The nominations for the 2017 Golden Globes were announced Monday morning, and with it came the standard realization of all the stars, shows and movies that were snubbed.
While the film section had its fair share of snubs—Taraji P. Henson, Tom Hanks and Finding Dory—to name a few, it appeared that there were far more snubs in TV. Upon realizing that Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, the men of This Is Us and Tatiana Maslany nabbed zero nominations, fans' hearts immediately broke. But why is it that so many TV shows didn't get nominations? Year after year TV shows and actors get snubbed, but there's more to it than meets the eye.
For starters, one obvious reason is that there are far more TV shows than films. How many times have we heard stars say this is TV's time?
TV is truly at its peak and stars are flocking to Netflix, networks and cable TV to try and make it on the small screen. With so much competition playing the same game, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the organization behind the voting at the Golden Globes, is bound to overlook a few.
The HFPA is famous for keeping freshman series' kudos at a minimum, preferring instead to honor veteran shows time and time again. Think about how many times Modern Family and Veep have been nominated—after a while, you might find yourself saying, "Give someone else a chance!" But that's the name of the game.
This year Issa Rae was the only true newcomer in the Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy category.
Yes, Sarah Jessica Parker's Divorce is a new series, but after a long absence from TV (we still miss Sex and the City), the HFPA was absolutely going to grandfather her into the nomination club. The other contenders in the same category are Rachel Bloom (previous winner), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (previous winner), Gina Rodriguez (previous winner) and Tracee Ellis Ross (new nominee on a returning show).
The HFPA also loves to honor movie stars that have successfully transitioned to TV. Winona Ryder, Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Hiddleston have had successful film careers, so it pretty much went without saying that the Golden Globes were going to nominate them. But that's not the only reason they're getting nominated. Ryder put on a powerhouse performance in Stranger Things, giving fans her official comeback role. Critics have lauded Thornton's performance in Goliath and Hiddleston received a nomination at the Emmys, so his inclusion now is a bit of a shoe-in.
But really, where were Lauren Graham's or Kelly Bishop's nominations? They slipped back into their iconic Gilmore Girls roles without a hitch, and most (if not all) viewers feel they should have received recognition. But when it comes to fun, binge-worthy TV, the HFPA doesn't typically follow suit. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt had a great second season, but the HFPA snubbed it along with other fun Netflix hits such Fuller House. It seems that nostalgia is not enough to garner nominations, and neither are cult-favorites such as Broad City.
When it comes to award shows, there most likely always be something left out, so we can only hope that what the HFPA missed this year will be made up for in the next year.