By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — The Golden Globe Awards have been trying to revive interest and reshape their image in the wake of controversy over a lack of diversity in the voting base that awarded them. Another part of that process was announced this week as they unveiled the first Golden Globe nominations for Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television. Nominations on Monday were given to several recently Grammy-nominated comedians, among them Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes, Trevor Noah and Sarah Silverman.
Netflix led nominations in the category with five out of six. Rock’s “Selective Outrage,” seeing Sykes “I’m an Entertainer,” Ricky Gervais’ “Armageddon,” Trevor Noah’s “Where Was I” and Amy Schumer’s “Emergency Contact.” HBO had the other nomination with Silverman’s Grammy-nominated “Someone You Love.”
The Golden Globes officially announced that comedians would be nominated in September, Comics looking to submit, either individually or as part of a troupe or ensemble, must have presented a special airing either on broadcast, basic and premium cable, streaming or pay-per-view. Projects debuting on platforms like YouTube were ineligible in the first go-round. Also new to this year’s ceremony is the category of Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, recognizing films that have made a major impact, both at the box office and in pop culture. The nominations in that category included “Barbie,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” “Oppenheimer,” ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
Comedian Jeremiah Watkins told Deadline that “I think it’s way overdue and I think it’s something that’ll be another accolade that comedians will strive for. It’s just nice to be recognized for something that a lot of people in the industry, and surrounding the industry, consider to be one of the hardest things to do, or their biggest fear is to even get on stage and do something like that. So, it’s cool that it’s being acknowledged in a different way.”
Winners in all categories will be announced live at the 81st Golden Globes ceremony Sunday, January 7, 2024. This year’s ceremony has a new host. The awards will be held at the Beverly Hilton and air live on CBS (WTVF-5 locally) and Paramount+, after the network acquired rights following longtime home NBC not renewing its deal.
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