Golden Globes 2015: HBO, major networks get the cold shoulder from HFPA

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. lived up to its idiosyncratic reputation Sunday night, largely shunning perennial awards favorite HBO and completely shutting out the four major broadcast networks in the television categories. Instead, it bestowed favor on the cast and creators of programs from two online platforms, Amazon and Netflix, and awarded the CW with its first Golden Globe ever.

HBO, which went into the night with 15 nominations, far and away the most nominations of any TV outlet, took home just one award, for Matt Bomer’s supporting performance in the TV movie “The Normal Heart.”

And though HBO dominated in the miniseries or TV movie category with three out of five nominations (for “Olive Kitteridge,” “The Normal Heart” and “True Detective”), the award ultimately went to FX’s “Fargo.” It’s the first time in three years HBO has not won the category, following victories for “Behind the Candelabra” and “Game Change.”

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In something of a surprise, Frances McDormand, who earned rave reviews for her performance as the title character in “Olive Kitteridge,” lost to Maggie Gyllenhaal for SundanceTV’s “The Honorable Woman.” “Fargo” star Billy Bob Thornton also edged out favorite Matthew McConaughey of “True Detective” for actor in a miniseries or TV movie.

And “Game of Thrones,” both a critical and commercial smash for HBO, was beaten by “The Affair,” a first-year series with a much more modest audience from rival Showtime.

But HBO performed well compared with AMC, home to last year’s drama series winner “Breaking Bad,” which did not receive any nominations this year.

Though the major broadcast networks fared well in terms of nominations, with nods for “The Good Wife” (CBS), “Mom” (CBS), “How to Get Away With Murder” (ABC) and “The Blacklist” (NBC), they ultimately went home empty-handed.

Instead, Gina Rodriguez, star of freshman CW series “Jane the Virgin,” won for actress in a comedy series, beating seasoned veterans including Julia Louis-Dreyfus of HBO’s “Veep” and Edie Falco of Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie.”

With its younger-skewing programming, the CW has never been considered an awards contender -- the network has even poked fun of its lightweight reputation -- but all that could be changing thanks to “Jane.”

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