Thursday, December 13, 2007

Hollywood awards season kicks off

December launches a flurry of awards, principally for film, but TV also gets a look in with some accolades. Critics associations in various US cities are naming their favourite films, directors, actors and screenplays of 2007. The Coen Brothers' latest, No Country For Old Men, is getting a lot of traction.

Julie Christie is fast becoming a lock for a best actress nomination come the Oscars and Ratatouille will likely be battling Persepolis for best animated feature. The elephant for all these discussions is the ongoing writers' strike. It's already laying waste to TV schedule across the Atlantic, and televised awards shows will suffer too if the strike drags on into the new year - as seems likely.

In the midst of all this, the Writers' Guild of America has announced it nominations for the best TV of 2007. Top dramatic series are Dexter, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men, The Sopranos and The Wire - can't argue with any of those choices. It's a sign of the strength in US TV drama that the guild could have filled those five slots several times over and still be acclaiming quality programmes.

Best new series? Damages, Flight of the Conchords, Mad Men and Pushing Daisies - not a dud amongst them. I'd have been tempted to add Life to the list, but that's just me. Kudos to the double nod for Mad Men, it really is that good. Watch out for the series when it appears on the BBC next year.

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