Friday , March 29 2024
Hugh Laurie nominated for a SAG award this morning.

‘Tis the (Entertainment Awards Nomination) Season

Ahhh. The end of the year brings many things: snow (if you live where it actually gets cold), gifts, television reruns—and entertainment awards nominations. ‘Tis the season for announcing the nominees for a flurry of entertainment awards, including those from the Writers Guild (WGA), Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

Earlier this week, the immensely talented Hugh Laurie was nominated in the best actor category for a Golden Globe by the HFPA, along with the series itself. And, this very morning, he received a SAG award nomination for best actor in a television dramatic series. Last week, the Writers Guild nominated “Broken, Part 1 and Part 2,” written by Russel Friend, Garrett Lerner, David Foster, and David Shore in the “best episodic drama” category for its annual awards.

There has been a lot of criticism of House these last couple of years from entertainment writers and certainly within the “hard-core” fandom about the direction of the show, and some of it is justified. But for a series in its sixth season, the show is still fresh, still surprising (and usually in good ways). Laurie continues to put his heart and soul into every performance, the writers continue to come up with beautifully framed, and intricate scripts week after week.

Just this week, TV Guide singled out the season six premiere “Broken,” as one of the best “TV movies” in years in its annual "Cheers and Jeers" list. "Broken" is brilliant double episode anchored by the intense, nuanced performances of Laurie and guest star Andre Braugher. The episode came on the heels of a concluding run of House episodes at the end of season five that I would put up against anything else that television has to offer.

It’s notable that the Writers Guild nomination for House is the only non-cable entry of the six episodes named in its category. House is nominated along with Big Love on HBO, two Mad Men (AMC) episodes, True Blood (HBO) and Breaking Bad (AMC).

The acting awards are slightly more balanced between cable and network offerings, with Simon Baker in CBS’ The Mentalist in the mix along with Laurie and three cable series stars: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC), Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime), Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC) all being nominated for SAG awards. Substitute Cranston with Bill Paxton in Big Love (HBO) for the Golden Globes.

Laurie has won both of these awards before (two Golden Globes and two SAG awards), as well as the Television Critics Association award, among others. But I cannot imagine a better performance (in any year, by any actor) than Hugh Laurie gave in the series of episodes commencing with season five’s “Simple Explanation” and concluding with the two-part “Broken.” And he hasn’t won either in a couple of years). So here’s hoping that House and Hugh are duly awarded for their work in 2009—and that Emmy is paying attention come next September.

And a bit of late-breaking scheduling news: it is being reported by Broadcast and Cable News that House will actually resume in January as originally scheduled on January 11. I have not received confirmation from FOX yet, but will tweet when it’s been confirmed.

One last reminder: there are a few days left to vote in my "best of House" poll.

About Barbara Barnett

A Jewish mother and (young 🙃) grandmother, Barbara Barnett is an author and professional Hazzan (Cantor). A member of the Conservative Movement's Cantors Assembly and the Jewish Renewal movement's clergy association OHALAH, the clergy association of the Jewish Renewal movement. In her other life, she is a critically acclaimed fantasy/science fiction author as well as the author of a non-fiction exploration of the TV series House, M.D. and contributor to the book Spiritual Pregnancy. She Publisher/Executive Editor of Blogcritics, (blogcritics.org).

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