Meryl Streep (‘Only Murders in the Building’) predicted to break 13-year comedy curse at Golden Globes

Marcus James Dixon
·4 min read
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Year after year, TV fans continue to be irked when the Golden Globes combine supporting performances from comedies, dramas, limited series and TV movies altogether. Looking through the list of past winners in the female category, you can clearly see there’s a bias toward rewarding dramatic roles over comedic ones. In fact, it’s been a whopping 13 years since a supporting actress from a comedy series prevailed: Jane Lynch (“Glee”). Is there a comedy curse at the Golden Globes? If so, it could finally end this year, as Gold Derby predicts Meryl Streep (“Only Murders in the Building”) will win the race for Best TV Supporting Actress on Sunday, January 7.

Streep plays Loretta Durkin on the Hulu hit, an out-of-work theater actress who decides to audition for a Broadway play directed by Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) in order to get closer to one of the other characters. Loretta is tailor-made for awards recognition, as she runs the gamut between laugh-out-loud moments and emotional breakdowns. And, oh yeah, Streep also sings in multiple episodes.

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In her Golden Globe category, Streep competes against two supporting actresses from comedy series, Abby Elliott (“The Bear”) and Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”), plus three others from drama series: Elizabeth Debicki (“The Crown”), Christina Ricci (“Yellowjackets”) and J. Smith-Cameron (“Succession”). Gold Derby’s odds give Streep the edge, with Debicki in the runner-up position for portraying Diana, Princess of Wales. But are our odds-makers forgetting that Streep has an uphill climb based on her genre?

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To date, Streep has been nominated for 33 Golden Globes and has won eight competitive statuettes for “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” “Sophie’s Choice,” “Adaptation,” “Angels in America,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Julie & Julia” and “The Iron Lady.” This marks her second bid in the Best TV Supporting Actress category after losing for “Big Little Lies” in 2020 to Patricia Arquette (“The Act”).

Other than Lynch, there have only been three more supporting actress champions from comedy series over the past 40 years: Kim Cattrall (“Sex and the City”), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Seinfeld”) and Katherine Helmond (“Who’s the Boss?”). Are funny performances just not seen as “awards worthy” by Globes voters?

Over on the supporting actor side, Tyler James Williams (“Abbott Elementary”) won for a comedy series just last year, however there were temporarily two separate races for continuing series and limited productions, with the latter award going to Paul Walter Hauser (“Black Bird”). We’ll never know who would have won if they were combined.

Before Williams’ Globe victory, you have to go back the same amount of time — 13 years — to find a supporting actor who prevailed for a comedy series: Chris Colfer (“Glee”). There are just two other examples across the past four decades: Jeremy Piven (“Entourage”) and Robert Downey Jr. (“Ally McBeal”).

Should the Golden Globes put an end to this comedy curse once and for all by creating separate supporting categories for comedy and drama? After all, the Emmys and Critics Choice Awards already go this route. Be sure to sound off down in the comments section or in our TV forum.

PREDICTthe Golden Globe winners through January 7

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