Showtime
challenges HBO for Globes
Wins three awards, all in best actor categories
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Jan 19, 2010
Cable passed broadcast as the top awards show draw a long time ago, when HBO began racking up nominations for "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City."
But now another shift seems to be coming on the awards circuit. Suddenly Showtime, whose "Dexter" and "Californication" just finished highly rated seasons, is challenging HBO for not just buzz but awards shows wins.
At Sunday's Golden Globes, Showtime scored three TV trophies, second only to HBO with four wins.
Showtime's victories were arguably in bigger categories, too. Three of HBO's came in the miniseries or made-for-TV movie categories, which are dominated by the pay cable network now that few of the broadcasters even bother to program such events.
Showtime, meanwhile, scored victories in the best dramatic actor and best comedic actress categories, where HBO had only one combined nomination. Showtime had three, with "Dexter's" Michael C. Hall and "United States of Tara's" Toni Collette winning.
Showtime's third win was "Dexter's" John Lithgow in the supporting actor prize.
Overall, Showtime had three shows -- "Dexter," "United States of Tara" and "Nurse Jackie" -- competing in the comedy and drama categories, compared to two -- "True Blood" and "Big Love" -- for HBO.
Meanwhile, the other big story of the night was the mess at NBC, a popular topic for stars on the red carpet. "30 Rock's" Tina Fey quipped that the drizzle falling in Hollywood was God crying for NBC.
Actress Julia Roberts, cornered by NBC pre-show host Billy Bush, noted that NBC is "in the toilet right now."
And host Ricky Gervais, winding up his opening monologue, said, "Let's get on with it before NBC replaces me with Jay Leno."
They were referring, of course, to the network's midseason revamp that will move Jay Leno out of primetime after his show failed and ensconce him back at "The Tonight Show," while Conan O'Brien will receive a buyout, the terms of which were reportedly set over the weekend.
Ironically, the controversy has given O'Brien a big boost in the ratings, and ratings were also up for Sunday's Golden Globes.
The three-hour show averaged a 5.4 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen time zone-adjusted overnights, up 10 percent over last year's 4.9 It averaged 16.9 million total viewers, 2 million more than last year's show.
A list of the television winners:
Drama Series
"Mad Men"
Comedy Series
"Glee"
Actor, Drama
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
Actress, Drama
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"
Actor, Musical or Comedy
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Actress, Musical or Comedy
Toni Collette, "United States Of Tara"
Miniseries or Movie
"Grey Gardens"
Actor, Miniseries or Movie
Kevin Bacon, "Taking Chance"
Actress, Miniseries or Movie
Drew Barrymore, "Grey Gardens"
Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie
John Lithgow, "Dexter"
Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie
Chloe Sevigny, "Big Love"
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