-Two years in a row this has been my number one. There is a reason this show is winning all the awards and that is because it is consistently excellent each week. There are more twists and turns in a single episode than most shows have in a whole season. Claire Danes and Damien Lewis are both top-notch actors and have amazing chemistry that makes the show that much better.

Honorable mentions: Don't Trust the B**** in Apt. 23, Girls, 30 Rock, The Voice, and American Horror Story.

*It is also important to add that I am not completely caught up with the past year of Louie and Breaking Bad, which are two shows that most critics have within their top 10.

Golden Globe Reactions

So the Golden Globe nominations were announced a few days ago, and there were many surprises in the TV categories (in the movie categories not so much). A full list of all the nominations can be found here: http://www.goldenglobes.org/2012/12/nominations-2013/.
Many critics were baffled by some of the nominations, and lack-of nominations for particular people/shows. Here are a few of my opinions on the nominations.
*BTW: HFPA stands for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Things that I am mad at:
-No love for Community or Happy Endings. Fans love these shows. Critics love these shows. When will the Academy and HFPA start to love these shows as well?
-Smash for best Musical/Comedy? I mean, I liked the show and all, but there are so many other great comedies on television today.
-30 Rock not being nominated for best Comedy (umm...Tina Fey is hosting guys...)
-Parks and Recreation getting dissed again for best Comedy. Is anyone paying attention to how funny the writing is?
-American Horror Story:Asylum not being nominated for the Miniseries/TV Movie category. (In defense of HFPA, it is a really tough category)
-Nothing for The Walking Dead? Is the show just too bold for awards shows or something?
-Nothing for Game of Thrones? (Again...probably too bold of a show) Nothing for Peter Dinklage at least though? I mean...he WON the category last year, and now he didn't even get a nomination. Have you seen the Blackwater episode? It is acting at its finest.
-Nothing for Sons of Anarchy? I know that the HFPA doesn't hate the show considering Katey Sagal won a few years back. I just don't get it.

Things that I love:
-Two Words. Mandy Patinkin. He is so amazing in Homeland, and it is nice to see him get a nom from the HFPA when the Academy seemed to forget about him last summer.
-Amy Poehler. Obviously.
-Jeff Daniels with the Lead Actor nomination for The Newsroom. On that note...
-The Newsroom getting a nomination for Best Drama. I am so glad this amazing show is getting recognition.
-Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere for Nashville. Awesome show, and they are both amazing in it.
-Girls being nominated for Best Comedy (Could they actually pull an upset of Modern Family?) As well as a nom for its leading lady and creator Lena Dunham (she is so talented).
-Max Greenfield for New Girl. (Schmidt happens) Now if only we can squeeze Jake Johnson in there next year...

Random Opinions:
-I have said it before and I will say it again. Why does the HFPA clump together all of the supporting actors and actresses into one category? There should be separate categories for Comedy, Drama, and TV Movie/Miniseries. This category contains some of the best talent there is, and more actors should be getting the proper recognition.
-I cannot believe that Mad Men was not even nominated for Best Drama. (I'm not complaining considering I don't particularly like the show) The show is always considered the best of the best, and now it doesn't even have a chance.
-Will Damien Lewis' win from the Emmys be enough of a boost for him to beat Bryan Cranston for Lead Actor?
-I am interested to see how Jessica Lange will do in the lead actress category. Last year, she won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe in the Supporting race for AHS. Now she has to compete against Julianne Moore's Sarah Palin.
-I am glad Sarah Paulson was nominated for Game Change, but I think I would have rather her been nominated in the same category for American Horror Story: Asylum.

The Golden Globes will be televised on January 13th, 2013 on NBC at 8:00pm ET.

Emmy Picks!!

Hey all, so the Emmys are tomorrow night on NBC at 8:00 pm Eastern.  You can see a full list of all the nominees here http://www.emmys.com/nominations

I have made my personal picks on who I think will win each category, although there are so many close races this year and there are only a handful of categories that I am completely confident my picks will win.

So here are my personal picks for this year's winners (categories that are a shoe-in to win are marked with an *)

Outstanding Comedy Series: Modern Family*
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy: Amy Poehler
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy: Jim Parsons
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy: Kristen Wiig
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy: Ty Burrell

Outstanding Drama Series: Downton Abbey
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama: Claire Danes*
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama: Bryan Cranston*
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama: Maggie Smith
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama: Peter Dinklage

Outstanding Miniseries/TV Movie: Game Change
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries/TV Movie: Julianne Moore*
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries/TV Movie: Benedict Cumberbatch
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries/TV Movie: Jessica Lange*

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries/TV Movie: Denis O'Hare

Outstanding Variety Series: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart*

Outstanding Reality Competition Series: The Amazing Race

Outstanding Host for a Reality Show: Betty White

I encourage everyone to make their own picks, and I will post again with all of the winners on Monday.  Happy Emmys!!

Emmy Nomination Hopes

     The Emmys are only a few months away, and the nominations will be announced tomorrow morning.  I always have high hopes the couple weeks before the Emmys, and usually I am partially disappointed.  This year I am routing for one show in particular…Community.  Now don’t get me wrong, I obviously am wanting Homeland and other various shows to do well, but they are the ones that everyone expects to do well, and they will probably be announced on the day of nominations.

     Community is easily the best written comedy on television today.  This past season was the best one yet.  The show was not only nominated for best comedy in the Critic’s Choice Awards, but it also won, which is why I am hoping voters are paying attention.  The problem with Community is that nobody really watches it.  NBC is so dissatisfied with its numbers that they recently fired the show’s creator, Dan Harmon (worst decision in the world in my opinion).   After they fired him, I wanted even more for the show to be nominated for Best Comedy just so it can be thrown in NBC’s face that Dan Harmon is an absolute genius.

     If any of the actors from Community could somehow pull a nomination I would also be incredibly happy, especially if it is Danny Pudi for Supporting Actor or Allison Brie for Supporting Actress.  I actually think that Joel McHale for Lead Actor stands a pretty good chance for a nomination. 

     Hell, I would be happy for the show to even get a nomination for best lighting or something along those lines. 

Some other hopes that I have for tomorrow:

-Nick Offerman for Supporting Actor for his work on Parks and Recreation (Ron Swanson is one of the best characters on television and he is one of the announcers tomorrow so I am hoping that means his name is on the list finally)

-Homeland to get as many nominations as possible

-Zooey Deschanel for Lead Actress and Max Greenfield for Supporting Actor for their work on New Girl

-American Horror Story to shine in the Miniseries/TV Movie category

-Madeleine Stowe for Supporting Actress for her work on Revenge (If Revenge is to get any recognition, it will be through her)

I will report back soon with all of the nominations!

Update (Major Spoiler contained)

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of writing, but I have taken a short break from my regular TV lineup and am instead catching up on movies and reading.  (BTW...I read The Hunger Games and it is now my new obsession...you should read it!)
Just to give you a quick fill-in on the television world, this past week a major thing happened on The Walking Dead.  When I first started this blog back in December I mentioned that a hit show was killing off a lead character.  Well...the character in question was Shane.  I agree with the article for sure since I cannot imagine how this show is going to survive without him.  However, it really shows that The Walking Dead writers have balls, and anyone who said they were being too safe and boring can basically shut their mouths now.  I guess we will see if the finale next episode will bring any more shocking news, and we will have to wait till next season to see how the show will do without him.

Sorry for the spoiler for anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet...but don't say I didn't warn you!

Oscars!

The Oscars are tonight! I'm not as excited as usual for the show this year as I am not predicting there to be any surprises.  I think The Artist will walk away with the most awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.  The Descendants will come in second because of Best Actor, and maybe even Best Screenplay.  For most of the categories, you can just look at who has dominated for the other award shows, and they will be the ones to come out of top once again tonight.

Make sure you tune in tonight at 7 on ABC.  I'm sure Billy Crystal will not disappoint.