And the Golden Globe Attention Goes to . . .

By Lisa de Moraes
Friday, December 14, 2007

Here's the difference between Katherine Heigl and Hugh Laurie -- each of whom received a Golden Globe Awards nomination yesterday from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and took the opportunity to draw attention to the writers' strike that has shut down the television industry:

"I'm not crossing the picket line unless I'm obliged to do so -- and I'm not with the Golden Globes," Heigl, the resident sourpuss of "Grey's Anatomy," told celebrity suck-up show "Entertainment Tonight" in re whether she'll attend the ceremony, to be broadcast on NBC. Heigl is nominated for best supporting actress in a TV series.

"But enough about me -- what do you think of my nomination?" she added. Not really.

By the time the celebrity suck-up show "Extra" caught up with Heigl, she was waxing goopier, ruminating that while the Globes was an "awesome opportunity for everyone to get together and really sort of celebrate the year's work," if she can't attend "because we can't cross the picket lines . . . it's just going to be very disappointing and sad."

Which just goes to show you, as my father used to tell me when I was a wee babe, that all things are in fact relative. I, for instance, am thrilled at the prospect of a Katherine Heigl-free Golden Globes ceremony.

Moving on, "House" star Laurie had this to say about his nomination for best drama-series actor for the Fox show: "I'm extremely honored to be included in such company. But now, especially now, I have to emphasize how much I owe to [series creator] David Shore and all the writers on 'House.' Without them I wouldn't even know how to finish this sentence without . . . you know . . ."

The Tina Fey Twins also weighed in on the strike.

Tina Fey the Actress, who had been working on her NBC series "30 Rock" during the writers' strike, issued the following Official Statement about her Globe nomination for best actress in a comedy: "I am excited and very grateful to the Hollywood Foreign Press, and I look forward to being the least glamorous person at the Golden Globe Awards."

But shortly thereafter, Tina Fey the Writer -- who we're told was not busy yesterday morning manning the picket line at Viacom's Manhattan headquarters but was no doubt taking a well-deserved rest from her busy schedule of picketing photo ops -- awoke with a start, shouted, "What the heck?!" and retracted that statement, issuing instead an Official Statement that reads: "I'm very excited and grateful to the Hollywood Foreign Press. It's a happy piece of news in this weird season."

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With the Hollywood Foreign Press Association showering just 21 nominations on broadcast shows and 39 on pay and basic cable programs -- up from last year's 29 -- this year's list of television nominees reads like a Who's Who of the Barely Seen.

The Glenn Close vehicle "Damages," with an audience of just 2.5 million for its initial telecasts, sat "on the bubble" at FX for an eternity before being renewed. HBO's "Entourage" averaged just 3.4 million viewers in its initial plays in '07; AMC's "Mad Men" averaged 1 million. Showtime's "Californication" drew a mere 680,000 viewers, and its "The Tudors" just 640,000 viewers.

The only TV series nominated that have anything approximating a mass audience are ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," Fox's "House" and ABC's "Pushing Daisies." "Grey's," which snagged two nominations (Heigl's and one for best drama), averaged 19.73 million viewers this season. "House," with two nominations (Laurie's and best drama), averaged 18.44 million. "Daisies," with 3 noms, logs about 10.44 million viewers each week.

On the bright side, five freshman series were recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which tends to be more forward-looking than the TV Academy and its Emmy Awards -- the ne plus ultra of sentimentality. So "Damages" snagged a list-leading four Globe TV nods, but "The Sopranos" just one sad little nomination -- to Edie Falco. And other series TV critics continue to cling to, such as "Lost" and "24," were entirely snubbed. Look for outraged reports of said snubbing in other news accounts of the Globes nominations.

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This year's Globes list of nominated drama-series actresses looks like an Oscar field:

¿ Patricia Arquette, "Medium"

¿ Glenn Close, "Damages"

¿ Minnie Driver, "The Riches"

¿ Edie Falco, "The Sopranos"

¿ Sally Field, "Brothers & Sisters"

¿ Holly Hunter, "Saving Grace"

¿ Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer."

Because, as you know, once a film actress reaches "a certain age" the flow of great film roles sent her way tends to dry up and she tends to migrate to television if she wants to continue to work. These days, the flow of great broadcast TV roles sent her way also tends to dry up, which is why, you'll notice, most of these actresses are starring in shows on cable, which recently "discovered" middle-aged actresses could pull in a crowd. TNT's "The Closer" gets most of the credit. This past June's third-season debut clocked nearly 9 million viewers, the biggest audience ever for a series telecast on basic cable, breaking the record set by this drama's second-season debut, which logged 8.3 million.

* * *

A rash of British thespians erupted on yesterday's nominations list. The Globes are prone to this condition -- Angela Lansbury actually won four Globes for her "Murder, She Wrote" performances. But this year it seems particularly noticeable, no doubt because British actors are the latest fad among U.S. television casting suits.

Anna Friel is nominated for her "Pushing Daisies" starring role, Hugh Laurie is nominated, again, and Minnie Driver is up for her work on FX's "The Riches."

And Brit Ruth Wilson received PBS's only nomination this year -- for its latest adaptation of "Jane Eyre."

"Extras" is nominated for best TV comedy series and creator-star Ricky Gervais is up for best actor in a comedy series.

"Longford," the HBO flick shot by Britain's Channel 4 entirely in England, ties "Damages" as this year's most nominated program, with four noms, including one to star Jim Broadbent.