2021 Golden Globes: Breaking Down the Race for Outstanding Comedy/Musical Series

Awards Daily breaks down the top contenders in the race for Outstanding Comedy/Musical Series at the 2021 Golden Globes. After sweeping the Emmys, will Schitt’s Creek be given one final sendoff or will the new favorite Ted Lasso become the big winner of the night?

For the past couple of years, the comedy categories have been dominated by shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Barry, Fleabag, and even The Kominsky Method. This year however, with all of the usual suspects out of the competition, it makes room for a wide-open race for Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes.

So this year, for the first time in ages, there will probably be a completely new slate of comedies nominated at the Golden Globes. Shows like Schitt’s Creek, What We Do In the Shadows and Ramy are hoping to be nominated for the first time. There is also a handful of new comedies that are perfect for the Golden Globes from Ted Lasso to The Great to Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Even a show like Emily in Paris is in the conversation.

The Early Frontrunners

Over the past five months Ted Lasso has quietly become the underdog comedy that everybody can’t stop raving about. Jason Sudeikis stars as an American football coach who is flown out to England to coach a real football team. As the season progressed, it became the show that everyone was rooting for, and I’ve still yet to hear anyone say anything negative about the show.

Apple TV+ is still waiting for their first win at the Golden Globes after The Morning Show went home empty handed. Right now, Ted Lasso has a good chance at becoming the top comedy of the year taking home Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor, and a win for Outstanding Supporting Actress isn’t out of the question either.

Schitt’s Creek made history this year after sweeping the Emmys, ending its run as one of the most popular comedies of the modern era after beginning on a network the average viewer has never even heard of. HFPA voters don’t like to miss out on the fun which means the Rose family should be on the way to one last hurrah at the Golden Globes, however the show has never been nominated here and this isn’t a group that tends to become sentimental for shows in their final season.

Emmy Favorites

With The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Barry and The Kominsky Method taking the year off and shows like The Good Place only airing a handful of episodes in 2020 there’s a good chance that this year’s Golden Globes won’t have a lot of crossover with the 2020 Emmys.

Besides the obvious the biggest Emmy contender to watch out for this year is most likel FX’s What We Do In The Shadows. After the first season flew under the radar it became one of the top breakout shows of 2020 earning nine Emmy nominations. Early on many dismissed it as just another remake or a supernatural comedy that never gets awards attention but over time it has won over audiences as one of the most genuinely funny comedies of the year. Behind the scenes it also features plenty of Golden Globes friendly talent from Taika Waititi to Scott Rudin. It will be interesting to see how the HFPA responds to the show’s perfect ensemble; one that doesn’t feature any A-list names. The Critics’ Choice nominated all but one of them but here at the Globes the best bet might be on British actor

Then there are other shows that Emmy voters loved that might repeat at the Golden Globes. Both Dead to Me and Insecure both had breakout years at the Emmys but beyond nominations for lead actress they’ve never been HFPA favorites. But they almost never go all in on a show in the middle of its run especially when they have plenty of new shows to choose from. Still, Issa Rae, Christina Applegate, and even Linda Cardellini will still be huge names to watch out for in the lead actress category.

New Contenders

The Television Academy may have ignored the first season of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist but the Hollywood Foreign Press will be another story. Musicals are increasingly rare on TV and the story of a millennial who is able to hear transform the inner thoughts of everyone around her into elaborate numbers has become a streaming hit for NBC and really all of broadcast television.

Speaking of broadcast television, the Golden Globes is the last major awards show that regularly awards the original networks, especially their home network NBC. In a time when ratings are down across the board Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist has found a way to improve on its first season increasing its viewership by millions as the second season premiered just as voters filled out their ballots.

As the streaming wars continue the Golden Globes have always proven to be the first place for these new networks to be recognized. This year HBO Max is hoping to end their first year with recognition for some of their original programming. The network’s best chance at a nomination is certainly for the first season of The Flight Attendant; the Hitchcockian dramedy about a flight attendant who wakes up next to a murdered millionaire. The Flight Attendant came out of nowhere as one of the best shows of the fall and even had many praising it as Kaley Cuoco’s best work of her career (another actress who has been around for decades on the verge of her first nomination).

Hulu and Its Three Major Contenders

It’s been five years since Hulu was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Golden Globes – in fact it’s 2015 nomination for Casual is the sole nomination the streaming network has ever had. This year that will hopefully change with a handful of comedies hoping to break into the wide-open comedy series lineup.

Even before The Great premiered last spring it seemed predestined to become a major contender at the Golden Globes. There aren’t very many costume comedies; in fact the only other one in recent memory has been The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and we know how well that has done. Portraying the rise of Catherine The Great, The Great stars Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult two stars that are on the verge of their first nominations. It’s also created by Tony Macnamara, the Golden Globe nominated screenwriter Tony McNamara.

Last year Ramy Youssef surprised everyone by winning the lead actor award for the first season of his self-titled comedy about a millennial Muslim-American exploring his own identity. That win led to three primetime Emmy nominations. The success of the second season might lead to even more nominations at this year’s Golden Globes including the return of Youssef himself and a supporting actor nomination for two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali.

The highly anticipated sophomore season for critics’ darling Pen15 became one of the best reviewed shows of the year and one to look out for at next year’s Emmys. However the premise of two grown women recreating their pre-teen years among a sea of actual children might be too weird for the Golden Globes, even if it is one of the most innovative comedies on television.