Golden Globes TV Predictions: Get the Front-Runners and Dark Horses!

Expect lots of first-timers to take home trophies this Sunday

TV fans, it's time for the best awards show of the year! (And not just because they ply the stars with champagne, which makes them…unpredictable) Unlike the Emmys, which tends to have the same ole winners and nominees year after year, the Globes are all about freshman series and first-timers. Good. Times.

So who'll win this Sunday on the TV side? Here's our breakdown:

Best TV Series, Drama

American Horror Story
Boardwalk Empire
Boss
Game of Thrones
Homeland

Dark Horse: American Horror Story. Oh, shush up, haters! American Horror Story was a great big ball of crazy, and we loved every edge-of-our-seats moment. No other series this year had half the soul-shock as Ryan Murphy's latest endeavor. And while it's a long, long, shot to take home a trophy (this show is not for everyone), it has our vote. Mostly because someone's gotta stick up for this whack-ass series. Also, the Rubber Man is making us type this.

Front-Runner: Homeland. And honestly, this one should win, too. Ditto Game of Thrones, but we gotta stick with one here, right? And if Hollywood buzz is any indication, we can tell you that even producers of other series (like How I Met Your Mother's Carter Bays and Craig Thomas) are completely obsessed with this new Claire Danes-Damian Lewis Showtime series, which covers more story ground in an episode than others do in five seasons. Win.

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeremy Irons, The Borgias
Kelsey Grammer, Boss
Damian Lewis, Homeland

Front-Runner: Bryan Cranston. In what was arguably Breaking Bad's best season yet, Cranston continues to blow the competition out of the water with his gripping performances. His consistency is hard to beat!

Dark Horse: Damian Lewis. Globes voters love brand-new series, and Damian's intricate and convincing portrayal of a war hero (who might be a terrorist, no big whoop) is the biggest reason Homeland is arguably the best new drama to premiere in a long time.

Best Actress, Drama

Claire Danes, Homeland
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
|Madeleine Stowe, Revenge
Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness

Front-Runner: Claire Danes. Did we mention voters love a comeback story? Claire Danes returning to television is no small thing, and her gripping portrayal of a deeply flawed, female version of Jack Bauer is worthy of all the awards.

Dark Horse: Madeleine Stowe. She does more with one eyebrow than many actresses do in a whole season! As Revenge's "Queen" Victoria Grayson, she owns every single scene she is in, leaving us hanging on her every word. Globes voters love a comeback story, and from where we sit, this category is hers to lose.

Best Television Series, Comedy

Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
Modern Family
New Girl

Front-Runner: New Girl. It's the breakout comedy of the season, and the Globes voters love beating Emmy to the punch. While New Girl's quirky sensibility won't appeal to all the international voters of the HFPA, Zooey Deschanel's explosion of adorableness certainly will, and the humor is mainstream enough to bring the trophy home.

Dark Horse: Enlightened. HBO always cleans house at the Globes, and while this series is anything but a laugh-out-loud, straight-up comedy like New Girl or Modern Family, it's the kind of quality (did we mention HBO?) TV that could garner a win.

Best Actor, TV Comedy

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
David Duchovny, Californication
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

Front-Runner: Johnny Galecki. Costar Jim Parsons won last year and might seem at first sight the more natural shoo-in. But Galecki delivered some of Big Bang's funniest moment this season. And given the momentum of this series (not going out with a bang anytime soon…see what we did there?!), this seems Galecki's to lose.

Dark Horse: Matt LeBlanc. Though this series certainly wasn't the most side-splittingly funny show on television all year, LeBlanc's semi-triumphant return to TV (he is a Friend, y'all!) might not go unnoticed.

Best Actress, TV Comedy

Laura Dern, Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation

Front-Runner(s!): Don't you dare make us pick between Amy Poehler and Zooey Deschanel! Both are truly deserving of a win, serving up some of the best female-driven comedy this season that TV has ever seen. Adorkable, for the win!

Dark Horse: Laura Dern. If voters go for a more serious turn than classic comedy, Dern could squeeze in. But really, this category is Poehler or Deschanel's to lose.

Check back this Sunday for E!'s blowout Golden Globes coverage, live on E! and on E! Online!