2020 Golden Globe Awards: Television

Awards season is well and truly upon us, and the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards aired on Sunday night, showcasing some of the best of film and television in 2019.  Film twitter seems to have a complicated relationship with these shows, simultaneously realising their limited value whilst also placing importance on the outcome. We know we shouldn’t care, but we do. Hosted for the fifth time by controversial comedian Ricky Gervais who continued much of his mostly tiresome routine of trying to be offensive, this year’s ceremony ran rather smoothly, with Gervais playing a minimal role in the overall proceedings and each category flowing on from the last quite succinctly.

The topic of the evening revolved around the Australian bushfire crisis and the discussion around climate change, with many winners passing on messages of support and speaking out on the need for further action. Unable to attend the event due to the damage the fires have done to his property, Prominent Australian actor Russell Crowe – who took the top prize for his portrayal of disgraced Fox News chairman Roger Ailes – stressed that the situation was climate based in a powerful message to the industry read by Jennifer Aniston.

While the film categories featured a few unexpected wins, the TV awards seemed to mostly match up with the predictions. It’s been a great year for television; shows like Succession, Fleabag, and Chernobyl were widely acclaimed and dominated the discourse, with Fleabag earning a spot on former president Barack Obama’s “Quick List of TV Shows That I Considered as Powerful as Movies” list.

Actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge referenced this honour in her acceptance speech after the show’s win of ‘Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy’ in one of the best moments of the night. “Personally I’d also like to thank Obama for putting us on his list. As some of you may know, he’s always been on mine,” she said, adding, “And if you don’t get that joke, watch Season 1 of ‘Fleabag.’”

The charming British comedy took home two awards in total, with Waller-Bridge also scoring the much deserved ‘Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy’ award. Frontrunners Succession and Chernobyl took home two awards each, with acting Globes presented to renowned actors Brian Cox and Stellan Skarsgård for their respective roles.

One of the few pleasant surprises of the evening was Arabic actor Ramy Youssef taking the gold for his work in Ramy, the story of a first-generation Muslim-American navigating a divided political landscape in New Jersey. Youssef simply oozes charm and charisma; accepting the award in a suave maroon suit, his humble speech reiterated the importance the win had for representation, closing with “Allahu akbar. Thank you, God.”

Following its premiere back in 2016, Netflix’s period drama The Crown continues to achieve award success, with fan favourite Olivia Coleman winning ‘Best Actress – Drama’ for her role as Queen Elizabeth II less than a year after her well-deserved win at the Oscars last year. Unsurprisingly, she gave another totally endearing, stand-out speech, leaving us hoping she takes on more great roles in the coming years. In one of the last television awards of the ceremony, Michelle Williams received a tremendous amount of support for her powerful work as dancer/actress Gwen Verdon in the biographical miniseries Fosse/Verdon, taking home the Globe for ‘Best Actress in a Limited Series’.

Overall, the 2020 Golden Globes were as entertaining as could be expected. With a few passionate speeches, some surprises in the realm of film awards, and deserving accolades to some of the more senior representatives of the industry (Ellen Degeneres & Tom Hanks), the Golden Globes were the same as ever. With the Oscar nominations announced in under a week, it will be interesting to see how the winners of Sunday night’s awards will impact on Academy voters over the next few weeks, and whether or not the Oscars ceremony will follow suit in their minimal use of a host. Here is the full list of all winners in the Television arena:

Best Series, Drama

• Big Little Lies
• The Crown
• Killing Eve
• The Morning Show
• Succession – WINNER
  

Best Series, Comedy/Musical

• Barry
• Fleabag – WINNER
• The Kominsky Method
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• The Politician

Best Limited Series

• Catch-22
• Chernobyl – WINNER
• Fosse/Verdon
• The Loudest Voice
• Unbelievable

Best Actor in Drama Series

• Brian Cox, Succession – WINNER
• Kit Harington, Game of Thrones
• Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
• Tobias Menzies, The Crown
• Billy Porter, Pose

Best Actress in Drama Series

• Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
• Olivia Colman, The Crown – WINNER
• Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
• Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
• Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

• Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
• Bill Hader, Barry
• Ben Platt, The Politician
• Paul Rudd, Living With Yourself
• Ramy Youssef, Ramy – WINNER

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

• Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
• Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• Kirsten Dunst, On Becoming a God in Central Florida
• Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll
• Phoebe Waller Bridge, Fleabag – WINNER
  

Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series

• Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
• Kieran Culkin, Succession
• Andrew Scott, Fleabag
• Stellan Skarsgård, Chernobyl – WINNER
• Henry Winkler, Barry

Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series

• Patricia Arquette, The Act – WINNER
• Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
• Toni Collette, Unbelievable
• Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies
• Emily Watson, Chernobyl

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Television Motion Picture

• Christopher Abbott, Catch-22
• Sacha Baron Cohen, The Spy
• Russell Crowe, The Loudest Voice – WINNER
• Jared Harris, Chernobyl
• Sam Rockwell, Fosse/Verdon

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Television Motion Picture

• Kaitlyn Dever, Unbelievable
• Joey King, The Act
• Helen Mirren, Catherine the Great
• Merritt Wever, Unbelievable
• Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon – WINNER

Were you happy with the winners? What are your predictions for the 2020 Oscars? Let us know in the comments below.