Sci-Fi Storm

The science fiction and fantasy genre seems to have taken a hit in the latest Golden Globe nominations. It don’t see anything in the Motion Picture awards at all aside from the animated features, which is very surprising given the major buzz about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Harry Potter could still see an Oscar nod as the field is larger there, but it could mean it is a longshot at winning.

On the TV side, however, there were a few genre hits, notably Game Of Thrones receiving nods for “Best Television Series – Drama” and a “Best Supporting Actor” for Peter Dinklage, while American Horror Story also received one for “Best Television Series – Drama” and “Best Supporting Actress” for Jessica Lange.

SF-friendly show The Big Bang Theory saw a single nod for Johnny Galecki for “Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical”.

The complete nomination list is available at Deadline.

There wasn’t a lot of genre stuff going on at the Emmys last night, but there were a few highlights. Although Game of Thrones was nominated 13 times, it only won one (aside from a Creative Arts award announced last week) – Peter Dinklage won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister. Jim Parsons won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory.

On other Creative Arts Emmys (where the genre shows tend to do well), Futurama won two, for Outstanding Animated Program and Outstanding Voice-Over Performance (Maurice LaMarche as Lrrr/Orson Welles). The Walking Dead also won for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup.

Other little tidbits – the pre-filmed open included Leonard Nimoy as “Television Network President” (apparently a late replacement for Alec Baldwin, reportedly upset they cut a joke at NewsCorp’s expense – it was aired on NewsCorp-owned FOX), and Marcel Vigneron was briefly shown during the open wearing his Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen shirt – although he and his show were not nominated or otherwise part of the Emmys (and I still haven’t heard confirmation that it is or is not coming back).

Current Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat was in the audience, but for Outstanding Writing for his Sherlock mini-series. Alas he didn’t win (nor did Sherlock pick any of for it’s 3 other nominations), losing to Julian Fellowes and his Downton Abbey (which is an excellent series as well).

The 2011 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced today, and it looks like cable TV is the big winner this year. Read on for a list of the genre shows and their nominations.
(continue reading…)