Golden Globes 2018: Why Timothy Olyphant, Danny McBride, Brandon Michael Hall, Anthony Atamanuik, Dwayne Johnson deserve Comedy Actor nods

Welcome to the 2018 Golden Globes CarterMatt preview series! With the popular awards show coming to NBC in January, what better time then now to start looking at possible nominees and favorites? This is the third straight year in which CarterMatt has had our own dedicated preview series, and our goal here is to help highlight the best of the best as voters within the Hollywood Foreign Press start to make their decisions.

On October 31, all official submissions were made to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and on November 24 ballots will begin going out for official nomination voting. The focus of this CarterMatt series is to help identify great shows and performers for the HFPA to consider. We’ll be sharing some of our personal picks in every TV-related category daily throughout the month of November at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time (4:00 p.m. Eastern), and from there, we’ll leave the voting for you to share some of your own favorites!

Voting Rules – Note that this is just for fun and for campaign purposes; you aren’t voting for the actual Golden Globes! Vote however often you want from now until November 30 at 12:00 p.m. Pacific time, when the polls close and will no longer be available. We will announce all of the poll winners at 1:00 p.m. Pacific on November 30, during the heart of campaign season, as a way to help get the word out on some shows and performers worthy of a nomination.

With all of that laid out, let’s get to today’s order of business: Discussing the CarterMatt picks for Actor in a Comedy Series.

Anthony Atamanuik, The President Show (Comedy Central) – While Alec Baldwin obviously gets more of the attention for his Donald Trump impression, Atamanuik may actually have the better of the two — beyond just that, he’s crafted a real character with a story and some brilliant, biting satire on this show. While Trump comedy may be starting to be played out at the end of 2017, Atamanuik, through his performance and his show, may be the signature voice for accurately skewering the President.

Brandon Michael Hall, The Mayor (ABC) – This show is one of the most heartfelt and refreshing ones on the air, and Hall it is a big part of the reason why. He’s a fresh face and a delightful one — he oozes charisma as Courtney Rose, he can make you laugh with one-liners, but you also feel for him and see how much he cares for his family and the people of this town he oddly finds himself leading as their Mayor. It’s a performance we really hope we get to see more of beyond this season.

Dwayne Johnson, Ballers (HBO) – Magnetism and charisma are two things that we’ve all come to expect from a Dwayne Johnson performance over the past several years, but we’ve also loved getting to see that there is something more to his Spencer Strasmore on this show. The vulnerable end of season 2 set the stage for some really fantastic storylines in season 3, and Johnson killed it showing the rebirth of this man who hit a low point and had to figure out a way to tackle these demons while keeping his image afloat.

Danny McBride, Vice Principals (HBO) – In so many ways, Neal Gamby is a louse — he’s a bully, an egomaniac, and he’s abusive to people who don’t deserve it. Yet, somehow McBride has this unique ability to take all of these unlikable characteristics and carve out someone who you still think has a big heart and cares for other people. This is what he did over the course of Vice Principals season 2 — even if you didn’t root for Neal (this is a guy who did help burn down Belinda’s house) you were at least compelled and fascinated by him. You wanted to see his story play out.

Timothy Olyphant, Santa Clarita Diet (Netflix) – The difference between Olyphant’s character Joel Hammond and Neal Gamby / President Trump is that Hammond starts off with his head at least partially on his shoulders before becoming completely unhinged. What we saw for him throughout the first season is a wonderful showcase of physical comedy and absurdity. As someone who knows Olyphant from serious material this was one of the most surprising and refreshing performances of the year.

Now, it’s your turn!

Who among these performers is worthy of getting a Golden Globe nomination? Vote now in our poll below! If there is a performer not on this list that you want to see with a nod, also let us know that in the comments section below. If you are on mobile and cannot see the poll, scroll to the bottom and click to view the non-AMP version of the page.

Meanwhile, visit the link here to read more Golden Globes coverage or like us on Facebook to get even more news on these shows and many others we cover here at the site. (Photo: HFPA.)