Golden Globes need polish part I: drama and miniseries

     On January 17th, the Golden Globes will kick off the winter awards season by naming their winners.  Globes are given for both TV and movies, but since I write mostly about TV, we're just going to deal with that.  Here's who is nominated for dramas and miniseries and who should win, in my opinion.  Disclosure: I never score very well with awards ballots, so these predictions may be way off.  I will post an article on comedy and supporting roles next week.

*BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA - Big Love (HBO), Dexter (Showtime), House (Fox), Mad Men (AMC), True Blood (HBO).  Not being subscribed to HBO and Showtime, I have to wait for DVDs and haven't seen the latest, but I hear True Blood is only getting more awesome, and I'm sick of boring old Mad Men winning, so True Blood.

*BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA - Simon Baker, The Mentalist; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Jon Hamm, Mad Men; Hugh Laurie, House; Bill Paxton, Big Love.  Hugh Laurie or Michael C. Hall.  Laurie's two episode turn in the mental hospital was his top acting of the series, while Dexter went twisted in a completely unexpected way.  Personally, I would choose Laurie, but either deserve it.

*BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA - Glenn Close, Damages; January Jones, Mad Men; Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Anna Paquin, True Blood; Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer.  Let's give True Blood a little more loving and go with Anna, shall we?  Don't get me wrong, Glenn was fantastic, but she won last year, and I don't believe in double winners unless they really do something unusually special the second time.  The other shows are subpar, so we'll toss those three out.

*BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION - Georgia O’Keefe (Lifetime), Grey Gardens (HBO), Into the Storm (HBO), Little Dorrit (PBS), Taking Chance (HBO).  Grey Gardens.  Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange reminded us that celebrity fascination is nothing new, and in a year where the obsession has been kicked up a notch, let's continue the trend by honoring one of the original examples of our voyeurism.

*BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION - Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance; Kenneth Branagh, Wallander: One Step Behind; Chiwetel Ejiofor, Endgame; Brendan Gleeson, Into the Storm; Jeremy Irons, Georgia O’Keefe.  Brendan Gleeson should win.  Here's more than just Professor Moody in Harry Potter.  He's a fantastic actor, as proven in his turn as Churchill.  Give him an award.

*BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION - Joan Allen, Georgia O’Keefe; Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens; Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens; Anna Paquin, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler; Sigourney Weaver, Prayers for Bobby.  Let's go with Joan Allen.  You can't split the Gardens duo, and Georgia O'Keefe won't get any love anywhere else.