Golden Globe Musings: Best Actress in a TV Series – Comedy/Musical

The following represents some preliminary thoughts on Golden Globe contenders for the given category. Predictions will be narrowed and revised towards the end of November or the beginning of December. A reminder that last year’s nominees mean zilch at the Globes and that the race is almost entirely unpredictable.

Last year’s nominees:
MARCIA CROSS, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
FELICITY HUFFMAN, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, OLD CHRISTINE
AMERICA FERRERA, UGLY BETTY
MARY-LOUISE PARKER, WEEDS

This year’s top contenders:
PATRICIA HEATON, BACK TO YOU
The show is doing well with ratings and critics somehow seem to like it. Heaton could break in to this category, but keep in mind that she was never nominated during the entire run of “Everybody Loves Raymond” (Ray Ramano was the show’s only nominee, three years in a row). Truth be told, she really is not good on this show.

MARCIA CROSS, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
With nominations three years running, Cross seems a shoo-in for a fourth. The problem is that Cross was absent most of early 2007 for the second half of the show’s third season. Her nomination will have to depend entirely upon her work in the show’s fourth season, which to this point has not been altogether impressive.

TERI HATCHER, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
They absolutely loved her during year one, giving her the win. They liked her somewhat the second year, nominating her along with the other three Housewives. Last year, not so much. I think Hatcher’s time has passed, though I am sure her book about her comeback would be inclined to disagree.

FELICITY HUFFMAN, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
Huffman is the most overrated Housewife, but her role just keeps getting baitier. Unless the Globes completely pass on “Desperate Housewives” (which they have a history of doing with shows that critics abandon), Huffman should definitely be in.

EVA LONGORIA, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
Longoria has received only one nomination, but honestly she has been the strongest player on the show this past year. I know that pretty much no one agrees with me on this, so I will not inflate her chances, but if voters really look at the effort she is putting in to the performance, she might have a shot.

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, OLD CHRISTINE
I had hoped this would be a fad quickly gotten over by all the awards guild, but a second Emmy nod for Louis-Dreyfus indicates otherwise. She could be in by default to the end of her show simply because they liked her on “Seinfeld” and figure she may as well be here again (see: Matt LeBlanc’s nomination for “Joey”).

CHRISTINA APPLEGATE, SAMANTHA WHO?
The new hit ABC comedy stars Applegate as a woman who used to be really mean, but after getting amnesia tries to correct the error of her ways. It is a great role and Applegate plays it supremely. There are people who will find it too gimmicky and Applegate too whiny. Applegate previously earned a nomination for the 1998 NBC comedy “Jesse”.

TINA FEY, 30 ROCK
Fey, the “straight [wo]man” on the show, did not get nominated last year. “30 Rock” has skyrocketed in popularity with critics since then, winning the Emmy for Best Comedy Series and earning Fey an Emmy nomination. I still think the Globes will ignore Fey simply because the role is not showy.

AMERICA FERRERA, UGLY BETTY
Last year’s winner went on to win the Emmy, proving that audiences still love her. I have not heard a peep about the second season of “Ugly Betty” so I cannot say whether it has declined in quality or anything like that. Ferrera is to me the most bearable part of “Ugly Betty” so I do not mind her nomination as much as I mind the show showing up elsewhere (like Best Comedy Series).

MARY-LOUISE PARKER, WEEDS
Anyone who has been watching the third season of “Weeds” should agree that this is Parker’s best season yet. With a more ridiculous plotline and juicier material for her character, Nancy, Parker has run with every punch and excelled at it.

Anyone else? “Men in Trees” star Anne Heche entertains her audience on Friday nights on ABC but has yet to receive a mention from any awards guild. Joely Fisher is a respected actress, despite her dismal performance on “’Til Death”. I am not sure if Anna Friel is considered lead on “Pushing Daisies”, but I feel like she is just a bit too perky for Globe voters’ tastes. And to go out on a limb, let us call Sarah Silverman a contender for her show of the same name.

Current predictions:
FELICITY HUFFMAN, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, OLD CHRISTINE
CHRISTINA APPLEGATE, SAMANTHA WHO?
AMERICA FERRERA, UGLY BETTY
MARY-LOUISE PARKER, WEEDS