2016 SAG TV Predictions

Time now for the SAG predictions on the TV side. I make no claims to be an expert on this one though. From what I can tell, SAG likes to reward veterans above all else (the Downton Abbey cast has won ensemble the last two years in a row), so my picks here are mostly going to reflect that.

BEST COMEDY ENSEMBLE

• The Big Bang Theory
• Key & Peele
• Modern Family
• Orange is the New Black
• Transparent
• Veep

My best guess here would be the cast of Veep, since it's been on a roll with industry awards in the last year, and with four seasons under its belt, I suppose they ought to count as being a veteran cast by now. But Modern Family could always win again, or Orange as well. I would say it's a three-way toss-up in this category.

Winner: Veep

Alternate: Modern Family

Dark Horse: Orange is the New Black

BEST COMEDY ACTOR

• Ty Burrell, Modern Family
• Louis C.K., Louie
• William H. Macy, Shameless
• Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
• Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Everyone in this category can rightfully be described as a veteran, so it's kind of another toss-up. But Tambor has won so many of these lately, so I'd say it's SAG's turn to pick him.

Winner: Jeffrey Tambor

Alternate: Ty Burrell

Dark Horse: William H. Macy

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS

• Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
• Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

I really have no clue on this one. Julia's won it, Uzo won it last year- could it be Amy's turn, as her last chance to win for Parks? It's just as likely one of those other two repeats, frankly.

Winner: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Alternate: Uzo Aduba

Dark Horse: Amy Poehler

BEST DRAMA ENSEMBLE

• Downton Abbey
• Game of Thrones
• Homeland
• House of Cards
• Mad Men

I'm going with Game of Thrones after its Emmy wins, but don't count out Downton Abbey or even Mad Men for its last season.

Winner: Game of Thrones

Alternate: Downton Abbey

Dark Horse: Mad Men

BEST DRAMA ACTOR

• Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
• Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
• Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

After his Emmy and Globe wins, I think Jon Hamm completes the trifecta for the final season of Mad Men with a SAG win here.

Winner: Jon Hamm

Alternate: Kevin Spacey

Dark Horse: Peter Dinklage

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS

• Claire Danes, Homeland
• Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
• Robin Wright, House of Cards

Viola won it last year, so I'm gonna go with Maggie Smith, believe it or not. One more for the grand dame of Downton.

Winner: Maggie Smith

Alternate: Viola Davis

Dark Horse: Claire Danes

BEST MOVIE/MINISERIES ACTOR

• Idris Elba, Luther
• Ben Kingsley, Tut
• Ray Liotta, Texas Rising
• Bill Murray, A Very Murray Christmas
• Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall

I'm picking Elba, since he won't win for Beasts of No Nation on the film side. But Rylance has a shot here too.

Winner: Idris Elba

Alternate: Mark Rylance

Dark Horse: Bill Murray

BEST MOVIE/MINISERIES ACTRESS

• Nicole Kidman, Grace of Monaco
• Queen Latifah, Bessie
• Christina Ricci, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
• Susan Sarandon, The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
• Kristen Wiig, The Spoils Before Dying

Based on the buzz for these movies/series alone, I would think Latifah would take this, so there you go.

Winner: Queen Latifah

Alternate: Kristen Wiig 

Abe Vigoda 1921-2016

Abe Vigoda, longtime veteran actor best known for his role as Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on the 1970's sitcom Barney Miller, passed away at 94. Vigoda was also known as Tessio in the Godfather movies, but often as the subject of a decades long running gag regarding mistaken reports of his death that first surfaced in the early 1980's. Vigoda made fun of it himself, often showing up on late night shows like Letterman and Conan to poke fun at his not yet dead status, and one of his more recent credits was a Super Bowl ad from 2010 with Betty White that mocked both actors' advanced ages. To me he's most known, strangely enough, as John Travolta's grumpy grandfather in the first Look Who's Talking, which I happened to have seen by sheer circumstance enough times to note it as my own personal connection to the actor everyone seemed to recognize from something.

Betty White/Abe Vigoda Snickers ad:

RECAP: SNL 1/23 "Ronda Rousey"

This week's SNL was a pretty mediocre affair, even if everyone braved Winter Storm Jonas to show up at the studio in the middle of the blizzard. But athletes rarely deliver in terms of performance, and Ronda Rousey was no exception. In fact, she was hidden most of the night, given just one or two lines per sketch. The rest was plagued by the usual subpar writing, although it wasn't as downright bizarre as last week.

COLD OPEN: Tina Fey returns as Sarah Palin to mock her rambling, nonsensical endorsement of Trump this week. This should have been really easy, but they kinda muck it up by having Trump (Darrell) constantly turn to the camera to give a lame running commentary on her craziness. What's funny is that like many of Fey's past caricatures of Palin, the send-up fails in comparison the batshit insanity that was the real thing. Seriously, check it out. The woman must be permanently high.

MONOLOGUE: Ronda Rousey bounds out to mock the blizzard and gets help from the cast as commentators who rate her monologue like one of her fights. It's pretty meh.

SAG: The best thing they did all night, as a spoof of an awards show that nominated all white actors from movies made about important black stories. It's pointed and pretty hilarious when "all the white guys" win Best Actor, although I can't help but note how SNL itself was being regularly slammed for the non-diversity in its ranks just two years ago. How fast things can change when you finally make the moves, right?

HIGH SCHOOL: A strange, pre-taped bit where Beck as a popular high school jock takes Ronda to the gym where Vanessa and her popular girl clique tries to humiliate her. But of course Ronda beats her to a pulp. This isn't that funny though, it's just weird and off.

BLAND MAN: The Bachelor parody that they've done before, with all the girls mimicking the crazy contestants for the show's 25th season. This one has the same problem it did the first time, with it going on way, way too long. The only funny line is when Sasheer comes on and says she's "the black one," and Taran responds with "let me walk you out." Lol.

UPDATE: Colin and Michael chime in with more jokes about Trump, the blizzard and the Oscars, and then Leslie comes on to joke about wanting to hook up with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kenan comes on as Willie with blizzard tips for winter. I only half-smiled at Willie, everything else sucked as usual.

HLN: Ugh. Another repeat of a sketch where Pete is on the stand testifying in the case where two teachers (Cecily and Ronda) are being sued by his mom for having a threesome with her teenage son. I just can't stand this premise- if it would be horrifying with a girl as the victim it's no less creepy because it's a boy. Total double standard.

SUPER CREW: A weird skit with a group of useless superheroes who show up to save the city even though only one of them can do anything to actually help. It's a Mystery Men kind of joke, but it's stupid and pointless.

BAR: A rap-off in a bar with Jay, Taran and Beck bragging about their junk to Ronda and her friends, but the joke is Beck's embarrassed about his and will only go down on her instead. Okay, another super lame skit. Getting real tired of this episode.

CITIZEN'S FORUM: Why do they keep bringing back lame sketches that bombed the first time? This is the one with nutty citizens complaining about random shit, but again, nothing memorable here.

LOSERS: Final one of the night is Ronda inviting co-workers Beck and Kyle to a party, but they've never been to one so they keep asking what they should do, bring, etc. It's as dumb and unfunny as it sounds.

Whew! We're finally done with that mess. The back half of the show was more painful than the first part, but that was just bad. I give it a D (I guess the SAG sketch made up for a lot, since that will surely get the most attention). SNL comes back in two weeks with newfound friend of the show Larry David (!) hosting, so here's hoping Bernie Sanders will still be in the news, right? (I'm sure he will). See you guys then!

PGA TV Winners Include 'Game of Thrones,' 'Transparent'

The awards for television as well as film were handed out tonight by the PGA, and it wasn't too much to write home about, as the winners were pretty expected, and probably all deserving as well.

2015 PGA TV WINNERS:

• Drama Series: Game of Thrones
• Comedy Series: Transparent
• Long-Form Television Series: Fargo
• Live Entertainment/Talk Series: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
• Competitive Series: The Voice
• Non-Fiction Series: The Jinx
• Sports Program: Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel
• Children's Program: Sesame Street
• Digital Series: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

RECAP: SNL 1/16 "Adam Driver"

Adam Driver hosted the first episode of SNL in 2016, but unfortunately much of it was a dud. That's not due to him though, as he showed quite a range and really went for it, but too many of the skits were weird tonight and bizarrely unmemorable.

COLD OPEN: We get yet another Republican debate that skewers the whole field, but this one's a lot less funny than the last. The jokes are lame and nobody stands out, except for Jay's Ben Carson, who can't not be funny, apparently. It's a meh start to the show.

MONOLOGUE: Oof- this monologue was truncated and it seemed like they just didn't have any ideas for it. Adam comes out and is accosted by rabid Star Wars fans, but the the whole thing lasts like two minutes and then we're done. Um, okay?

NFL: Adam and Beck are announcers in a skit that targets the NFL's tendency to show excruciating replays of major injuries- Pete is a player who gets his legs bent backwards- this is an old joke that could have been done 20 years ago. Seriously, guys? How about some effort here?

UNDERCOVER BOSS: Ok, this one's better. A pre-taped bit that spoofs the reality show with Adam as Kylo Ren going undercover as "Matt" at Star Killer Base. Adam makes this work, as he zeroes in on his character's whiny brat personality who gets offended by everything his employees do. It's actually kind of amusing, especially on rewatch (goes on a little too long though).

ALADDIN: Adam and Cecily sing "A Whole New World" on the magic carpet while stuff keeps falling on Cecily's (as Jasmine) head from the sky- yeah, this is terrible. The joke loses itself and the sketch has no idea how to end and turns into a bizarre, surreal finish with Leslie and Beck as random air control people all of a sudden.

AMERICA'S FUNNIEST CATS: Adam is the uptight host of a cat clip show (and he really commits to this bit, funnily enough), while Cecily and Kate come on as French people who can't comment right on the cat videos. Another oddity and really not funny at all- they've almost all been like this, with only Adam's efforts to appreciate here.

UPDATE: Colin and Michael diss the GOP contenders again and the Oscars diversity controversy (although Michael advocates for them nominating box office hits only- an argument that makes me want to tear my hair out; money does NOT equal quality, people!); Pete comes on and does some rambling stand-up bit (not funny), and then Vanessa appears as her child correspondent to read inappropriate stories again- that one's kind of amusing, but I'm distracted by the fact that she's played that exact character in past sketches.

SOCIAL PUPPETEERING: Cecily and Adam lecture students on not playing elaborate pranks on other kids- you got it, another pointless and unfunny skit here. Man, are we getting to the end yet?

BOWIE: Fred Armisen comes out and introduces a clip of David Bowie performing on SNL in 1979, but they don't even play the whole performance! Dude, if you guys are going to do a tribute, play the whole damn thing.

GOLDEN GLOBES: A pre-taped bit about Kyle and Kate as kids whose parents Adam and Vanessa win Golden Globes on TV and tell them to "go to bed" from the stage, while they go out and start partying like crazy. The bit goes into surreal territory at the end when Liev Schreiber shows up as himself- this one's kinda bizarre but actually better than most the skits tonight.

PORN VIDEO: That terrible Aidy sketch ends the night where she's the naive, unknowing student who keeps interrupting 70's style porn video activities, this time between Adam as a doctor "examining" athlete Beck. I hated this one before and I still hate it.

So it ends on a low note, and the two mildly amusing skits were the pre-taped stuff, but on the other hand, Adam was an above average host I'd say. Too bad the writing wasn't on par with his skills. I give it a D. I don't have a lot of hope for next week with Rhonda Rousey coming on (athletes are notoriously awful SNL hosts anyway), but I'll be there, tuned in as always. See you guys then!

'Mr. Robot' and 'Master of None' Win Big at Critics Choice Awards

The Critics Choice awards did slightly better on the TV side, although I don't know why Christian Slater is suddenly winning awards for his role on Mr. Robot. The show fine, Malek fine, but Slater? No. Trust me, he could sleepwalk through that part. I didn't realize there was this type of "veteran actor" appreciation for him. Other things I like here are the Fargo love, and Constance Zimmer's win for Unreal.

CRITICS CHOICE TV WINNERS

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES -- Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent, Amazon

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES -- Rami Malek, Mr. Robot, USA

BEST ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES -- Idris Elba, Luther, BBC America

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES -- Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The CW

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES -- Carrie Coon, The Leftovers, HBO

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES -- Kirsten Dunst, Fargo, FX Networks

BEST COMEDY SERIES -- Master of None, Netflix

BEST DRAMA SERIES -- Mr. Robot, USA

BEST GUEST ACTOR/ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES -- Timothy Olyphant, The Grinder, Fox

BEST GUEST ACTOR/ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES -- Margo Martindale, The Good Wife, CBS

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES -- Fargo, FX Networks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES -- Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fox

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES -- Christian Slater, Mr. Robot, USA

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES -- Jesse Plemons, Fargo, FX Networks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES -- Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory, CBS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES -- Constance Zimmer, UnREAL, Lifetime

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES -- Jean Smart, Fargo, FX Networks

BEST ANIMATION SERIES -- BoJack Horseman, Netflix

BEST REALITY SHOW -- COMPETITION -- The Voice, NBC

BEST REALITY SHOW HOST -- James Lipton, Inside the Actors Studio, Bravo

BEST STRUCTURED REALITY SHOW -- Shark Tank, ABC

BEST TALK SHOW -- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO

BEST UNSTRUCTURED REALITY SHOW -- Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, CNN

Rami Malek wins his first acting award for 'Mr. Robot'

The Clones Go Down the Rabbit Hole in New 'Orphan Black' Teaser

Another new tease for the fourth season as Maslany recites the poem with flashes of her fellow clones. The new season is back in April, but they're really going hard on promotion for it already, aren't they?

'Mr. Robot' and 'Mozart in the Jungle' Win Top Golden Globe Prizes for TV

Oh boy. I thought I did bad on the movie side. I got a measly three winners right on this list. THREE. I don't even know what to say. Some of my alternates won at least, and they stuck pretty close to their policy of rewarding all new stuff, regardless of quality. But man, Lady Gaga? Really, HFPA? I don't know how they sleep at night, I really don't. They did not watch that show, or her on it. They voted for the name and the name alone. Wow. (And just so you know, I'm actually a big fan of Gaga, but she did not deserve to win anything for American Horror Story, and frankly, neither did Christian Slater or Mozart in the Jungle). The whole ceremony on the TV side is a big joke. I like Jon Hamm getting a goodbye win (he won the Golden Globe for the first season of Mad Men, but that was the year of the writer's strike and the ceremony was canceled, so they never got to have him onstage), and Mr. Robot is a worthy winner too, but the rest of this stuff is ridiculous. Especially for people who love TV.

• BEST DRAMA SERIES: Mr. Robot
• BEST ACTOR DRAMA: Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• BEST ACTRESS DRAMA: Taraji P. Henson, Empire
• BEST COMEDY SERIES: Mozart in the Jungle
• BEST ACTOR COMEDY: Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
• BEST ACTRESS COMEDY: Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
• BEST TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES: Wolf Hall
• BEST ACTOR IN A TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES: Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
• BEST ACTRESS IN A TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES: Lady Gaga, AHS: Hotel
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christian Slater, Mr. Robot
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Maura Tierney, The Affair

Full Trailer for James Franco in '11.22.63'

The new show starts on February 15th on Hulu, and Stephen King has just given it his official endorsement. I'm looking forward to this, how about you guys?

2016 Golden Globe TV Winner Predictions

Okay, so it's time for Globes predictions on the TV side. Here, the Hollywood Foreign Press is not worried about influencing anything or getting it "right," or all the considerations that come with their movie choices. They honestly just vote for what they love, so we have to try to discern their taste. That can be even harder, right? I mean, I don't know these people, but I do know what their trends have been, and what they tend to vote for on the TV side is new, new, new. First season shows, new phenomenons, they love that stuff and the show winner usually takes an acting award with it. They also like to spread the wealth a bit, so we have to figure out what combinations they're going to go with.

BEST COMEDY SERIES

• Casual
• Mozart in the Jungle
• Silicon Valley
• Transparent
• Veep

I know I said new is the most important factor, which would lead us to Mozart in the Jungle, and that's possible. But I think Transparent is still a hot commodity and may take it for two years in a row. Casual's out because it got no acting nominations to go along with it.

Winner: Transparent

Alternate: Mozart in the Jungle

BEST COMEDY ACTOR

• Aziz Ansari, Master of None
• Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
• Rob Lowe, The Grinder
• Patrick Stewart, Blunt Talk
• Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

It's between the new guys, Bernal and Ansari. Master of None has gotten great acclaim and a lot of attention lately, so Ansari could happen, while Bernal is on a show they clearly liked because they nominated it in best series. For that reason I'm picking Bernal here.

Winner: Gael Garcia Bernal

Alternate: Aziz Ansari

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS

• Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
• Jamie Lee Curtis, Scream Queens
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
• Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
• Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

This is the year where they pick Dreyfus, because this is actually the award she hasn't won yet for that show, and the Globes finally nominated it in series. The corresponding show being nominated in series is usually the key to winning acting awards here. Rodriguez won it last year, but Jane the Virgin was also nominated and this year it's not, so I think they finally catch up with Julia.

Winner: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Alternate: Lily Tomlin

BEST DRAMA SERIES

• Empire
• Game of Thrones
• Mr. Robot
• Narcos
• Outlander

I'm choosing Outlander. The Globes love sexy, passionate dramas (see the win for The Affair last year), and the show got two actors nominated along with it, so I think they really like this one.

Winner: Outlander

Alternate: Mr. Robot (also two acting nominations)

Dark Horse: Narcos (this might be something that appeals to them strongly too)

BEST DRAMA ACTOR

• Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
• Wagner Moura, Narcos
• Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
• Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

I think Rami Malek has this locked up. Mr. Robot has gotten so much buzz lately and the Globes will want to be the first to reward the lead.

Winner: Rami Malek

Alternate: Wagner Moura (they do seem to like Narcos)

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS

• Caitriona Balfe, Outlander
• Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
• Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
• Taraji P. Henson, Empire
• Robin Wright, House of Cards

This is between the women whose shows are nominated, Balfe and Henson- and I think it's really close, but I'm gonna go with Henson here, only because I think they will choose the other Outlander actor they nominated to win with the show. I don't think they'd give Outlander three awards (although they could), and I may be choosing the wrong one, but I'm going with it anyway. I do feel a bit funny about this though, since they tend to have the show and lead win simultaneously. I may be making a mistake.

Winner: Taraji P. Henson

Alternate: Caitriona Balfe

BEST TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES

• American Crime
• American Horror Story: Hotel
• Fargo
• Flesh and Bone
• Wolf Hall

I'm less versed in these categories, but I do think Fargo probably has the edge, due to the massive critical acclaim this season. It's the most hyped of these nominees and the Globes love hype.

Winner: Fargo

Alternate: Wolf Hall

BEST TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES ACTOR

• Idris Elba, Luther
• Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
• David Oyelowo, Nightingale
• Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
• Patrick Wilson, Fargo

I'm torn on this one. If they pick Stallone for the Globe on the movie side, they may reward Rylance here on the TV side, especially because his show is nominated. On the other hand, Oscar Isaac was terrific in Show Me a Hero, and there's almost always one category where they pick someone whose show didn't make it into series, could this be the place? Ugh. I don't know what to do.

Winner: Oscar Isaac (this is a shot in the dark, just instinct)

Alternate: Mark Rylance

BEST TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES ACTRESS

• Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
• Lady Gaga, American Horror Story: Hotel
• Sarah Hay, Flesh and Bone
• Felicity Huffman, American Crime
• Queen Latifah, Bessie

Most people consider it a joke that they nominated Gaga for this, so I don't expect them to make themselves look even more foolish by picking her to win. I think it's Kirsten Dunst. They've been following her since she was a kid, Fargo is up for series and they'd like to give it to her as kind of a Claire Danes-esque win.

Winner: Kirsten Dunst

Alternate: Queen Latifah

BEST TV SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
• Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall
• Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
• Tobias Menzies, Outlander
• Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

Christian Slater could win this, since he's a big name and all, but I'm saying they'll go with Menzies, since they really went out of their way to nominate him in the first place. I think these guys were really struck by his performance (as they should be) and they're going to honor him and surprise everyone who's not paying attention to Outlander.

Winner: Tobias Menzies

Alternate: Christian Slater

BEST TV SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
• Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
• Regina King, American Crime
• Judith Light, Transparent
• Maura Tierney, The Affair

I'm thinking maybe Regina King? American Crime is nominated and she's apparently the standout. But Uzo hasn't won this yet and she's won just about every other award for that role. Hmm.

Winner: Uzo Aduba

Alternate: Regina King

Dark Horse: Judith Light (her show is nominated and I'm the one who says it's winning again, so she could well go along with that this time instead of Tambor)