Zombies and gangsters are breaking up this year's Golden Globes song and dance.
Fox's "Glee" led in the Golden Globes television nominations with five as the comedy and musical categories stayed consistent. But the drama side was shaken up by the arrival of HBO's new "Boardwalk Empire" and AMC's "The Walking Dead" — plus the long overdue nomination of main "Breaking Bad" meth-maker Bryan Cranston, winner of three straight Emmys.
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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which will hand out the awards on Jan. 16, seems to subscribe to the idea that comedy should be reassuring and drama disruptive — or so it would seem from their picks.
Eleven of the 16 nominees in the comedic or musical series and lead actor and actress categories stayed the same, but only seven nominees returned to the dramatic series and the lead actor and actress categories. (The Press Association had six comedic or musical series nominees this year, one more than last year.)
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The dramatic series nominees turned over almost entirely, with "Walking Dead," "Boardwalk Empire," and CBS' "The Good Wife" displacing last year's nominees, HBO's "Big Love" and "True Blood" and Fox's "House." Only Showtime's "Dexter" and AMC's three-time winner "Mad Men" returned. Breakout hit "The Walking Dead" was a particular surprise because the Press Association traditionally hasn't recognized horror or sci-fi.
"Glee," NBC's "30 Rock" and ABC's "Modern Family" returned to the comedy series category, where they were joined by CBS' "Big Bang Theory" and Showtime's "The Big C" and "Nurse Jackie." The new additions displaced last year's nominees, HBO's "Entourage" and NBC's "The Office."
Also read: "Breaking Bad," "30 Rock," "Simpsons," "Modern Family" Lead WGA Nominations
The TV categories spread the nominations around more than the film categories, in which "The King's Speech," detailing King George VI attempts to overcome his speech impediment on the eve of World War II, led with seven nominations. "The Social Network," which profiles the creation of Facebook, and "The Fighter," starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, each received six, while "Black Swan," "Inception" and the very modern family drama of "The Kids Are All Right" had four each.
But the starry-eyed Globes also threw in a few wild cards like the three nominations for the critically reviled box-office bomb "The Tourist": one as best musical or comedy and two for its stars Johnny Depp (who was also nominated for "Alice in Wonderland") and Angelina Jolie.
Even with their more diverse choices, the TV categories were mostly weirdness-free. The Press Association finally took note of Cranston, who has won an Emmy for every season of his character's transformation from a humble chemistry teacher to a methamphetamine mastermind. Newcomer Steve Buscemi ("Boardwalk Empire") joined him in the best actor in a TV drama series category, as did returning nominees Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), who won last year, Jon Hamm ("Mad Men") and Hugh Laurie ("House"). Cranston and Buscemi displaced Bill Paxton ("Big Love") and Simon Baker ("The Mentalist).
Julianna Margulies, last year's winner for best actress in a dramatic series ("The Good Wife"), and Kyra Sedgwick (TNT's "The Closer"), were the sole women to return to the category. They were joined by Elisabeth Moss, who displaced her "Mad Men" castmate January Jones with the help of a Peggy-centric fourth season, Piper Perabo (USA's "Covert Affairs)," and Katey Segal (FX's "Sons of Anarchy").
The comedic actress and actor nominees were almost exactly the same as last year's, with Laura Linney ("The Big C") bumping Courteney Cox ("Cougartown") and Emmy winner Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") bumping David Duchovny ("Californication").
Returning to the actress category is two-time winner Tina Fey ("30 Rock"), plus Toni Collette ("United States of Tara"), Edie Falco ("Nurse Jackie"), and Lea Michele ("Glee").
The returning comedic actors are Alex Baldwin ("30 Rock"), Steve Carell ("The Office"), Thomas Jane ("Hung"), and Matthew Morrison ("Glee").
HBO led with the most nominations, 12, followed by eight for Showtime and six each for Fox and CBS, the most-nominated networks. Perpetual overachiever AMC, which has only three shows, scored nominations for each of them, for a total of five — more than NBC or ABC.
Starz also came up big, earning three nominations for "Pillars of the Earth": One for best miniseries or motion picture made for television, one for Hayley Atwell for best actress in a miniseries or TV movie, and one for Ian McShane for best actor in a miniseries of TV movie.