‘Abbott Elementary’ would be first network show to win Best Comedy Series Golden Globe in 9 years

Ever since HBO’s “The Larry Sanders Show” was nominated for the Best Comedy Series Golden Globe in 1997, at least one non-broadcast network program has contended for the award each year. Such shows have filled a majority of the slots in the category’s last eight lineups, with the most recent three having consisted of nothing but cable or streaming series. It has been close to a decade since a network sitcom has won this top honor, but that could change this year if enough members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association prove to be fans of the ABC smash hit “Abbott Elementary.”

Presently, “Abbott Elementary” is in a comfortable first place position for Best Comedy Series in Gold Derby’s Golden Globe predictions. It did recently lose the corresponding Emmy award to “Ted Lasso,” but fortunately does not have to face the Apple TV+ series here since it has all but missed the HFPA’s calendar year eligibility window. Even if “Ted Lasso” were in the mix, “Abbott Elementary” would still have a strong advantage in that the last 10 winning shows in this category have triumphed on their first nominations, whereas “Ted Lasso” has already come up short here twice.

Other serious 2023 Best Comedy Series contenders include past winners “Hacks” (ranked third in our predictions) and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (seventh) as well as potential returning nominees “Only Murders in the Building” (second) and “Barry” (fifth). Since it pulled off the impressive feat of triumphing over “Ted Lasso” last year, “Hacks” is still very much a threat, but is hindered by the fact that the HFPA rarely gives shows back-to-back Best Comedy Series wins, with the last such instance having occurred in 2010 and 2011 with “Glee.”

If “Abbott Elementary” wins Best Comedy Series this year, it will be the first network show to claim the prize since Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” at the 2014 ceremony. In that case, the only cable or streaming series in the lineup was HBO’s “Girls” (which won the year before). Even a nomination would make “Abbott Elementary” the category’s first network contender since NBC’s “The Good Place” in 2019.

Since HBO’s “Sex and the City” became the first cable series to win this Golden Globe in 2000 (with the first streaming victor being Amazon’s “Transparent” in 2015), broadcast network shows have prevailed here only eight times. Those that preceded “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” were “Desperate Housewives” (ABC; 2005-2006), “Ugly Betty” (ABC; 2007), “30 Rock” (NBC; 2009), “Glee” (Fox; 2010-2011) and “Modern Family” (ABC; 2012).

“Abbott Elementary” would be only the ninth ABC program to win in this category since its inception six decades ago. Besides “Desperate Housewives,” “Ugly Betty” and “Modern Family,” its predecessors in this regard would be “My Three Sons” (1962), “Barney Miller” (1976-1977), “Taxi” (1979-1981), “The Wonder Years” (1989) and “Roseanne” (1993). Although the days of network supremacy are essentially over, the massive popularity of “Abbott Elementary” may still shift the tide back toward its original direction.

Nominations for the 80th Golden Globes will be revealed on Monday, December 12. The awards ceremony is set to air on NBC and stream on Peacock on Tuesday, January 10.

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