Golden Globes: TV

Nevertheless, when surprises happen like they did last night, it's always disorientating. Then we have to remember that it's the Golden Globes and they mean absolutely nothing. 

In the two series categories, there were actually no surprises, as "Mad Men" took home best drama and "Glee" walked away with best musical or comedy. Though many thought "Modern Family" had the latter locked up, the voters weren't going to shy away from a series that fit both requirements (the musical and comedy). And "Family" will surely win the Emmy next fall as long as those voters stop drinking the Tina Fey Kool-Aid.

The lead acting categories brought the biggest shockers of the night. After kind of surprisingly taking home the Emmy for her lead actress in a comedy performance on "United States of Tara," Toni Collette captured the Golden Globe as well. Many thought Courtney Cox of "Cougar Town" might take that one. The other major female award, Lead Actress in a TV Drama, went to Juliana Marguiles of "The Good Wife," which was really surprising. With Glenn Close, January Jones and last year's winner Anna Paquin to fend off, the newbie took home the award. 

On the male side, Michael C. Hall finally won for his portrayal of Dexter and looked tough doing it after his recent battle with cancer. Though Hall's deserved a major award for a while, my money was on Hugh Laurie. But of course my money is always on Hugh Laurie, because he's beyond awesome. In the least shocking win of the major four acting awards in television, Alec Baldwin won for his lead performance on "30 Rock." 

The supporting actor/actress categories are bull in my opinion because it lumps together both drama and comedy/musical, putting the best of the best (and Jeremy Piven) against one another when really two of them should win awards. With the male side, jam-packed with NPH, Michael Emerson, William Hurt and his awesomely creepy beard and Piven, John Lithgow took home the hardware for his stellar run on "Dexter." On the female side, Chloe Sevigny won for her performance on "Big Love," besting Rose Byrne of "Damages" and Jane Lynch of "Glee." 

Mini-series awards are always a bit boring since many of the minis nominated are terribly boring themselves. The only thing I remember from that section of the telecast was, "My God, is 'Grey Gardens' still getting nominated for stuff? Didn't it air in 2007?" So that tells you how exciting those awards were. "Grey Gardens" won best mini, Drew Barrymore won for her performance in that one and Kevin Bacon also took home the Golden Globe for his lead performance in the mini "Taking Chance."

Again, the Globes mean next to nothing aside from another PR tool, but it was a big night for Showtime, with 3 of the 6 acting categories going to the cable net's series. At least "30 Rock" didn't win again.