Critic Reactions: Golden Globes, SAG Awards Nominations

The nominations for the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced the morning of Dec. 11, while the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced early Dec. 10. The Golden Globes will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and air on Jan. 11 on NBC at 8 p.m. The SAG Awards will air on Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. on TNT and TBS. The following are reactions from critics around the web, compiled by B&C.

Reaction to the Golden Globes:

“No Sons of Anarchy? No Mad Men? No Modern Family? No Boardwalk Empire? And no The Walking Dead?! Golden Globes voters often nominate hip and ahead-of-the-curve television shows — but this year, they ignored a whole freeway of them....”
—David Hinckley, New York Daily News

“Let’s be clear, [The Walking Dead] is the most popular show on television, both cable and broadcast. The blockbuster zombie apocalypse series laid waste to the mighty Sunday Night Football again and again this fall but the HFPA members from far-flung outlets around the world can’t find it in their hearts to throw the series based on the Robert Kirkman co-created comic a bone? Afraid of catching something?”
—Dominic Patten, Deadline

“This is your annual reminder that unless you were eligible for a Golden Globe in television, you should not care overmuch about the Golden Globes in television. It’s a fun awards show representing the tastes of a small body of foreign journalists covering Hollywood, is unlikely to save any show from cancellation or boost its ratings–and unlike with movies and the Oscars, it bears little relation to the Emmys, except maybe to predict which new comedy might lose to Modern Family next year.”
—James Poniewozik, Time

“There were of course a few snubs: Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which last year won Golden Globes for best comedy and for its lead actor, Andy Samberg, was shut out, as was perennial Emmy darling Modern Family. Showtime’s thrillerHomeland, resurgent in its current fourth season, was not nominated for best drama, though its lead actress, Claire Danes, was recognized.”
—Dave Itzkoff, New York Times

“Globe voters lived up to their reputation for giving important credibility boosts to young series. In addition to Jane the Virgin, voters showered Showtime’s hot freshman drama The Affair with three key noms, for drama series and acting bids for stars Ruth Wilson and Dominic West. The Globes attention was particularly important for Affair as the show came up empty on Wednesday in the SAG Award nominations, a surprise given West’s stature as an alum ofThe Wire.”
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety

SNUB: Kerry Washington, ABC’s Scandal. The Gladiators will not be pleased about this. While Thursday’s other Shonda Rimes leading lady, Viola Davis, earned a nomination for How to Get Away with Murder, Washington didn’t receive her much-expected second nomination for playing Olivia Pope.”
—Kevin P. Sullivan, Entertainment Weekly

“The battle that the Emmys avoided, when Fargo entered as a miniseries and HBO's True Detective went up for drama, will finally come to fruition during the Globes telecast. Both anthologies go head-to-head in the miniseries or telepic category, while the four actors (Fargo's Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton and True Detective's Matthew Mcconaughey and Woody Harrelson) will all be facing each other and The Normal Heart's Mark Ruffalo.”
—Michael O’Connell, The Hollywood Reporter

Reaction to the SAG Awards:

“Actors, why aren't you honoring your fellow wonderful actors on new shows? What's up with that? You watch TV, right? You're on TV! Transparent is one of TV's best new shows. Is it because it's on Amazon? Fine.”
—Chris Harnick, E! Online

“The only real surprise in the best actress in a drama category is that, even though there were six nominees due to a tie, American Horror Story: Freak Show's Jessica Lange was not among them. (She was nominated in each of the last three years for earlier installments of the anthology series, winning three years ago.) The Good Wife's Julianna Margulies and House of Cards' Robin Wright were always a given, and Homeland's Claire Danesclearly had her supporters. It was nice, but not shocking, to see Viola Davis make the cut for the first season of ABC's new hit show How to Get Away with Murder and Tatiana Maslany make it for the second season of BBC America's cult favorite Orphan Black (particularly after two consecutive Emmy snubs).”
—Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter

“Notably, several snubs from last year finally made the cut, including the casts of Netflix's House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black and Tatiana Maslany from BBC America's Orphan Black."
—Patrick Kevin Day, Los Angeles Times

“We're running out of chances to acknowledge how great Hamm has been in this role, which, by design, isn't one that affords him many opportunities for the large, splashy moments that get awards attention. But it's time to get over that and give him a statue for his great individual achievement here. (He won a SAG with the ensemble twice before in 2009 and 2010.)”
—Sandra Gonzalez, Mashable

“Once again, Screen Actors Guild voters have proved their loyalty to actors they’ve nominated time and again. Witness repeat nominations for SAG favorites including Steve Buscemi and Boardwalk Empire, Claire Danes and HomelandNurse Jackie’s Edie Falco and Modern Family, which garnered an ensemble nom and bids for Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet and Julie Bowen.”
—Debra Birnbaum, Variety

Transparent is the new Homeland. Like the Showtime hit, the Amazon series was a critical breakout with much-lauded lead turn (Jeffrey Tambor in this case) in its first season, only to be goose-egged by the SAGs. Even more ironic, Tambor was nominated last year as part of the Arrested cast for an underwhelming, divisive season.”
—Joyce Eng, TV Guide

“It is what it is, and not worth caring about who was snubbed (the Transparent cast, Allison Tolman, Carrie Coon, etc.), or who was nominated who shouldn't have been. The winners will be announced on Sunday, January 25, to the enthusiasm of some.”
—Alan Sepinwall, HitFix