Hugo Awards & BAFTA TV Nominations

Didn't awards season end when James Franco and Anne Hathaway sang "Over the Rainbow" with a bunch of kids a couple of months ago? Of course that's never the case since there's always awards for this thing and that. Just this week, nominations for the Hugo Awards and the BAFTA TV Awards were released and since I watch tons of sci-fi/fantasy and British TV shows, let's take a quick look!

Started in 1953 the Hugo Awards, according to their website, are given out annually to honor "excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy." The categories (click here to see the complete list) range from best novels to best editor to best short story and to best fanzine, but I just want to highlight their picks on movies and TV episodes:

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• How to Train Your Dragon
• Inception
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Toy Story 3

A damn good list if I do say so. Three of the five films made my own personal top 10 list (including my favorite film of the year) and the other two were also favorites of mine. I guess if I had to pick another film for them to consider I'd say Never Let Me Go. Also is Toy Story 3 really a "sci-fi/fantasy" film?

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

• Doctor Who: “A Christmas Carol”
• Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang”
• Doctor Who: “Vincent and the Doctor”
• Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury
• The Lost Thing

Now as much as I love Doctor Who (and its episodes that have nominated), this is ridiculous. There really should be a rule of one nomination per show especially in a year that has given us Misfits, Being Human, and Fringe. With this said, I'm rooting for "Vincent and the Doctor." A beautiful piece of writing that episode was.

And speaking of Doctor Who, let's segue to the BAFTA TV Awards which is just like the normal BAFTAs except for TV. That was pretty straightforward wasn't it?

Drama Series

• Being Human
• Downton Abbey
• Misfits
• Sherlock

It's astonishing that I have seen every single show nominated in this category and truthfully I love them all. If I had to absolutely pick a favorite, it'd be Being Human for an excruciatingly heart-wrenching and mind-blowing season. But the rest? Highly recommended. I am shocked that Doctor Who wasn't nominated, but then again...

Leading Actor

• Jim Broadbent, Any Human Heart
• Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
• Daniel Rigby, Eric and Ernie
• Matt Smith, Doctor Who

Matt Smith becomes the first actor to play the Doctor to be nominated for a BAFTA TV Award! When I heard this, I was shocked seeing as how the show is SUCH a cultural institution in Britain. Still, huge honor for Matt who is winning people left and right. Only other performance I've seen is that of Benedict Cumberbatch and he, too, is brilliant. Both actors, BTW, playing characters written by Steven Moffat.

Female Performance in a Comedy Role

• Jo Brand, Getting On
• Dawn French, Roger and Val Have Just Got In
• Miranda Hart, Miranda
• Katherine Parkinson, The IT Crowd

I recognized most of these names, but really it's all about Miranda Hart who is a hoot in her show that I, along with everyone it seems like, discovered this year.

Supporting Actor

• Brendan Coyle, Downton Abbey
• Martin Freeman, Sherlock
• Johnny Harris, This Is England ’86
• Robert Sheehan, Misfits

Other that Johnny Harris, I've seen all of the other performances and no complaints from me. Sheehan IS the show-stealer in his show, but my vote would've gone to castmate Iwan Rheon especially playing his dual role this season. Freeman was perfect as Watson and his chemistry with Cumberbatch was brilliant. Finally, Coyle played one of my favorite characters. I'm just shocked he managed to get picked out from such a huge ensemble.

Supporting Actress

• Gillian Anderson, Any Human Heart
• Lynda Baron, The Road to Coronation Street
• Lauren Socha, Misfits
• Jessie Wallace, The Road to Coronation Street

Nothing to say except to congratulate Lauren, because she's awesome. But no Karen Gillan or Lenora Crichlow? Or would they go to lead? Even then, they weren't nominated there either!

International

• Boardwalk Empire
• Glee
• The Killing
• Mad Men

Don't really have much to add except to say "oh okay." I'd probably have more to contribute if I actually knew what shows were in the running.

As you can tell, I didn't include every category, since as much British TV I do watch, I don't watch them all and most categories I'm actually clueless about. But if you want to see the complete list of nominations, click here.