Big night for cable TV

Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 8:00 pm

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The taut political thriller “Homeland,” the coming of age comedy “Girls” and “Game Change,” the movie about Sarah Palin’s rocky campaign for the vice presidency in 2008, were the big television winners in the Golden Globes.
The biggest losers?
Commercial broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — none of which aired those shows. One award for PBS saved broadcast television from a complete shutout.
Premium cable rivals HBO and Showtime battled for supremacy throughout Sunday night’s telecast. In the end, HBO pulled out a 5-4 victory.
“It’s the only place to have made a show like this,” Lena Dunham said backstage after the series she created for HBO, “Girls,” won two Globes. “Cable television is the only place where I’m going to get the kinds of stories I want to tell funded.”
“Girls” was named best comedy and Dunham, who stars as Hannah Horvath in the series about young women in their 20s navigating young adulthood in New York City, was named best comic actress. With the exception of fellow HBO actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus (star of “Veep”), the other nominees in the best actress category worked for broadcast networks: Golden Globe co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and Zooey Deschanel, star of Fox’s “New Girl.”
Showtime’s “Homeland” scored a sweep of the biggest drama awards, including best TV drama for the second year in a row. Co-stars Claire Danes, who plays CIA agent Carrie Mathison and Damian Lewis, who stars as Sgt. Nicholas Brody, both won top acting awards.
Showtime’s fourth award went to Don Cheadle, named best comedy actor for his role as Marty Kaan, leader of a team of slippery management consultants in “House of Lies.”
“Game Change” was named best TV movie or miniseries. Julianne Moore won as best actress in a miniseries or movie for her portrayal of Palin while Ed Harris — although he portrayed the man on the top of the ticket, presidential candidate John McCain — was the supporting actor winner.
Kevin Costner won the Globe for best acting in a TV miniseries or movie for “Hatfields & McCoys.” The History channel miniseries proved a big hit when it aired last spring. Costner, who won a Globe for directing “Dances With Wolves” in 1991, nostalgically recalled walking into the awards ceremony as a young actor.
Veteran actress Maggie Smith, who plays Violet Crawley, the Countess of Grantham in the PBS period piece “Downton Abbey,” won as best supporting actress in a TV series.
Published in The Messenger 1.16.13