As Usual, Golden Globes Spread the Wealth

The Golden Globes have an unerring knack when it comes to putting together a list of nominees that spreads the wealth and manages to populate its ceremony with as many marquee (and telegenic) names as possible.

It's almost as if somebody sat down with a list of "Q" scores, and (in the case of TV) networks, and made sure all key constituencies were represented.

Still, there's one nomination in the long list that jumped out at me more than any other -- and no, it's not the outstanding drama bid for "The Newsroom," HBO's Aaron Sorkin series, which drew at least as many brickbats as bravos from critics. (That said, I'm very happy to see Jeff Daniels recognized.)

Among the outstanding TV comedy contenders, the NBC musical "Smash?"

Aha! Now I understand why I so frequently found myself scratching my head during the second half of the show's season. It was a comedy!

I wish someone had told me sooner. Or for that matter, the cast, writers, and NBC.

To be fair, the category is technically comedy or musical, which is how "Les Miserables" gets into that half of the field on the movie side. But let's face it, TV musicals are as rare as unicorns.

Perusing the nominees in both movies and TV, I find the Globes looking less and less like a reliable bellwether for the major academy nominations, which was always one reason the event was monitored so closely.

Still, based on the varied and star-laden assemblage of showbiz talent, I'll say one thing: They sure know how to roll out one hell of a red carpet.

And now, I'm going to go relax watching another of my favorite comedies, "Cop Rock."