Golden Globe Musings: Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Television Series

Golden Globe Musings: Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Television Series

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. As far as the supporting categories go, a majority of the nominees usually come from TV movies and mini-series. I will be analyzing and predicting only the nominees who come from drama or comedy series.

Last year’s nominees:
KATHERINE HEIGL, GREY’S ANATOMY
SARAH PAULSON, STUDIO 60 (show cancelled)
ELIZABETH PERKINS, WEEDS

This year’s top contenders:
KATHERINE HEIGL, GREY’S ANATOMY
Reviews of the show have gotten progressively worse, but Heigl is fresh off an Emmy victory. The Globes timeline includes the second half of the previous season which may be more favorable for Heigl.

ELIZABETH MITCHELL, LOST
Mitchell is chilling as the mysterious Other Juliet on the ABC drama. She somehow walked away without an Emmy nomination this past year but I doubt that every awards guild will be able to ignore her.

JAIME PRESSLY, MY NAME IS EARL
I have partially gotten over the fact that I think Pressly is terrible on the show and in no way deserving of an Emmy nomination, let alone a win. I am more surprised that the Globes have yet to include Pressly on their list of nominees. But hey, I will take my victories where I can get them.

JENNA FISCHER, THE OFFICE
I will never give up hope that some supporting cast member on “The Office” will get nominated for a Golden Globe. Fischer had an unbelievable year with excellent episodes which featured her showing off both comedic and dramatic skill. How can they not recognize her?

Anyone else? “Grey’s Anatomy” co-stars Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson could easily be on voters’ shortlists. Oh won this award two years ago, so she has the upper hand, but the Globes rarely invite past winners back for another go-around, unlike the Emmy Awards. Candice Bergen should be living proof of that unless she somehow gets another nomination for her downright awful performance on “Boston Legal”. If “Ugly Betty” is still as popular as it was last year, Vanessa Williams could end up with a nomination. I am rooting for Jane Krakowski to take advantage of buzz for “30 Rock”. Dana Delany is a new addition to the “Desperate Housewives” cast and could manage a surprise entry into this category. I support the chances of two actresses on new ABC shows: Natalie Zea (“Dirty Sexy Money”) and Kristin Chenoweth (“Pushing Daisies”), though how much the Globes will adore their shows is as of yet unknown.

Current predictions:
ELIZABETH MITCHELL, LOST
JENNA FISCHER, THE OFFICE