Tina Fey, executives at HBO and the folks at “Mad Men” are among the television people with reason to smile following the Golden Globes nominations.
Fey’s been on a roll. The series she created, “30 Rock,” won the Emmy for best comedy and she won for best actress in a comedy in September. She and her series received Golden Globe nominations on Thursday in the same category. In between, Fey was a comic sensation for her Sarah Palin impersonations on “Saturday Night Live.”
HBO captured 22 of the 55 television nominations. The psychotherapy series “In Treatment” and “Recount,” a movie dramatization of the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election, both led the way with five nominations apiece.
It was a boost for the network, which has been trying to recapture its mojo after “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City” departed. The hot new vampire series “True Blood” and “In Treatment” were both nominated for best TV drama.
Gabriel Byrne, Melissa George, Dianne Wiest and Blair Underwood of “In Treatment” all received nods for their acting. “Recount” will compete for best TV movie or miniseries, with Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson, Laura Dern and Denis Leary nominated for their acting.
HBO’s miniseries “John Adams” earned four nominations.
AMC’s “Mad Men,” the Emmy winner for best drama, was also nominated in this category — as were Fox’s “House” and Showtime’s “Dexter.” Jon Hamm and January Jones of “Mad Men” were nominated for their acting.
The nominations proved another demonstration of cable’s continued strength versus broadcast networks. Cable shows received 38 nominations to broadcast’s 17. Popularity also meant little to the Golden Globes. CBS, for example, has 10 of the 14 most-watched dramas on the air this season and none of them earned a nomination.
Broadcast’s best showing was in the comedy actress category, where Christina Applegate (ABC’s “Samantha Who?”) and America Ferrera (ABC’s “Ugly Betty”) joined Fey. Mary-Louise Parker of Showtime’s “Weeds” and Debra Messing of USA’s “The Starter Wife” were also nominated.
Parker duplicated Fey’s feat with a best actress nomination and best comedy nod for her series. She said it was a “lovely surprise” on a day that promised some discomfort: She’s in rehearsals for the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of “Hedda Gabler,” which opens on Broadway Jan. 25. Preview performances begin Jan. 6 at the American Airlines Theatre.
“And here comes my corset right now!” she said in a telephone interview.
Showtime’s “Californication,” HBO’s “Entourage” and NBC’s “The Office” were also nominated for best comedy.
Best actor nominees for a comedy were Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”), Steve Carell (“The Office”), Kevin Connolly (“Entourage”), David Duchovny (Showtime’s “Callifornication”) and Tony Shalhoub (USA’s “Monk”). Besides Byrne and Hamm, dramatic actor nominees were Michael C. Hall (Showtime’s “Dexter”), Hugh Laurie (Fox’s “House”) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Showtime’s “The Tudors”).
Best dramatic actress nominees were Jones, Sally Field (ABC’s “Brothers and Sisters”), Mariska Hargitay (NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU”), Anna Paquin (“True Blood”) and Kyra Sedgwick (TNT’s “The Closer”).
AP Television Writer Frazier Moore contributed to this report.
