Golden Globes Winners and Losers (TV Edition)
NBCUniversal
By the time the 74th Golden Globe Awards came to a close, behind schedule, a little after 11 p.m. ET, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association—the tiny, often eccentric body that hands out the statuettes at Hollywood’s rowdiest and most liquored up ceremony—had made it easy on those of us tasked with writing about the TV awards, because the film awards were a La La Land-induced snooze. It’s just as well: A year after honoring such unsung worthies as Casual, Rami Malek (Mr. Robot), and Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) with awards and nominations, the HFPA continued its recent streak of highlighting a diverse array of TV artists. And when more attention is paid to the full breadth of fine work the medium offers, the real winner, of course, is us.
Winners
1. Meryl Streep
Admittedly, Streep’s Cecil B. DeMille Award was clearly won by a career’s worth of silver screen performances, and not for her roles on TV. (Her Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning turn in Mike Nichols’ peerless adaptation of Angels in America did turn up in her montage, at least.) But the reason why she emerged as the night’s most formidable figure, of course, had more to do with how she used her platform than with how she earned it. With her hoarse, pained, ferocious acceptance speech, Streep, the most exquisite practitioner of the form, gave us her best one yet, honoring the diverse backgrounds of those that comprise the Hollywood “elite,” castigating Donald Trump’s bully tactics, and offering a moving valediction for her friend, the late Carrie Fisher. “As my dear departed Princess Leia said,” Streep concluded, “Take your broken heart. Make it into art.”
2. FX Networks
If FX’s sterling limited series, American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, fell victim to the HFPA’s inexplicable preference for AMC’s sterile The Night Manager—including Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie’s unforgivable upsets of Courtney B. Vance and Sterling K. Brown, respectively—FX nonetheless emerged from the Golden Globes as the leading network. In addition to The People v. O.J.’s win for Best Miniseries or TV Movie, and Sarah Paulson’s final victory lap in the corresponding Best Actress category, the real boon for FX was Donald Glover’s superb Atlanta, which not only earned two of the top prizes, but also allowed us a glimpse of Lakeith Stanfield’s unmatched dance moves. Bravo.