Globes and Choice awards facing off
If an awards show happened and nobody could watch it, would it make a sound? The Golden Globes wants to find out.
After a scandal-plagued year that forced the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to announce an overhaul of its membership ranks and prompted NBC to drop the annual telecast, the organization has opted to forge ahead with its awards despite the lack of a TV showcase. But that has spurred acrimony and confusion with another presentation, the Critics Choice Awards, which moved into the Globes’ Jan. 9 slot and will be televised on the CW and TBS.
The HFPA has cited continuity as a reason for proceeding with its awards, unveiling its nominations Monday, along with a detailed breakdown of all the reforms that have been implemented. Those changes include seeking to add greater diversity to its membership and addressing perceived ethical lapses involving some members, after the Los Angeles Times’ extensive reporting about the group earlier this year.
Those changes, presumably, could get the show back on NBC.
In the interim, though, there will be two award shows on Jan. 9, one (the Globes) with the historically higher profile, the other (Critics Choice) with the benefit of airing on TV.
When the HFPA announced its plans, Critics Choice CEO Joey Berlin called the move “petty and vindictive” as well as “an insult to the industry.”
The competing scenario has seemingly befuddled Hollywood and those charged with seeking whatever advantages they can in an awards race that, fueled by the pandemic, has muddied the outlook for contenders.
Beyond that, the steep decline for award-show ratings through 2021 has invited questions about the extent to which any of this matters.
Despite the feuding over their shared date, the two groups overwhelmingly agreed on their choices, overlapping in nine of the 10 slots for best picture, which the Globes split between drama and musical or comedy. The lone departure was director Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” which was included by Critics Choice members, while the Globes went with the upcoming musical “Cyrano,” starring “Game of Thrones’ ” Peter Dinklage.