“GLOW” has had a very good December. The Netflix comedy about a ragtag group of female pro wrestlers in the 1980s premiered its first season back in June. That was forever ago when you consider the glut of TV programs that premiere on broadcast networks, cable, and online these days, so despite its almost universal praise it was hard to know for sure if the series would be remembered by year-end awards groups. The answer was a resounding yes. In fact, lead star Alison Brie was the only actress in a comedy series to go three-for-three with nominations at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, and SAG Awards. Can she won one of them — or maybe all of them?
Brie plays Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress who finds herself auditioning for a pro wrestling show after repeated career setbacks. As of this writing she’s the frontrunner to win at the Critics’ Choice Awards with 7/4 odds. Those odds are based on the combined predictions of all of our users, including one of the Expert journalists we’ve polled so far: Adnan Virk (ESPN). It’s hard to know which way the critics will go in any given race since they have been known to embrace newcomers as well as returning favorites, but the four nominations for the Netflix series, including Best Comedy Series, bode well.
Brie might have a tougher challenge at the other two events. The Globes love to award freshman shows, which should be good news for her, but she happens to be up against two other newcomers: Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and Frankie Shaw (“SMILF”). Both “Marvelous” and “SMILF” also received Globe noms for Best Comedy Series, while “GLOW” did not, which may give them the advantage in this contest. Nevertheless, Brie ranks third in our predictions with 14/1 odds and is predicted to upset by three of our Top 24 Users who got the highest scores forecasting last year’s Globes.
Brie has the opposite problem at the SAG Awards, which are the most resistant to newcomers. We’re expecting Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”) to prevail for the third time, but Brie ranks second with 7/2 odds with support from four of our Top 24 Users, and there’s reason to believe she can overtake Louis-Dreyfus. First of all, “GLOW” racked up four nominations, including one for its ensemble cast and another for its stunt ensemble. Second, the SAG Awards love Netflix, which almost swept the series awards last year, claiming four out of the six prizes including victories for the casts of “Orange is the New Black” (comedy) and “Stranger Things” (drama).
How many of these awards (if any) do you think Brie will win? And will that set her up nicely for her first Emmy nomination next summer? Watch our recent in-depth interview with Brie below, and make your predictions.
Be sure to make your Golden Globe predictions so that Hollywood insiders can see how their TV shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before winners are announced on January 7. And join in the fierce debate over the 2018 Golden Globes taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our TV forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
