Golden Globes 2017: Is Jamie Dornan, Sam Heughan, or Kiefer Sutherland top Drama Actor snub?

The Blacklist logo any seasonLet’s face it folks — we really are in the peak TV era. There are hundreds of different scripted programs out there, and with that it’s inevitable that there are going to be many series and actors that end up falling through the cracks when it comes to awards recognition. This is where our new CarterMatt Golden Globes series comes into play! We’re doing an article a day discussing who should win out of the nominees in the field, and we’re also posting one article a day about the biggest snubs.

Today, we’re focusing on one of the most robust categories out there in Actor in a Television Series – Drama. We’ve already talked about the nominees themselves, so it’s time to get to who were (unfortunately) overlooked.

One distinction that we’re making between this article and our recent CarterMatt Awards (we’re still announcing results of that over the coming days) is that these snub picks are not based on personal preference — instead, we’re identifying them based on pre-nomination buzz and internet chatter.

Who do you think was the biggest snub? We’ll have a poll below for you to share that, and we’ll announce the results in an article come Sunday, January 8, the morning of the Globes airing on NBC.

The Snubs

Jamie Dornan, “The Fall” (Netflix) – You can argue that Dornan was always a long-shot nomination, but the Globes do love to nominate shows with a certain international flair. Dornan’s performance as Paul Spector was magnetic, much-discussed, and he had a higher profile entering the nominations this year thanks to much of his cinema work.

Sam Heughan, “Outlander” (Starz) – It’s a thrill to see his co-star Caitriona Balfe nominated for the second straight year; unfortunately, this is the second straight snub for Heughan at the Globes, despite bringing so much heart, determination, and at times humor to the role of Jamie Fraser. Unfortunately, the show itself also was a recipient of a snub this year despite many predictions it would score a nod.

Sir Anthony Hopkins, “Westworld” (HBO) – He’s a living legend who was a part of arguably the most-discussed show of the fall. Maybe we can argue that he needed more screen time; otherwise, how in the world do you justify him not getting a nomination for this show? We’re glad to see “Westworld” with some buzz elsewhere, but this snub completely floored us.

James Spader, “The Blacklist” (NBC) – While nominations for network actors have become few and far between, Spader gave some of the finest work of his career during the “Cape May” episode earlier this year; not only that, but he has been nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press for playing Raymond Reddington before, in addition to his work on other shows.

Kiefer Sutherland, “Designated Survivor” (ABC) – Sutherland was on many ballots entering the nominations due to the strength of his work as Tom Kirkman, and also because of the buzz surrounding his show in general. He was nominated many times by the Hollywood Foreign Press for his work on “24,” and even was a recipient of the award on one occasion. He also won numerous Emmys for playing Jack Bauer.

(Photo: NBC)

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