This is the time of year when we all revel in the Golden Globes fall-out.

"Meryl beat Viola?! Kelsey Grammar won for Lead Actor in a Drama?! Why was Madonna there?!"

It always surprises me that people forget the one Golden Rule of the Golden Globes:

It's all about good tv.


The Globes know they'll never be the Oscars, so instead of becoming just another awards show, they do their best to fill the show with as many celebrities as possible regardless of whether or not they deserve to be there.

Somehow, they've always found a way to get Angelina Jolie there even during years when she didn't bother to make a movie, and that's just one example.

It seems like their philosophy is--We all know who's going to win anyway, so why not just fill the other slots with people that audiences actually know about.

(That explains how Viggo Mortensen got a nomination over Max Von Sydow.)

That's the rule for films at least.

When it comes to television, anything goes.

Again, it's the "Who cares? We're just the Golden Globes" argument.

After all, it's the Emmys job to celebrate the best of television, and it's the Golden Globes' job to celebrate what the Emmys aren't cool enough to celebrate.

Remember when Party of Five won for Best Drama and it saved the show from being cancelled?

The press that the Golden Globes got because of that was astounding. That's when they figured it out--

Surprise upsets = Lots of publicity.

That's how you have Matt LeBlanc winning for Episodes.

And, of course, there are performers you simply can't beat.

The Golden Globes has a love affair with Meryl Streep (she's won there far more often than she has at the Oscars), Madonna (remember when she won for Evita), and Jim Carey (He not only won two times in a row for Best Actor in a Drama, but he beat Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan. Believe it or not, Tom Hanks won very few awards for that role, but he was listed as a front-runner all throughout awards season)--just to name a few.

It's not that the Golden Globes don't have a good track record of picking winners. In fact, they do serve the purpose of shaking up predictions. At the end of the day, however, calmer heads tend to prevail.

Because if there's one thing the Oscars don't care about, it's making interesting television.