'The Walking Dead' vs 'Fear the Walking Dead' and 'The Haunting of Hill House' vs. 'You' at the 2019 Saturn Awards

Welcome to the 4000th post on this blog in which I examine the horror television and streaming nominees at the 2019 Saturn Awards.  Zombies!

Without any further ado, here are this year's  television and streaming series nominees from File 770.

Best Horror Television Series

    NOS4A2 {AMC)
    American Horror Story: Apocalypse (FX)
    A Discovery of Witches {AMC)
    Fear the Walking Dead {AMC)
    Preacher {AMC)
    Supernatural (The CW)
    The Walking Dead  {AMC)
    What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

While I'm glad to see "Supernatural" nominated — I submitted it last year but it didn't make the cut — I'm voting for perennial winner "The Walking Dead," which I expect will continue its domination in this category.  It also has the most nominations of any horror television show, six, followed by "Fear the Walking Dead" with four.  The rest of the nominees in this category have only the one nomination for Best Horror Television Series.  Yes, it was that weak a year for "American Horror Story," which came in second in nominations among horror series last year.


Best Streaming Horror and Thriller Series

    Castle Rock (Hulu)
    Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix)
    The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
    Stranger Things (Netflix)
    The Haunting of Hill House   (Netflix)
    The Twilight Zone (CBS All Access)
    You (Netflix / Lifetime)

This is a new category, although I am not surprised it was created.  When I started to put together a list of submissions, which I never did submit, I had a streaming horror and fantasy list and included "Castle Rock," "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina," and "The Haunting of Hill House" on it.  I listed "The Handmaid's Tale" under science fiction, while "Stranger Things" and "The Twilight Zone" became available after the original deadline.  I didn't have "You" listed at all, as I didn't find out about it until at the MTV Movie & TV Awards.  Instead, I had "13 Reasons Why" on my list.

If I adhered 100% to my policy of not voting for nominees that became eligible because of the extended deadline, I'd vote for "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina."  However, I am such a "Stranger Things" fan that I am voting for it anyway.  It might win, too, but I think the favorite is "The Haunting of Hill House" with six nominations.  "You" is next with three, while my two favorites, "Stranger Things" and "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" have two each.  "Castle Rock," "The Handmaid's Tale," and "The Twilight Zone" have only one each.

Follow over the jump for the television acting nominees plus my comments on them from 'Game of Thrones' vs. 'Outlander' at the 2019 Saturn Awards.

Best Actor on a Television Series

    Grant Gustin  — The Flash (The CW)
    Kit Harington — Game of Thrones (HBO)
    Sam Heughan — Outlander (Starz)
    Andrew Lincoln — The Walking Dead  {AMC)
    Seth MacFarlane — The Orville  (Fox)
    Bill Pullman — The Sinner (USA Network)
    Jeffrey Wright — Westworld  (HBO)

I think this award is between Andrew Lincoln and Grant Gustin.  My favorite fantasy actor is Sam Heughan, but I'm not voting for him.  I'm voting for Jeffrey Wright.  Hey, Westworld.

Between Lincoln and Gustin, I'd pick Lincoln for his final season on "The Walking Dead" to win, just as I picked I picked Chandler Riggs to win for his swan song last year.  He won.

Best Actress in a Television Series has no horror nominees, again because "American Horror Story" had a weak year, so on to the next category.

Best Supporting Actor on a Television Series

    Jonathan Banks — Better Call Saul  {AMC)
    Nikolaj Coster-Waldau  — Game of Thrones (HBO)
    Peter Dinklage — Game of Thrones (HBO)
    David Harewood — Supergirl (The CW)
    Ed Harris — Westworld  (HBO)
    Lennie James — Fear the Walking Dead  {AMC)
    Khary Payton — The Walking Dead  {AMC)

If I really wanted to vote the professional's choice, I would vote for Peter Dinklage.  Instead, I'm enough of a Westworld fan to vote for Ed Harris.

That written, I think the Saturn electorate would prefer the horror nominees, although I would have a hard time picking between Lennie James and Khary Payton.  I would give Payton the edge.  If so, I plan on cheering his victory with "all hail the king!"

Best Supporting Actress on a Television Series

    Gwendoline Christie —  Game of Thrones (HBO)
    Danai Gurira — The Walking Dead {AMC)
    Lena Headey — Game of Thrones  (HBO)
    Melissa McBride — The Walking Dead {AMC)
    Rhea Seehorn — Better Call Saul  {AMC)
    Sophie Skelton — Outlander  (Starz)
    Sophie Turner  —  Game of Thrones  (HBO)

Four of the seven nominees are from fantasy series.  I'm not voting for any of them.  Instead, I'm voting for Danai Gurira, who I think really played a leading role last season.  I also think she or Melissa McBride will win, although I thought Gurira would win last year.  Instead, I was surprised when Rhea Seehorn won instead.  She could surprise me by repeating.

I'm still voting for Gurira.

There are no horror nominees for Best Performance by a Younger Actor on a Television Series.  As I wrote yesterday, "It's a weird field without either Millie Bobby Brown or Chandler Riggs competing."

Best Guest-Starring Performance on a Television Series

    Rainer Bock — Better Call Saul  {AMC)
    Jon Cryer — Supergirl   (The CW)
    Sydney Lemmon — Fear the Walking Dead  {AMC)
    Jeffrey Dean Morgan — The Walking Dead  {AMC)
    Tonya Pinkins — Fear the Walking Dead  {AMC)
    Ed Speleers — Outlander   (Starz)

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is really a supporting actor, not a guest star.  Still, I think he'll win and I've given up trying to make my criteria match that of the Emmys, so I'm voting for him.

Yes, I'm voting for Negan, who is actually doing something good on "The Walking Dead" now.

Now on to the new acting categories for streaming shows from File 770.


Best Actor in Streaming Presentation

    Penn Badgley  — You (Netflix / Lifetime)
    Jon Bernthal — Marvel’s The Punisher   (Netflix)
    Charlie Cox — Marvel’s Daredevil   (Netflix)
    John Krasinski —  Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan(Amazon)
    Zac Efron  —  Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (Netflix)
    David Tennant —  Good Omens   (Amazon)
    Henry Thomas —  The Haunting of Hill House   (Netflix)

The one nominee from a horror/thriller series is Penn Badgley from "You," who has an MTV Movie & TV Awards nomination for Best Villain for this role.  If enough younger viewers paid the $40 for a membership, he would have a chance of winning.  I don't think they did, especially since I had such a short window so I couldn't promote membership like I did last year.  Instead, I think it's between Jon Bernthal and David Tennant for this award.  Between the two, I'd vote for Tennant the former doctor who makes for a hilarious demon in "Good Omens."  However, I think I'll vote for John Krasinski as Tom Clancy.


Best Actress in a Streaming Presentation

    Carla Gugino — The Haunting of Hill House   (Netflix)
    Sonequa Martin-Green  — Star Trek: Discovery     (CBS All Access)
    Elizabeth Lail — You (Netflix / Lifetime)
    Natasha Lyonne — Russian Doll (Netflix)
    Molly Parker — Lost in Space     (Netflix)
    Krysten Ritter  — Marvel’s Jessica Jones (Netflix)
    Kiernan Shipka – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina    (Netflix)

Once again, the Saturn Awards ignored all the Emmy-winning actresses on "The Handmaid's Tale."  Hmph.  That written, this is not a bad field.  Last year's Best Actress on Television, Sonequa Martin-Green, is nominated here, and she's competing against three actresses from streaming horror and thriller series, Carla Gugino, Elizabeth Lail, and Kiernan Shipka.  Of all of them, my favorite is Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina Spellman, so I'm voting for her.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN STREAMING PRESENTATION

    Wilson Cruz — Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access)
    Michiel Huisman —The Haunting of Hill House   (Netflix)
    Timothy Hutton — The Haunting of Hill House   (Netflix)
    Doug Jones — Star Trek: Discovery  (CBS All Access)
    Ethan Peck – Star Trek: Discovery  (CBS All Access)
    Maxwell Jenkins —Lost in Space  (Netflix)
    Michael Sheen — Good Omens  (Amazon)

Last year, I wrote "Doug Jones, Michael McKean, or Evan Peters would win with more professionals voting."  I tweeted something like that last year and Doug Jones liked the tweet.  Substitute Timothy Hutton for McKean and Peters, who aren't nominated and wouldn't be competing in this category anyway, and that's the professional's choice this year.  Since Jones liked my tweet and I think he did an even better job this season than last, I'm voting for him.  As for who might win, I don't know.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN STREAMING SERIES

    Maya Hawke — Stranger Things (Netflix)
    Ellen Page — The Umbrella Academy (Netflix)
    Parker Posey — Lost in Space (Netflix)
    Victoria Pedretti — The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)
    Taylor Russell — Lost in Space  (Netflix)
    Sissy Spacek — Castle Rock (Hulu)
    Deborah Ann Woll — Marvel’s Daredevil (Netflix)

Three of the actresses nominated are from horror series, Maya Hawke, Victoria Pedretti, and Sissy Spacek.  I'm voting for Spacek, although I think Parker Posey will give her a run for her money as "Doctor Smith."

The next installment of this series should be the science fiction nominees, both on TV and streaming.  Stay tuned.

Previous entries in this series:

• How did my predictions for the Saturn Awards movie nominees compare to reality?
• 'Avengers: Endgame' vs. 'Aquaman' at the 2019 Saturn Awards
• 'Ready Player One' vs. 'Bumblebee' at the 2019 Saturn Awards
• 'Aladdin' vs. 'Mary Poppins Returns' at the 2019 Saturn Awards
• 'Us' vs. 'A Quiet Place' at the 2019 Saturn Awards
• Action, Thriller, Independent, and International Films at the 2019 Saturn Awards
• 'Game of Thrones' vs. 'Outlander' at the 2019 Saturn Awards