'Abbott Elementary' leads Golden Globes TV nominees with five nominations

Happy Norther! I'm celebrating the fake holiday by examining the Politics, government, and diversity in the 2023 Golden Globe Television nominees as the Sunday entertainment feature. Fortunately, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) made it easy for me by nominating "Abbott Elementary" for five awards, more than any other television show. Diversity and government galore!


As I wrote above "Abbott Elementary" has five nominations, Best Television Series - Comedy, Best Performance in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Actress) for Quinta Brunson, Best Supporting Performance in a Television Series – Musical-Comedy or Drama (Supporting Actor) for Tyler James Williams, and two nominations for Best Supporting Performance in a Television Series – Musical-Comedy or Drama (Supporting Actor) for Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph. Based on the number of nominations alone, I'd pick "Abbott Elementary." The experts at Gold Derby support my intuition, as seven of the nine have "Abbott Elementary" in first. One picked "The Bear," which six other experts picked second, and one picked "Wednesday," a distinctly minority view as no one else ranks it higher than third and four rank fifth! Those same experts think the other nominated mystery "Only Murders in the Building" is better. I'm rooting for "Abbott Elementary," but I expect "Wednesday" will be a big hit at the next Saturn Awards, whenever they're held.


I begin by repeating what I wrote in 'Ted Lasso,' 'Barry,' 'Hacks,' and 'Only Murders in the Building' lead comedy series nominees at the 2022 Emmy Awards about Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for Best Performance in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, Actress.

As I wrote last year "Kaley Cuoco's Cassie Bowden is recruited as an undercover agent at the end of the first season," adding a lot more government content to the show. That turned out surprisingly well, although I think the finale stuck the landing and then tripped. That's not Cuoco's fault as an actress, but it's indirectly her fault as a producer...twelve of the thirteen Gold Derby editors along with the majority of uses think Jean Smart will repeat for "Hacks" with only [one] editor predicting Quinta Brunson for "Abbott Elementary."

Jean Smart did win the Emmy, again, but this is a different field, with Selina Gomez and Jenna Ortega joining Brunson, Cuoco, and Smart, making this a very diverse field, and a different set of voters. As I nearly always point out in my awards show coverage, electorates matter. While the experts at Gold Derby generally don't think much of "Wednesday" as a show, they seem to love Jenna Ortega, who plays the title character, as seven of the nine have picked her to win. Only one each ranked Jean Smart and Quinta Brunson first. While Ortega has been acting for years, "Wednesday" was definitely her breakthrough role. I expect to vote for Ortega at the Saturn Awards, whether for Best Actress on Television or Best Younger Performer on Television, whichever the acting nomination committee slots her in.


As the award name states, Best Supporting Performance in a Television Series – Musical-Comedy or Drama, Supporting Actor lumps together supporting actors from both comedy and drama series. Usually, this favors performers in dramas. It also means that I'm recycling from both my comedy and drama nominee posts about the 2022 Emmy Awards. Only Tyler James Williams and Henry Winkler are appearing from the Emmy field for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and John Turtoro from "Severance" from the drama field for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and I wrote very little about them, so on to their chances. Six of the Gold Derby experts have Turturo as their top choice, while one each have John Lithgow, Jonathon Pryce, and Henry Winkler. I'd say Turturo, except that Joyce Eng picked Lithgow, which gives me pause. She has a knack for being right.


The experts at Gold Derby see Best Supporting Performance in a Television Series – Musical-Comedy or Drama, Supporting Actress, as a very close contest. Five of them think Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph will win, while four of them picked Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Princess Diana in the latest season of "The Crown" as the likely winner. Eng thinks it will be Ralph, so I'm using her pick as the tiebreaker. Good thing the two actresses will be competing in different categories at next year's Emmy Awards!

I'm rounding out comedy with Best Performance in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Actor).


Again, I begin by recycling.

"Atlanta" has a lot of social and political commentary in its comedy...This is a rich field with Donald Glover, Bill Hader, and Jason Sudeikis having won this category for these same roles before and Steve Martin and Martin Short winning Emmy Awards for comedy writing. Nine of the Gold Derby editors think that Hader will win, including Eng, three have picked Sudeikis to repeat, and one thinks Steve Martin will win his first Emmy for acting. The readers think it will be a close win for Hader. I can see that.

Sudeikis won the Emmy, but he's not in this field because Season 3 of "Ted Lasso" hasn't streamed yet. Instead, Jeremy Allen White of "The Bear" joins Glover, Hader, Martin, and Short, making this a less diverse field than the comedy actresses. According to the experts at Gold Derby, White is the favorite with eight of them picking him over one lone expert ranking Hader first. Even that one vote of confidence is not enough to put Hader in second, as seven experts ranked Martin ahead of him and five think Short has a better chance of winning. Wow! It could be worse; eight of the nine have Glover in last.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the TV nominees.



"The Crown" leads Best Television Series, Drama with four nominations, followed by "Ozark" and "Severance" with three and "Better Call Saul" and "House of the Dragon" with two. The experts at Gold Derby find themselves fractured, with four of the eleven picking "The Crown," three each ranking "House of the Dragon" and "Severance" first, and Eng all by herself with "Better Call Saul." Maybe she knows something, or this could be one of the few times she's wrong. For a tiebreaker, I'm going to the editors, ten of the twelve think "Severance" will win with one each for "Better Call Saul" and "The Crown." I'm rooting for "Severance," but I'm still not convinced it will beat "The Crown."

On the other hand, the experts are much more united for lead actor and actress in drama series. All ten experts who have weighed in on drama series actor think Bob Odenkirk will win. He can place his Golden Globe next to his Saturn Award. Likewise, eight of the nine experts who've made picks for drama series actress think Zendaya will win for "Euphoria" with one choosing Emma D'Arcy from "House of the Dragon." She can put her first Golden Globe next to her two Emmy Awards.



While "The White Lotus: Sicily," "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story," and "Pam & Tommy" all have four nominations, all of the experts are picking "The White Lotus: Sicily" to win Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film. I agree. They're also all picking Evan Peters to win TV Movie/Limited Series Actor for "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story." Seven of the nine chose Emmy winner Amanda Seyfried to win for "The Dropout" while one each chose Lily James and Jessica Chastain. Six experts picked Paul Walter Hauser to win Supporting Actor for "Black Bird," two chose F. Murray Abraham for "The White Lotus: Sicily," and one has Richard Jenkins for "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story." Finally, all of the experts think Jennifer Coolidge will win Supporting Actress as the second Golden Globe for "The White Lotus: Sicily."

I conclude with two videos from Gold Derby, beginning with Globes predictions slugfest: Editors agree (mostly) on TV winners.

With just days left to go before the 2023 Golden Globe Awards air on NBC this Tuesday, January 10, Gold Derby’s Editors recently got together to make their last-minute Golden Globe TV predictions. Marcus James Dixon, Daniel Montgomery, Denton Davidson and Ray Richmond give their forecasts for the winners (and potential spoilers) in all 13 television races in the limited, comedy and drama fields. Do YOUR predictions line up with theirs? Watch the Editors’ slugfest video above and then be sure to make or update your Golden Globe picks at Gold Derby.

Since I like Eng and she and Christopher Rosen, I'm closing with them in Experts slugfest: 2023 Golden Globe winner predictions -- will 'EEAAO' win everything?

Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng make their winner picks in film and TV before the 80th Golden Globe Awards on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Can eight-time nominee "The Banshees of Inisherin" take down Oscar favorite "Everything Everywhere All at Once"? Will "The White Lotus: Sicily" score big after the first installment underperformed?

The TV predictions begin at 37:21. Treat the first half of the video as a preview of coming attractions for tomorrow. Stay tuned.