Behind the scenes at the Golden Globes.
The Golden Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual awards ceremony, is famous for being Hollywood’s party of the year. Jenny Cooney Carrillo, a long-time member of the HFPA and the person responsible for the seating arrangements on the big night, shares some memorable moments from past awards.
Three-way Golden Globe tie
In 1989, for the only time in Globes’ history, there was a three-way tie with Jodie Foster (The Accused), Shirley MacLaine (Madame Sousatzka) and Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas In The Mist) all taking home the Best Actress In A Drama trophy. What’s even more surprising is that one of the two losing actresses was Meryl Streep, for her role as Lindy Chamberlain in Evil Angels. (The other was Christina Lahti for Running On Empty.)
Nicole Kidman wins Globe but snubbed by Oscars
Nicole Kidman earned her first surprise Golden Globe nomination opposite Dustin Hoffman in the 1991 drama Billy Bathgate and four years later won the trophy for To Die For (1995). She was not even nominated for an Oscar in the category for which she won her Globe.
The Martian wins best comedy
Even the film’s director, Ridley Scott, expressed disbelief that he’d made a comedy when he accepted the Golden Globe award for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy in 2016. It turns out the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which judges the Globes, allows studios to submit the category themselves and even though they had initially baulked at the decision to enter the film as a comedy, they were overruled on appeal.
Party Of Five won’t include cops and doctors
One of the major upsets of the 1996 ceremony was the family coming-of-age drama Party Of Five beating two of the most talked-about shows in TV history – ER and NYPD Blue. Anthony Edwards was the only actor from ER to win a Globe on the show although George Clooney and Juliana Margulies were among the cast who received multiple acting nominations.
Gina Rodriguez no longer a Globes virgin
Gina Rodriguez’ 2015 TV nomination was already a surprise. The relatively unknown actress in Jane The Virgin beat out fellow nominees Lena Dunham, Edie Falco, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Taylor Schilling and gave audiences the kind of Cinderella story we all love.
The one where big comedy hits never win
Two of the most popular comedy series in TV history never won a Golden Globe. Friends (1994-2004) was nominated for 10 Golden Globes, but Jennifer Aniston was the only winner, in 2003. During the eight-season run of Will & Grace, the show earned 27 Golden Globe nominations, but never won a single award for the show or its cast.
Friday Night Lights out
The drama series (2006-11) starring Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton was one of the most acclaimed dramas on TV and racked up 13 Emmy nominations including a win for Chandler but never had a single Golden Globe nomination.
TV snubs
The HFPA has a reputation for discovering ground-breaking TV, from The X-Files to Ally McBeal, but they dropped the ball on two acclaimed shows. Neither The Wire (2002-08) nor The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78) were nominated for Best Series, although The Wire star Idris Elba went on to win one for Luther and co-star Dominic West was nominated for The Affair. Actors who have been famously snubbed include Cheers (1982-93) star Rhea Perlman, who earned a record
six nominations in the Best Supporting category but never walked away with a trophy; Cindy Williams, who was never nominated for Laverne & Shirley (1976-83) although her co-star Penny Marshall got two nods; and, more recently, Sam Heughan was snubbed for the series Outlander despite both the show and his co-star, Caitriona Balfe, being nominated.