This week’s one-two punch of the Golden Globes and SAG Awards nominations have thrown awards season prognosticators into a frenzy, but they actually help to provide some clarification for the streaming wars.
HBO received nine SAG Awards nominations Wednesday morning; meanwhile, Warner Bros. Television, also owned by AT&T, was among several studios that tied for second place with four SAG Award nominations. Given that these award-nominated properties will have a direct line of distribution to AT&T-owned streaming, their success bodes well for the 2020 launch of HBO Max.
HBO was among the studios behind well-received projects such as “Chernobyl,” “Barry,” which each received two SAG Award nominations; though critics and viewers were divided on the final season of “Game of Thrones,” the show still earned three nominations. HBO’s production successes were also elevated by “Big Little Lies” and “True Detective,” which each received one nomination. “Big Little Lies” only receiving one nomination was one of the morning’s many surprises, but overall, HBO still scored more than twice as many SAG Award nominations as its production studio peers Wednesday morning.
A whopping six studios tied for second place with four SAG Award nominations each. Among them was Warner Bros. Television, which earned three nominations for “The Kominsky Method” and one for “Watchmen.” “The Kominsky Method,” which received three Golden Globe nominations earlier this week, continues to be an awards season favorite, but the one nomination for the critically acclaimed “Watchmen” was comparably surprising.
Outside of the groundwork being laid by AT&T for streaming success, one entity, again, that is unarguably turning voters’ heads is the work of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, the studio behind Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show” and HBO’s “Big Little Lies.” “The Morning Show” has established itself as a serious awards season contender after its SAG Awards nominations this morning, especially after its Golden Globes success on Monday. Awards season recognition will likely embolden Hello Sunshine as it continues to work on other upcoming projects, such as Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere,” Amazon Prime Video’s “Daisy Jones & The Six,” and Starz’s “Kin,” among others.
Rounding up the SAG Awards production tally was Netflix, which was also among the studios vying for second place, thanks to the three nominations for “Stranger Things” and one for “GLOW.”
And then there were the studios behind “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” which earned four SAG Awards nominations, more than any other television show. Amazon Studios, Picrow, and Dorothy Parker Drank here Productions in total received four nominations for the Prime Video comedy; the series is a favorite of SAG voters and won three awards last year.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
