This Is Us wasn’t named Best Drama, but one of its most notable performers did take home a trophy at the 75th annual Golden Globes.
In the current era of so-called prestige TV, it’s tougher than ever for network dramas to elbow their way into award season. This Is Us is the rare exception, as it was nominated for three Golden Globes this year.
The NBC powerhouse only walked away with one of them, but it was a deserving one, indeed. Sterling K. Brown took the Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama trophy for his work this year as Randall Pearson, beating out the likes of Jason Bateman, Freddie Highmore, Bob Odenkirk and Liev Schreiber.
His co-star and on-screen sister Chrissy Metz didn’t fare quite so well, as she didn’t capture the Best Supporting Actress award. That went to Laura Dern, who capped off a big year be being recognized for her role as Renata Klein in Big Little Lies.
Perhaps the biggest award This Is Us could have won was Best Drama, where it was the only network series in with heavyweights from Netflix (The Crown and Stranger Things), HBO (Game of Thrones) and Hulu (The Handmaid’s Tale). As it turned out, it was probably the least-watched series of the nominees, The Handmaid’s Tale, that took the honor for this year.
Brown’s Golden Globe award is the first win for This Is Us, which also received three nominations last year but was shut out. The series itself was up for Best Drama (losing to The Crown), while Metz was joined by Mandy Moore in the Best Supporting Actress category, though both women ended up losing out to Olivia Colman.
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Still, no series currently on television balances popular sentiment and critical acclaim quite like This Is Us, so more nominations next year seem like almost a sure thing. It could definitely take more trophies before its run on NBC is done, and it’s fighting the good fight for network TV regardless.