Well, it’s possible but not very likely. The Golden Globes are substantially different from the Emmy’s, where in the last five years just 4 winners of the Globes in a major category have gone on to win Emmy’s.
The Golden Globes are awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). HFPA was founded in 1943 but they didn’t begin handing out television awards until 1955, and, as can be seen by the seating arrangements at last nights 66th Golden Globe Awards, they still treat television as an afterthought. The Globes are an odd little award show, which seems to have historically been instituted in order to garner more attention from the studios for the foreign press corps. The membership of HFPA is quite small, about 90 people total.
The Eligability requirements for TV shows, as posted on the HFPA website basically detail the hours and number of episodes that a program must air and that it must be generally available for TV viewing. Oh, and it has to be at least partly of US origins. This is all well and good but then there is this portion:
“*Registration: *
An entry form must be duly completed and returned to the HFPA as early as possible, but no later than the date given in the official 66th Golden Globe Awards Timetable.”
Followed by this hidden at the bottom:
“Throughout the year, the HFPA will meet with cast of selected television series, mini-series and motion pictures made for television to journalistically cover these shows. This is at the discretion of the Television Committee and all requests must be submitted by September 1 of each calendar year.
IN ALL INSTANCES, THE FINAL DECISION ON ALL ELIGIBILITY ISSUES RESTS WITH THE HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION.”
This made me curious, so I started digging and found out that this is really a giant shell game. The studios nominate their shows (through the registration form) then this group of grade B entertainment critics, many of whom are not even full time reporters, decides who they will let schmooze them this year. The studio of the HFPA chosen shows are expected to feed this group described as “more star-struck fans and moochers than serious reporters.” in an expose movie called “The Golden
Globes: Hollywood’s Dirty Little Secret” released in 2003 and directed by Vikram Jayant.
L.A. Weekly film critic John Powers said the group’s members are “essentially just bottom-feeders around the industry, who’ve somehow been inflated to this point where their judgment is supposed to be very, very important.”
According to MSNBC, “If stars and filmmakers fail to turn up for a schmooze session with the HFPA, it generally kills a movie’s chances for Golden Globe nominations, which draw attention that can boost a film’s Oscar prospects.”
After digging this information up I couldn’t help but reflect on my first reaction when I heard that Anna was nominated for a Golden Globe and that Stephen wasn’t. I was totally befuddled. No matter how one feels about Anna’s performances, the general consensus is that Stephen Moyer’s performances have been pure magic, the glue that holds the show together and the only reason that many watch. Could it all be so simple as Stephen wasn’t there, perhaps he was back in England during the True Blood schmooze fest set up for the HFPA? Or is it just that since they value movie actors so much more than television, Anna got the nod due to her prior work while Stephen was ignored? Potentially they could have voted on whom to nominate having seen neither a single episode nor even a single scene with Vampire Bill in it. According to Wikipedia, some years the decision on who wins has been made by as few as 22 voting members!
Twenty-two part time movie fans getting all this attention. Evidently you need to be recommended by someone already in the association in order to join as well. HFPA: a nice neat little fraternity of career assassins in the making.
I don’t blame Alan Ball for playing the game but I am sorely disillusioned after learning all this. The award isn’t worthless because it brought True Blood even more visibility, something very valuable to me as a fan of the show. It was wonderful to see all of the great talent in one place enjoying themselves. Which brings us back to the original
question: Could Anna Paquin’s Golden Globe win foretell a Possible Emmy? Apparently not. Apparently, any similarity to an actual achievement award, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintentional. Void where prohibited by transparency laws. Some dissemblance is required.
Canadian entertainment writer, Constance Droganes for CTV.ca television takes a look at the nominees for Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards and discusses the surprised nominations and snubs. While she goes through all the categories the one that caught my eye was her appraisal of Alan Ball’s HBO TV series True Blood’s nomination for Best TV Drama. Constance Droganes lists “True Blood” as one of the surprise nominees for this year’s Golden Globe, but seems to have high praise for its inclusion for a Golden Globe. She states “HBO’s juicy new vampire drama bit into our consciousness in a big way in 2008. Scoring two Golden Globe nominations for Best Television Series and Best Actress (Anna Paquin), this fiendishly good romp in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana kicked the Globes’ usual contenders to the curb. And why not? Hot vampire hunks, the luscious heroine Sookie Stackhouse (Paquin), earthlings and bloodsucklings getting it on…Yes, all that bloody good tomfoolery hooked viewers and Globe voters, leaving them hungry for more.” We just have to wait and see how the Hollywood Foreign Press Association voted.
The countdown has begun to the Golden Globes and the anticipation for True Blood and Anna Paquin winning in their categories is growing. Many websites have already been making their picks for who will be taking the Golden Globes. Since this site is dedicated to “True Blood” we, of course, want Alan Ball‘s hit HBO TV series “True Blood“ to take the Best TV Drama Series award and Anna Paquin to win Best Actress in a TV Drama Series. Some websites have made predictions who they believe will win the awards. According to The Feed at tampabay.com they feel that Anna Paquin will win the Best Actress category because of her work on “True Blood” and her previous Oscar win making her a strong candidate. However, they do not mention “True Blood” but we know that “True Blood” should win and we would all love to see the whole cast up on stage accepting the award.
Alan Ball’s HBO hit TV series “True Blood” has made quite an impression on TV critics in its freshman year. According to Josef Adalian of TV Week, TV critics are seeing the reasons for the popularity of the show and praising its merits. For a new TV Drama it has done extremely well among the competition by ranking fifth on the Critics Poll and the only new series to be in the top 10 for 2008. The critics were particularly impressed with the strong cast on the show which only emphasizes what alot of fans already had know. With Alan Ball”s superb production and the amazingly talented actors on the show it is no wonder that “True Blood” is now the third highest ranked show in HBO history only behind of the “Sopranos” and “Sex in the City”. To read the article on “True Blood” and the others on the TV critics hit list, click the link below.
It seems that the cast continues to expand for Alan Ball’s successful HBO TV series “True Blood” for Season 2. Spoiler TV reports several casting calls for various new characters (who were not in Book 2) for Season 2. Some of the characters that may have recurring appearances are Dirk, a youong man who hates vampires; Amanda, a young Christian girl who plays in an all-female Christian band; Mrs. Hanby, Jessica’s mother; Mr. Hanby, Jessica’s father; Eden, Jessica’s little sister; two salesladies, a large woman and a female achorperson on TV. Furthermore, Alan Ball states that in regards to whether Lafayette is dead or not we will have to wait and see bcause anything is possible. In regards ti who Maryann is all that Alan will state is that she is ancient and a different type of supernatural creature. To read the full details you can cloick on the link below.
Steven Eramo from Newsrama.com had the opportunity to interview Carrie Preston who plays the fiery redheaded waitress, Arlene Fowler, on Alan Ball’s hit HBO TV series “True Blood”. Carrie explains in detail her introduction into acting and the many shows and movies that she has been involved in. It was interesting to read that she tends to get cast for parts that she would not necessarily think of pursuing in the first place. However, alot of the time the producers see something in her that would bring their characters to life. In the end she is glad for this because she feels she doesn’t get typecasted and as she states she is then able to walk down the street without anyone knowing who she is. Perhaps the most fun part of the interview was her description of the engagement party and how she and Michael Raymond-James (Renee) had to do the dance scene. To read more of this fascinating interview with this wonderful actress, please click the link below.
Matthew Gilbert from the Boston Globe reviews Alan Ball’s HBO TV series “True Blood” and looks at the dynamics on the show and interesting metaphors and analogies. The article focuses on Bill and the difficulties he suffers not only for being different but because of the townpeople’s disapproval of his relationship with Sookie. The show may be about vampires, shapeshifters and a telepathic waitress but it divulges deeper into the under belly of society and the misunderstanding and suspicion that people face and see in others in real life. The author of the article gives high praise to Stephen Moyer for his portrayal of Bill Compton for his ability to give so much depth to his character. He states that the chemistry between Bill and Sookie is so compelling to watch that you feel for them and truly feel they belong together. To read this truly wonderful analysis of “True Blood’ please click the link below.
msnbc.com explores the appeal of Alan Ball’s fantastic new HBO TV series “True Blood” and why others who haven’t seen it yet should. The article looks at 5 themes that explains the fascination and entertaining aspects of the show. Themes ranging from examining the dialogue in the show to the interesting music compilations that enhances the experience and sucks the viewer into the scenes. msnbc.com does a wonderful job trying to unravel the mystery behind the allure of this seductive series. To find out more about this article follow the link.
Recently James Hibberd from The Live Feed posted on his site that Alan Ball provided some spoiler information regarding what fans can expect for Season 2 of “True Blood”. Without giving away too much Alan stated that Bill and Sookie will have issues that they will need to resovle and new romances will develop for Jason, Sara and Tara. By reading James Hibberd’s report you can see that Alan will stay with the main plot line of Bill and Sookie travelling to Dallas however, the additional subplots will verge in a different direction from the book. To read James Hibberd’s report please click the link below.
