Thanks to Meryl Streep, this Golden Globe category could see first comedic winner in 13 years

Given the recent reinstatement of the two solely gender-based Golden Globe categories honoring supporting television acting, one might expect a tough road ahead for featured comedy series performers. After all, Golden Globes history proves that such generic competitions typically don’t turn out well for comedic supporting players, only six of whom have managed to snag trophies this century. Nonetheless, the fact that a comedy victor drought has persisted in the Best TV Supporting Actress category for a full dozen years doesn’t seem to faze Gold Derby’s 2024 Golden Globes predictors, almost all of whom are backing a funny lady for the win.

More than two-thirds of our participating users believe the next recipient of the small screen supporting actress Golden Globe will be Meryl Streep of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” With eight competitive Golden Globe wins under her belt (including a TV one for the 2003 limited series “Angels in America”), the acting legend indeed stands the strongest chance of directly following Jane Lynch (“Glee,” 2011) from 13 years ago on this category’s list of comedic champions, but there are numerous other viable candidates.

After faltering in last year’s experimental Best TV Comedy/Drama Supporting Actress contest against Julia Garner (“Ozark”), “Abbott Elementary” pair Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph are both seeking shots at redemption in this more competitive field. Having been falsely deemed the frontrunner on her initial outing, Ralph now ranks third on our predictions list right behind Ayo Edebiri, whose work on FX’s “The Bear” is widely expected to earn recognition although it was overlooked in 2023. As of now, our users also anticipate bids for past contenders Alex Borstein (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”), with the only dramatic performer in our presently predicted top six being 2023 also-ran Elizabeth Debicki (“The Crown”).

What makes said hypothetical lineup particularly interesting is that it would be this category’s first catch-all one to include even two comedic nominees since 2016, when Uzo Aduba (“Orange is the New Black”) and Judith Light (“Transparent”) were both bested by Maura Tierney of the drama series “The Affair.” Although Garner did set a record last year by becoming the category’s third consecutive dramatic winner (after Gillian Anderson of “The Crown” and Sarah Snook of “Succession”), it appears as though the trend is going to stop there.

Any one of the current comedic candidates would be the 13th woman to snag this award for that type of performance. In addition to Lynch, the list of previous victors consists of back-to-back champs Polly Holliday (“Alice,” 1979-1980) and Valerie Bertinelli (“One Day at a Time,” 1981-1982) as well as one-time winners Sue Ann Langdon (“Arnie,” 1972), Ruth Buzzi (“Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” 1973), Betty Garrett (“All in the Family,” 1975), Hermione Baddeley (“Maude,” 1976), Diane Ladd (“Alice,” 1981), Shelley Long (“Cheers,” 1983), Katherine Helmond (“Who’s the Boss?,” 1989), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Seinfeld,” 1994) and Kim Cattrall (“Sex and the City,” 2003).

Since comedic acting has been vastly underrepresented in this category in recent years, it would only be fitting for such performers to dominate this year’s race and for one of them to achieve the honor again at long last. Whether or not Streep ends up being the chosen one, our users are more than justified in assuming that Golden Globe voters are about to very noticeably pivot toward lighter fare here.

PREDICT the 2024 Golden Globe nominations through December 11

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