SAG Awards 2016: ‘Downton Abbey,’ Viola Davis, ‘Orange is the New Black’ among winners

The 2016 SAG Awards have now officially come and gone, and for the most part we’d certainly say that it was an interesting show … albeit a little bit predictable. We know that there are many commenting and celebrating the number of black actors who won, but to us that’s not a surprise at all given that many of them were favorites, and were truly deserving of the honor. What shocked us the most was how many of these actors have won a similar award in the past from these same voters.

Let’s get into the awards, just so we can offer up a little bit of analysis for each category.

Drama Ensemble – “Downton Abbey.” The show’s won before, and we’re still surprised by the continued support of it from the guild. We do think that it has an extraordinary cast, but in the minds of many its best years were seasons 2 and 3.

Drama Actor – Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards.” A bit of surprise given we had Rami Malek taking it, but SAG loves Spacey; he won the award last year.

Drama Actress – Viola Davis, “How to Get Away with Murder.” Notice a trend here? She also won last year and was / is deserving.

Comedy Ensemble – “Orange is the New Black.” Another repeat winner, and while very good, is it really a comedy?

Comedy Actor – Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent.” Here’s something crazy for you: Tambor is the ONLY actor in these top six categories who did not win the same trophy last year. (William H. Macy won in 2015, and Tambor wasn’t nominated.)

Comedy Actress – Uzo Aduba, “Orange is the New Black.” Tremendous performer, but we probably would’ve given this one to Amy Poehler for the last “Parks and Recreation” season.

TV Movie / Miniseries Actor – Idris Elba, “Luther.” Truly deserved, and one of two trophies Idris won on the night.

TV Movie / Miniseries Actress – Queen Latifah, “Bessie.” Basically, we can say the same thing here. Our only quibble with this category is the lack of Kirsten Dunst.

Stunt Team – “Game of Thrones.” Probably the most predictable category this year.