TV's outgoing 'Americans,' newcomer 'Kominsky' take top Golden Globes

LOS ANGELES – 7 January 2019: The final season of FX’s Cold War-era spy thriller “The Americans” and newcomer “The Kominsky Method” from Netflix Inc captured the top television honors at Hollywood’s Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday.

FX, a unit of 21st Century Fox, also won best limited series for “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.” Netflix and FX ended the night with three television awards each.

Voters in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hands out the Golden Globes, spread the rest of the TV honors among cable networks and streaming platforms as a golden age of television provided stiff competition. Nearly 500 scripted shows were released on U.S. TV in 2018, according to a December study from FX.

Michael Douglas, known for dramatic roles in movies such as “Wall Street,” won best actor in a TV comedy for his work as an aging acting coach on “The Kominsky Method,” his first role for a streaming outlet. The show was released on Netflix in November and also won the best TV comedy or musical award.

“I love the challenge at this point in my career,” Douglas told reporters backstage. “I think comedy is much more difficult than drama. This meant really a lot to me.”

Netflix also won two film awards for black-and-white, Spanish-language movie “Roma.” The streaming pioneer finished the night with five Globe trophies, more than any other single distributor.

“The Americans” producer Joe Weisberg thanked FX and Fox executives for supporting his show, a drama set in the 1980s that just aired its sixth and final season and took the gong for best TV drama series.

The series starred Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Soviet spies paired together by their bosses in an arranged marriage and sent to the suburbs of Washington, D.C.
“You nurtured and loved this show and we love you guys,” Weisberg said.

For returning shows, the awards provide distributors with bragging rights they can use in marketing to try to lure new viewers.

Amazon.com Inc scored two awards, including best TV actress in a comedy for Rachel Brosnahan in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” about a 1950s housewife who becomes a standup comic.

Globes co-host Sandra Oh took home the best dramatic actress honor for her role in murder mystery “Killing Eve,” the lone award for the BBC America cable network, a joint venture between Britain’s BBC Studios and AMC Networks Inc.

AT&T Inc’s HBO and CBS Corp’s Showtime also won one Golden Globe each.